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Fight Against "Fast Track" Continues as Vote Looms
Labor’s intense summer campaign to defeat “fast track” trade legislation forced the U.S. House to postpone its vote on the bill until September, but the fight is far from over.
Lawmakers who back fast track, along with the powerful business lobby, used the capitol’s August recess to pressure undecided House members to back the bill, which would give President George W. Bush the authority to negotiate trade pacts with no amendments from Congress.
That the House leadership decided to delay the vote rather than risk losing fast track in August was a temporary victory for labor, environmentalists, human rights advocates and others fighting the bill. But CWA leaders said it’s imperative that opponents keep the heat on Congress.
“This is only a delay,” CWA President Morton Bahr said. “The Bush administration and the GOP leadership will be back with a vengeance when the recess is over.”
Under the proposed fast-track bill, Congress would only be able to vote “yes” or “no” on trade pacts. It couldn’t amend them for any reason, even to add critically needed protections for workers or the environment.
Fast track would allow Bush to rubber-stamp the Free Trade Area of the Americas proposal, widely described by labor, human rights and environmental activists as “NAFTA on steroids.” FTAA would lift trade restrictions for 34 countries throughout North, South and Central America, without any meaningful language on wages, safety, public health or any other working family concern.
The same is true of the present fast-track bill, introduced by Rep. Philip Crane (R-Ill.). “In its 52 pages, it never mentions labor rights, human rights or the environment,” Bahr said. “It does, however, cover every concern corporate America may have.”
The bill’s backers announced their plans to delay the vote as CWA and other unions rallied outside the U.S. Chamber of Commerce on July 31, while business owners rallied inside. “Child labor and pollution: Fast track is no solution,” several hundred union members chanted as they marched along the sidewalk in front of the Chamber, across the street from the White House.
In a press release, the Chamber of Commerce said about 40 business owners had come to Washington to meet with White House and congressional leaders to “urge swift passage of Trade Promotion Authority for President Bush.” The release called the marchers “anti-trade demonstrators.”
Bahr said nothing could be further from the truth. “We are not by any stretch of the imagination anti-trade,” he said. “What we demand is fair trade. We are fighting for trade pacts that ensure fair wages and workers’ safety. We are fighting for environmental regulations that protect families and communities from unchecked pollution. These are hardly radical positions.”
Bahr urged CWA members and their families to call or e-mail House members about the Crane bill. The toll-free number is 1-800-393-1082; zip codes are used to put callers in touch with their representatives.
The fight to defeat fast track will include an AFL-CIO bus tour this month, similar to bus trips before the 2000 elections. The tour is being planned for the second and third weeks of September in Alabama, California, Connecticut, Indiana, Texas, Oregon, Washington, Pennsylvania and Tennessee.
Lawmakers who back fast track, along with the powerful business lobby, used the capitol’s August recess to pressure undecided House members to back the bill, which would give President George W. Bush the authority to negotiate trade pacts with no amendments from Congress.
That the House leadership decided to delay the vote rather than risk losing fast track in August was a temporary victory for labor, environmentalists, human rights advocates and others fighting the bill. But CWA leaders said it’s imperative that opponents keep the heat on Congress.
“This is only a delay,” CWA President Morton Bahr said. “The Bush administration and the GOP leadership will be back with a vengeance when the recess is over.”
Under the proposed fast-track bill, Congress would only be able to vote “yes” or “no” on trade pacts. It couldn’t amend them for any reason, even to add critically needed protections for workers or the environment.
Fast track would allow Bush to rubber-stamp the Free Trade Area of the Americas proposal, widely described by labor, human rights and environmental activists as “NAFTA on steroids.” FTAA would lift trade restrictions for 34 countries throughout North, South and Central America, without any meaningful language on wages, safety, public health or any other working family concern.
The same is true of the present fast-track bill, introduced by Rep. Philip Crane (R-Ill.). “In its 52 pages, it never mentions labor rights, human rights or the environment,” Bahr said. “It does, however, cover every concern corporate America may have.”
The bill’s backers announced their plans to delay the vote as CWA and other unions rallied outside the U.S. Chamber of Commerce on July 31, while business owners rallied inside. “Child labor and pollution: Fast track is no solution,” several hundred union members chanted as they marched along the sidewalk in front of the Chamber, across the street from the White House.
In a press release, the Chamber of Commerce said about 40 business owners had come to Washington to meet with White House and congressional leaders to “urge swift passage of Trade Promotion Authority for President Bush.” The release called the marchers “anti-trade demonstrators.”
Bahr said nothing could be further from the truth. “We are not by any stretch of the imagination anti-trade,” he said. “What we demand is fair trade. We are fighting for trade pacts that ensure fair wages and workers’ safety. We are fighting for environmental regulations that protect families and communities from unchecked pollution. These are hardly radical positions.”
Bahr urged CWA members and their families to call or e-mail House members about the Crane bill. The toll-free number is 1-800-393-1082; zip codes are used to put callers in touch with their representatives.
The fight to defeat fast track will include an AFL-CIO bus tour this month, similar to bus trips before the 2000 elections. The tour is being planned for the second and third weeks of September in Alabama, California, Connecticut, Indiana, Texas, Oregon, Washington, Pennsylvania and Tennessee.