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Bush Rejects Labor's Petition on Chinese Abuses
Slamming workers on both sides of the Pacific, the Bush administration this week rejected the AFL-CIO's petition that detailed how China's widespread and often brutal violations of workers' rights have given the country an unfair trade advantage leading to the loss of more than 727,000 American jobs.
The 103-page petition, filed with the U.S. Trade Representative in March, called on Bush to impose trade remedies against China until the government recognizes workers' rights and improves working conditions.
"President Bush's refusal to act means that more Americans will lose their jobs to the virtual slave labor market that is China," CWA President Morton Bahr said. "Once again, he has demonstrated his contempt for workers, here and around the world. Ensuring that the working class is voiceless and powerless is how this administration and its corporate allies derive their power."
AFL-CIO President John Sweeney called the administration's inaction "an outrage and an insult to American and Chinese workers" and said it "shows decisively that this administration will only enforce U.S. trade laws when corporate profits and concerns are at stake, but will not go to bat to protect the fundamental human rights of workers."
The petition documents how China prevents workers from joining independent unions, denies its citizens safe working conditions, fails to enforce any minimum wage and uses forced labor.
The result is that Chinese workers' wages are 47 percent to 86 percent lower than they should be, which in turn reduces the price of Chinese manufactured goods by 11 percent to 44 percent. If China did not violate workers' rights, the price of Chinese manufactured goods would increase by 12 percent to 77 percent, according to the petition. The U.S. trade deficit with China topped $124 billion last year, the largest deficit with one country in American history.
Senator John Kerry said rejecting the petition is one more example of the White's House grossly imbalanced trade policy. "This administration has once again refused to make any serious effort to use the legitimate rules that govern trade to level the playing field and prevent our businesses and workers from being taken to the cleaners," he said.
U.S. Trade Representative Robert Zoellick was unapologetic about rejecting the petition, saying the administration's policy toward China, trade and workers' rights "is firmly grounded in America's ideals." He made the bold claim that, "In the area of labor, this administration has done more than any other to promote better labor conditions through trade."
The 103-page petition, filed with the U.S. Trade Representative in March, called on Bush to impose trade remedies against China until the government recognizes workers' rights and improves working conditions.
"President Bush's refusal to act means that more Americans will lose their jobs to the virtual slave labor market that is China," CWA President Morton Bahr said. "Once again, he has demonstrated his contempt for workers, here and around the world. Ensuring that the working class is voiceless and powerless is how this administration and its corporate allies derive their power."
AFL-CIO President John Sweeney called the administration's inaction "an outrage and an insult to American and Chinese workers" and said it "shows decisively that this administration will only enforce U.S. trade laws when corporate profits and concerns are at stake, but will not go to bat to protect the fundamental human rights of workers."
The petition documents how China prevents workers from joining independent unions, denies its citizens safe working conditions, fails to enforce any minimum wage and uses forced labor.
The result is that Chinese workers' wages are 47 percent to 86 percent lower than they should be, which in turn reduces the price of Chinese manufactured goods by 11 percent to 44 percent. If China did not violate workers' rights, the price of Chinese manufactured goods would increase by 12 percent to 77 percent, according to the petition. The U.S. trade deficit with China topped $124 billion last year, the largest deficit with one country in American history.
Senator John Kerry said rejecting the petition is one more example of the White's House grossly imbalanced trade policy. "This administration has once again refused to make any serious effort to use the legitimate rules that govern trade to level the playing field and prevent our businesses and workers from being taken to the cleaners," he said.
U.S. Trade Representative Robert Zoellick was unapologetic about rejecting the petition, saying the administration's policy toward China, trade and workers' rights "is firmly grounded in America's ideals." He made the bold claim that, "In the area of labor, this administration has done more than any other to promote better labor conditions through trade."