TPP Update

CWA, Members of Congress, Allies Call for Rejection of TPP

Just before the State of the Union address, CWA President Chris Shelton joined members of Congress and environmental, labor and faith leaders at a Capitol Hill news conference. Their message: "The Trans-Pacific Partnership is too dangerous for us simply to stand aside and let it pass."

"We'll lose hundreds of thousands of U.S. jobs to the TPP; we can't let that happen," said President Shelton. "We can't compete with countries where near slavery is allowed."

Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-CT), who is leading the congressional fight against the TPP, said, "After seven years of secrecy we can finally see the details of this deal in the light of day," and it's clear that no one has listened to the concerns of working people. "When the jobs and wages of working families are jeopardized by a bad trade agreement, we risk engaging in a global 'race to the bottom' that our country cannot afford, and that our middle class does not deserve," she said. Read more here.

CWA President Chris Shelton addresses Congressional allies, including Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-CT), and coalition partners in the Rayburn House Office Building Gold Room about CWA's continued opposition to the TPP.

Under the provisions of "fast track" authority, which passed by just a handful of votes, Congress will have 90 days to vote on the TPP once the President asks for legislative approval.

In another action, more than 1,500 organizations – members of the Citizens Trade Campaign Coalition – signed a letter to members of Congress calling on them to reject the TPP. The letter outlined Americans' concerns about the trade deal, including the offshoring of U.S. jobs, undermining environmental protections, putting food safety at risk, increasing pharmaceutical costs, and placing corporate profits over human rights and democracy.

"TPP's labor standards are grossly inadequate to the task of protecting human rights abroad and jobs here at home," they wrote. Read the letter here.

"All these organizations are made up of working people, people who could lose their jobs because of the TPP," Shelton said. "We need to make sure that members of Congress who support the TPP lose their jobs."

TPP Protest in Texas

With signs saying "TPP=Disaster," "End the Siege on U.S. Self-Rule" and "Don't Ship Our Jobs Overseas," dozens of activists, including many CWAers, protested against the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal in Dallas, TX, and called on their representatives in Congress to reject it. Allies attending the TPP Rally and Protest in front of the Earle Cabell Federal Building and Courthouse on Tuesday included Texas Association for Retired Persons, Code Pink, MoveOn.org, Dallas AFL-CIO, Texas Organizing Project, and Jobs with Justice.

Activists Protest TPP during President's Visit to Nebraska

Members of and retirees from CWA Locals 7400 and 7470, with activists from the Nebraska AFL-CIO, Nebraska Farmers Union and Bold Nebraska, all part of a coalition of labor, farm and clean energy groups, rallied outside the University of Nebraska's Baxter Arena as President Obama followed his State of the Union speech with a visit to Omaha. The crowd of 8,000 people waiting to get into the stadium all filed past CWAers and allies who had the "Stop the TPP" message visible to all.

TPP Town Hall Call

Last night, CWA President Chris Shelton, Sierra Club Executive Director Michael Brune and Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.), who is leading the fight on Capitol Hill against the Trans-Pacific Partnership, joined thousands of CWA and Sierra Club activists on a telephone town hall call, outlining strategy to stop the TPP.

Listen here.