It's Time to Make Sure NAFTA Works for Workers

CWA members and retirees know that NAFTA has meant lost jobs, closed factories and call centers, and lower wages. Unemployed workers have struggled to find good jobs that provide similar pay and benefits.

That's why CWAers joined activists from labor, environmental, faith, consumer and other community groups for a national Replace NAFTA Day of Action. CWA activists called their Senators to tell them to hold U.S. trade negotiators to their promise that an updated NAFTA will raise standards and wages for workers and stop providing incentives for multinational corporations to move jobs offshore.

On Capitol Hill, Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and U.S. Representatives Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.) and Keith Ellison (D-Minn.) held a press conference to draw attention to renegotiation talks that are now underway in Washington, D.C., and the impact they will have on working people. Rep. Ellison said that the NAFTA renegotiation offers "an opportunity to learn from what hasn’t worked and come up with an approach to trade that serves the common good."

Currently, NAFTA lacks enforceable labor and environmental rules, lowering standards for everyone. NAFTA negotiators have promised that the renegotiated trade deal will have strong provisions to protect working people, but they are under pressure from corporate lobbyists to make sure that there are no barriers to outsourcing jobs and driving down wages.

CWAers joined activists from labor, environmental, faith, consumer and community groups, as well as Members of Congress for a national Replace NAFTA Day of Action.