Labor, Environmental Leaders Call on Congress to Reject TPP Agreement

In a media call, leaders from the BlueGreen Alliance – a national partnership of labor unions and environmental organizations – called on Congress to reject the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP). After nearly six years of negotiations, the text of the TPP trade deal finally was made public last week.

 

"This deal does nothing to boost the wages of American workers or protect the environment, but it makes it much easier for those corporations to ship jobs overseas to low wage countries with weak labor and environmental protections," CWA President Chris Shelton said. "The truth of the matter is very simple. The TPP is a deal written by and for multinational corporations to help them profit at the direct expense of our workers and our environment. That's a deal that we cannot afford."

Speakers included Michael Brune, executive director of the Sierra Club; Leo W. Gerard, president of the United Steelworkers; Celeste Drake, AFL-CIO trade policy specialist, and Jake Schmidt, program director, Natural Resources Defense Council.

Also on the line were Reps. Paul Tonko (D-NY, 20th District) and Bill Pascrell (D-NJ 9th District).

The leaders identified the key areas where the agreement falls short, including the threat to U.S. jobs, labor and environmental standards, and enabling corporations to challenge U.S. laws and regulations in a foreign tribunal.

Shelton said workers know what the stakes are in the TPP deal. "My members absolutely believe that, if they're going to lose their jobs, that people who vote to approve this deal should lose their jobs also. What these folks are voting for is shipping American jobs overseas."