By the Numbers: Republican Leadership Sits on Legislation to Rein in China Currency Manipulation
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This is a cross-post from the House Ways and Means Committee Democrats:
Currency manipulation costs the United States hundreds of thousands of jobs, yet the Republicans fail to act.
Last fall the House passed legislation to crack down on China’s manipulation of its currency with overwhelming bipartisan support.
Earlier this year Rep. Sander Levin (D-Mich.), ranking member of the House Ways and Means Committee, and Rep. Tim Ryan (D-Ohio) introduced H.R. 639, the Currency Reform for Fair Trade Act, to curtail continued Chinese currency manipulation. Despite bipartisan support in the House to crack down on China’s manipulation of its currency last fall, and the 189 bipartisan co-sponsors who support current legislation, the Republican leadership has refused to move forward on the measure this year.
Momentum Grows for NLRB Rule Changes
Momentum is building as the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) gears up to hold hearings next week on its proposed rule designed to ensure a fair process for workers who want to vote on whether to form a union. More members of Congress and academics have joined a growing group of working people and workers’ rights advocates in voicing their support for the rule changes.
Here are a few of the people and organizations who’ve spoken out for the rule change.
Laborers (LIUNA) President Terry O’Sullivan:
The common-sense reforms the NLRB has proposed will begin to bring union elections into the 21st century and are a step toward reducing the possibility of unscrupulous employers interfering with the right of workers to make an informed decision on whether to unionize.
Despite Repression, Workers Continue to Organize in Belarus
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In this cross post from the Solidarity Center website, Tim Ryan, the center’s director for Asia and Europe, gives a rare glimpse of the Belarus workers’ continuing struggles.
It’s been a bad decade for the workers of Belarus. This former Soviet republic gained independence in 1991 and, for a time, new unions independent of government or company control grew significantly. But under continuing political repression by President Alexander Lukashenko over the past 10 years, recently formed workers’ organizations face extinction in what is often called the last dictatorship of Europe.
In Novopolotsk, a city about 120 miles northeast of the capital of Minsk, I visited independent unions at an oil refinery/chemical plant and a fiberglass manufacturing plant. These are huge Soviet-era complexes. The oil/chemical plant has 12,000 workers and, like 80 percent of the Belarus economy, is owned by the state. This arrangement not only discourages foreign investment, it feeds the government bureaucracy.
The state maintains its control of workers through repressive working conditions, including mandatory short-term contracts that must be renewed every year. Then there’s the overt management and political intimidation. Two years ago, the independent union claimed 1,150 members, but after union members were threatened with losing their jobs, the membership now consists of 350 brave souls. Read the rest of this entry »
Ohio Anti-Worker Agenda ‘Disrespectful, Unfair’
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The effort to take away the right of public employees in Ohio is “disrespectful and unfair” to America’s workers. Speaking on the floor of the House yesterday, U.S. Rep. Tim Ryan (D-Ohio) said it is “ridiculous” to blame public employees for the “financial meltdown caused by Wall Street’s recklessness.”
Working people in Ohio are rallying at the state capitol as the state House debates SB 5, the onerous anti-worker legislation being pushed by Gov. John Kasich. Among other things, the bill would eliminate the decades-old right of public employees to bargain for a middle-class life. The state Senate passed the bill earlier this week by one vote.
If the United States and Ohio want to compete in the global economy, we need good teachers, Ryan said. But how are we going to be able to attract good teachers when we tell them they can’t get together to decide how many kids are going to be in their classes, he asked.
This is disrespectful and unfair to working people in Ohio and it’s not an American value.
Ohioans agree with Ryan. In a web poll by WSYX TV in Columbus, a whopping 90.5 percent said they “want to do away” with SB5. Here are some of the comments sent to the TV station. Read the rest of this entry »
Stopping Currency Manipulation Would Create U.S. Jobs
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Leveling the playing field by enforcing our trade laws against currency manipulation is a no-cost action that will create jobs, AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka said today.
He called on Congress to pass the bipartisan Currency Reform for Fair Trade Act of 2011. Introduced by Sens. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) and Olympia Snowe (R-Maine) and Reps. Sander Levin (D-Mich.), Tim Murphy (R-Pa.) and Tim Ryan (D-Ohio), it is same legislation passed by the U.S. House of Representatives last September by a 348-79 margin.
Chamber Out of Touch on China Currency Manipulation
It’s not every day a majority of Republicans in Congress thumb their noses at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. But yesterday, 99 Republican House members, many with an eye on Nov. 2, voted for H.R. 2378, the Currency Reform for Fair Trade Act.
