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Rangel-Levin Free Trade Agreement ‘Significant Step Forward’ |
Lots going on in the U.S. House of Representatives on trade issues this week. Yesterday, Ways and Means Committee Chairman Charles Rangel (D-N.Y.) and Rep. Sander Levin (D-Mich.) unveiled a Democratic proposal that would include more safeguards for workers’ rights and the environment in trade deals as well as dealing with other sensitive trade issues such as currency manipulation and providing low-cost drugs to poor countries. AFL-CIO Policy Director Thea Lee has this to say about the Rangel-Levin Free Trade Agreement proposal:
The proposal unveiled today represents a significant step forward in fixing the Bush Administration’s broken trade policy. While the outlined amendments to the Peru and Panama trade agreements do not completely address all of the AFL-CIO’s concerns with respect to procurement, services and investment, the proposal does represent major progress on core workers’ rights and environmental standards. It also addresses long neglected concerns such as currency, trade enforcement, and other key issues. We’re encouraged by today’s proposal and look forward to working with Congress to continue to improve our trade policy so that it will protect fundamental workers’ rights and contribute to good jobs, both in the U.S. and abroad.
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Trade policy is a much ignored issue in congress, unless it is a free trade deal with negatively impacts American workers and workers of whatever country deal is signed. More deals like NAFTA is not what the workers of the world need.
Good to see at least some action on union concerns in congress.
Amen. We need to concentrate on the trade deficit and stop the flood of jobs and companies leaving our country as they did with NAFTA. But at least these poor people in these other countries will get some protections with this.