CWA Pushes for a Better NAFTA for Working Families

With the support of CWA and other labor unions, U.S. Senators Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren, Kirsten Gillibrand, Edward Markey, Jeff Merkley, and Mazie Hirono wrote a letter to President Trump calling on him to renegotiate NAFTA in a way that eliminates incentives for companies to offshore jobs, strengthens labor protections, and protects consumers.

"Millions of Americans haven’t seen a pay increase in years and can’t find better paying jobs due in large part to unfair trade deals like NAFTA," the Senators wrote. "Instead of leveling the playing field, NAFTA makes it easier for companies to outsource jobs to Mexico so they can pay employees less and pollute more. Since NAFTA's implementation, Mexico's already low manufacturing wages are down 9 percent in real terms and U.S. wages are flat, while the price of everything from childcare to housing to a college education has risen. Unless we rewrite NAFTA, it will keep giving the green light to corporations to outsource American jobs, pushing down wages for middle class and working families."

Read more here.

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The Dayton Daily News wrote about U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown holding a roundtable discussion in Ohio with IUE-CWA members about how to fix NAFTA:

A renegotiated NAFTA should include protections for U.S. workers who saw a flood of jobs move south of the border in the 25 years since the trade agreement between Mexico, Canada and the U.S. was approved, said U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio.

"So many working families have not seen a raise in the last decade. To me it's all about how do you write a trade agreement and how do you write tax policy that helps to increase wages, not push wages down," Brown said during an appearance at the United Autoworkers Local 696 headquarters in Dayton on Friday.

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Sen. Sherrod Brown, Tyra Williams from IUE-CWA Local 84755, retired UAW worker Rick McKiddy, and IUE-CWA Local 84755 President, Carl Kennebrew (right), discuss how to fix NAFTA.