by James Parks, Jun 6, 2006

With talks beginning this week on a new Korea-U.S. Trade Agreement, some 100 U.S. and Korean workers rallied today in Washington, D.C., to tell their governments the trade agreement must protect workers’ rights and not just line the pockets of large multinational companies.

The protestors, who rallied in front of the U.S. Trade Representative’s office, beat Korean drums and chanted “Workers’ Rights Now” as lunchtime crowds passed by.

“We are here to send a message that this kind of global trade policy is no good for either of our countries,” AFL-CIO Policy Director Thea Lee told the crowd. “America’s workers have too much experience with failed agreements like NAFTA [the North American Free Trade Agreement]. The promises are always the same: more jobs, more investment, more economic growth. But the reality is always the same: jobs lost and greater inequality,” she said.

The rally followed the release today of a joint U.S.-Korea union declaration on the proposed trade deal, known as KORUS. The declaration, signed by the AFL-CIO, Change to Win, the Federation of Korean Trade Unions (FKTU) and the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU), says KORUS, like other trade agreements pushed by the Bush White House, fails to protect workers’ rights and the environment and undermines governments’ ability to regulate public services while strongly protecting the investments and profits of multinational corporations.

Trade deficits associated with NAFTA have displaced more than 1 million U.S. jobs. NAFTA also has contributed to falling real wages in Mexico over the past 11 years, according to the nonprofit Economic Policy Institute.

In the joint declaration, the union federations pledged to oppose continued negotiations and to work together to block implementation of the Korea-U.S. trade deal if their two governments do not address their concerns. The federations called for a moratorium on the current trade talks and for the parties to work to create “a labor-friendly model of trade and economic cooperation through adequate consultations with labor unions and civil society groups.”

The declaration demands that the U.S. and Korean governments ensure trade rules do not undermine public health and safety, workers’ rights, the environment or essential public services. The groups also urged both governments to rescind their agreement to keep documents relating to the negotiations secret for three years after the deal is completed.

In a visit last month to AFL-CIO headquarters, Heo Young-koo, vice president of the KCTU, and Lee Changgeun, KCTU’s director of international affairs, said a free trade agreement patterned on the NAFTA model will worsen workplace conditions for employees in Korea, especially “irregular” workers—those who are self-employed or who work part-time.

Irregular workers make up about 56 percent of Korea’s workforce, Young-koo said, and they are paid about half what full-time workers receive. Women workers especially are discriminated against in wages and working conditions, he added.

The AFL-CIO and affiliated unions are pushing for all trade agreements to include enforceable workers’ rights clauses and environmental protections. Other agreements negotiated by the Bush administration, such as the Central American Free Trade Agreement and the deals with Oman, Peru and Colombia, do not adequately protect workers’ rights, such as the freedom to form unions.

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