Trans Pacific Trade Partnership is a Race to the Bottom for All

The Trans Pacific Partnership is a race to the bottom for all from the local to the global levels, with disproportionate impacts on the poor and some communities of Blacks, Latinos, and Asian communities. Will reduce jobs and labor, democracy, food, agriculture, and health regulation. Take action now. Suggestions and facilitation on the link. More information below.  Info taken from Citizens Trade via Family Farm Defenders and John Peck, their fabulous ED. TPP & Fast Track Organizer's Toolkit,   online toolkits.  info@citizenstrade.org)

Why should you care?

•  The TPP will serve two primary
purposes:

                   1. Making it easier to shift jobs
throughout the world to wherever
labor is the most exploited and
food, agriculture, and environmental regulations are the
weakest; and
2. Putting checks on democracy at home
and abroad by constraining
communities’ ability to adopt new
public-interest regulations, including those that affect our food and agriculture. (Democracy is already being directly and agressively dismanteld for some communities in the USA including in Detroit, MI.)

This race downward will impact economic growth for our country negatively, thereby impacting all Americans negatively All-in-Nation.  http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/race/report/2013/07/24/70540/all-in-nation-an-america-that-works-for-all/.   

• Action steps at the end

• Short Excerpt below from this brilliant and timely "tool kit:"

"Vietnam is currently being marketed as the “low-cost labor alternative” for
corporations who feel that Chinese sweatshop workers are overpaid. The
U.S. State Department noted in 2010 that independent labor unions, and
even opposition political parties, are illegal in Vietnam. Vietnamese workers
are often paid only one-third to one-half of what Chinese workers are paid."

"• The Trans-Pacific Partnership, or TPP, is a massive new trade and
investment pact being pushed behind closed doors by the U.S. government at
the behest of transnational corporations.

Immediate Action Items

The most important thing is that U.S. Representatives hear from you and others this week that their constituents oppose Fast Track for the TPP.  Here's how you can help:

 

• As an individual:  Please write your Members of Congress online now, and then follow-up with a phone call asking the Representative to oppose Fast Track for the TPP, which you can do through their local number or the Congressional switchboard at (202) 224-4121.  Once you've sent an email and made a call, work to get five of your friends, family members, co-workers and neighbors to send an email or make a call.  Once you've done that, you can also help by sending a Letter to the Editor and by speaking out against Fast Track for the TPP at a Congressional Town Hall event   

 

• As the representative of an organization:  Please request a face-to-face meeting with your U.S. Representative now, urging them to oppose Fast Track for the TPP.  Basic talking points are attached, and you can contact us an info@citizenstrade.org if you need talking points better-tailored to your issue or Congressional district.  You can also help by passing a resolution against Fast Track for the TPP and by urging your members to make calls at your next meeting and with an online action alert.  

 

• As a union member:  Please ask for a couple of minutes on the agenda of your local Labor Day Picnic to give people an update about the TPP and Fast Track — ideally during a time when Members of Congress are in ear-shot.  You can also urge your local, regional council or Central Labor Council to pass a resolution opposing Fast Track for the TPP and ensure that local leadership has called your House Member on this topic.  

 

via Citizens Trade Campaign and Family Farm Defenders.

Maria Whittaker, President
Local2Global Advocates for Justice
Food, Health and Environmental Justice Coalition
3156 Wood View Ridge Drive
Suite 206
Kansas City, KS 66103
913 945 1333