The day before the vote, 36 business groups, led by the Chamber, sent a letter to Capitol Hill denouncing the bill. In the letter, the Chamber showed—again—that its focus is on the bottom line for big multinationals, not working families or small businesses.
On the other hand, supporters of the bill were able to refute the Chamber’s claims by citing a petition circulated by the Fair Currency Coalition in favor of the legislation and signed by hundreds of business groups, unions and farm organizations. These groups represent the workers and businesses that have been hurt by the Chinese government’s schemes.
China Currency Bill: ‘Major Step’ Forward
Bipartisan legislation to address “egregious and ongoing” currency manipulation by China and other nations is a major step in the fight for good jobs and fair trade, AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka said.
The Currency Exchange Rate Oversight Reform Act of 2010 was introduced today by Democrat Sens. Charles Schumer (N.Y.) Debbie Stabenow (Mich.) and Republican Sens. Lindsey Graham (S.C.) and Olympia Snowe (Maine), with 10 other co-sponsors. In a statement, Trumka said:
At a time when America’s working families need good jobs now, the illegal undervaluation of currency, by China and other governments, has spelled the loss of millions of American manufacturing jobs.
The U.S. Treasury Department for years has refused to cite China’s government for currency manipulation, which would set off a process by which the administration can impose trade penalties. The legislation would bring the Treasury definitions more in line with International Monetary Fund guidelines, making it easier to determine currency manipulation. The bill also provides meaningful sanctions, including countervailing duties or tariffs, if currency negotiations fail.
Momentum Building for Action on China Currency Manipulation
The momentum is building for the United States to take strong action to counteract manipulation of its currency by China’s government.
More than 130 members of Congress signed on to a letter from Reps. Mike Michaud (D-Maine) and Tim Ryan (D-Ohio) delivered today that urges Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner and Commerce Secretary Gary Locke to take strong action up to and including countervailing duties (CVD) or tariffs because of currency manipulation.
Michaud and Ryan’s letter is the latest in growing calls by Congress and by top economists for the United States to act on the manipulation of currency by China’s government. If Geithner does act, the administration could impose remedies, such as tariffs, to create a fairer trade balance with China.
AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka, who co-chairs the Fair Currency Coalition, thanked Michaud and Ryan for their letter:
The working families of this country need jobs now. If we want a recovery that will invest in manufacturing, boost exports, balance trade, and create jobs we must stop China and other countries from illegally manipulating their currency. China’s prolonged undervaluation…is an illegal export subsidy. That is why the U.S. government must allow CVD cases to proceed. American workers expect their government to stand up for them.
June 12: World Day Against Child Labor
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Around the globe, workers and human rights activists are spending World Day Against Child Labor by focusing on this year’s goal: Give Girls a Chance. Of the estimated 218 million children who work worldwide, the International Labor Organization (ILO) estimates that 100 million are girls. More than half of those girls work in hazardous jobs in agriculture, manufacturing, mining, domestic services and commercial sexual exploitation.
Workers from Albania to Bangladesh will hold rallies, seminars and exhibits to mark the day and increase awareness of the plight of the world’s children. Click here for a list of events around the world.
The ILO says the global economic crisis could lead to an increase in the number of children, especially girls, who are forced to give up school and go to work to support their families. The ILO’s new report, “Give Girls a Chance: Tackling Child Labor,” found that the combination of poverty and the tendency to place a higher value on the education of male children will result in many families in poor countries taking girls out of school and forcing them to enter the workforce.
Currency Reform Bill Could Help Create New Jobs
Unfair currency manipulation in the global economy is costing millions of American manufacturing jobs—and a coalition of labor, business and agriculture leaders say the Currency Reform for Fair Trade Act (CRFTA) is the best vehicle to stop the wholesale destruction of our manufacturing base.
At a Capitol Hill press conference today, members of the Fair Currency Coalition endorsed the bipartisan legislation introduced by Reps. Tim Ryan (D-Ohio) and Tim Murphy (R-Pa.) and Sens. Jim Bunning (R-Ky.) and Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.). The bill would treat prolonged currency manipulation as an illegal subsidy and dumping under U.S. trade laws.
In a statement, AFL-CIO Secretary-Treasurer and Fair Currency Coalition Co-Chair Richard Trumka says job creation is the number one issue on the minds of the federation’s members.
While enacting the stimulus has provided critical short-term relief, the United States will not see sustained employment growth until our government stops China, Japan and others from using their undervalued currency to steal American jobs. That’s why Congress must pass the Ryan-Murphy CRFTA as quickly as possible.
