Western New Yorkers Stand against "Fast Track" and TPP

Trico Plant No. 1 in Buffalo, NY, is a monument to the dashed hopes of an American city.

It is an all too familiar sight in too many cities where bad trade deals – like the North American Free Trade Agreement that shuttered Trico's doors and moved its windshield wiper manufacturing operations to Mexico a generation ago – leave empty shells where people once raised families and built communities.

Trico Plant No. 1, which was once Buffalo's largest employer, provided a somber backdrop to a rally as CWA activists – working with the New York State AFL-CIO, environmental and economic justice advocates – fight to prevent the proposed "fast track" for the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal from devastating more American communities.

"The Trans-Pacific Partnership would close the doors on more U.S. businesses and open new doors to outsourcing American jobs," U.S. Rep. Brian Higgins (D-NY, 2th District) said at the rally. "History has taught us that trade deals like this are bad for workers in this country, so we stand together in opposition to the TPP and fight to keep jobs here at home."

"U.S. workers have paid a steep price for bad policies of the past," New York State AFL-CIO Secretary-Treasurer Terry Melvin said. "We stand united in the fight for not one more job loss."

Tom Roulley of CWA Local 1122 had a simple question for those in attendance: "If TPP is such a good trade deal then why is it so secretive and why must it be secret for four years after it is signed? Why? Because it is not a good deal and they have to hide the details; because if people knew what was in it, it would never pass."

The first step in that battle is to stop Congress from approving "fast track" authority on trade deals. Called Trade Promotion Authority, Congressional approval of a "fast track" up-or-down vote would mean an expedited process in which members of Congress strip themselves of their rights to debate and amend the 1,200-plus page TPP bill. Members of Congress, Democrats and Republicans, have been publicly declaring their opposition to "fast track" authority.

NAFTA cost the United States nearly 700,000 jobs and places like Buffalo, NY, and other manufacturing centers across the country, continue to feel the negative impact of that trade deal. Besides Trico, other notable employers that fled Western New York since NAFTA in 1994 include American Axle, Nabisco Niagara Falls, the Carborundum Co., and Buffalo Color.

New York State AFL-CIO Secretary-Treasurer Terry Melvin speaking about the dangers of bad trade deals to our economy as U.S. Rep. Brian Higgins (D-NY 2th District) and CWA activists looked on yesterday.

"Fast Track," TPP Roundup

Unions, environmental, progressive and community groups and others have been participating in public discussions on the devastating effects of "fast track" and TPP on good jobs in our communities. For instance, tonight [Thursday, April 9] at the Esperanza Peace and Justice Center at 922 San Pedro Ave., San Antonio, TX, members of the Texas Organizing Project, MOVE San Antonio, Texas Fair Trade Coalition, CWA, San Antonio Central Labor Council, Sierra Club, Esperanza Peace and Justice Center, Fuerza Unida and San Antonio residents will hold a "teach-in" on "fast track" and TPP.

Courting Every Possible Vote against "Fast Track"

CWA Local 2201 President Richard Hatch and Dolores Trevino-Gerber OF CWA Local 2222 urged U.S. Rep. Don Beyer (D-VA 8th District) to vote no on "fast track" for TPP.

Leading Immigrant Rights Groups Oppose "Fast Track," TPP

Groups in the Fair Immigration Reform Movement (FIRM), a national coalition of grassroots organizations fighting for immigrant rights at the local, state and federal level, issued a statement that they are opposed to any attempt to "fast track" TPP through Congress. Past similar deals have caused crippling poverty in many countries, the group said. Among the groups that have signed the statement are CASA, Center for Community Change, Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles (CHIRLA), Michigan United, Promise Arizona, One America, Workers' Defense Project, Alliance for a Just Society, Voces de la Frontera, and the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights.

Global Day of Action; Followed by a Huge Rally

In every state and internationally, there will be a Global Day of Action on Saturday, April 18 to defeat TPP and investment treaties. Check out this site for more information or to find an event in your community. Click here for global events. And, on Monday, April 20, the U.S. Trade Representative's office building at 600 17th Street, NW, Washington, D.C., will be the scene of a huge rally to stop "fast track" and bad trade deals.

Good Jobs, Green Jobs

On Apr. 15, union and environmental activists will rally on Capitol Hill, telling members of Congress to reject "fast track" trade authority for trade deals like the Trans-Pacific Partnership.

The action is part of the Good Jobs, Green Jobs conference, which focuses on the connections that environmentalists and workers are making to support sustainable jobs and sustainable communities.

Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Vice President Joe Biden, and Sierra Club Executive Director Michael Brune will address the group.

Click here for more information.