House Rejects Bad Trade Deal

Workers, environmentalists and other progressives won a major victory on June 12 when a bipartisan coalition of House members torpedoed a trade bill backed by the White House.

The labor movement and others mounted a major campaign to defeat “fast tracking” of the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP), which has been negotiated in secret between the U.S. and 12 other nations. Fast-track authority would have granted the president the power to negotiate trade deals that cannot be amended by Congress. Today's vote against a companion bill, known as Trade Adjustment Authority, amounted to a defeat of the main bill.

“American workers came together and spoke with one voice about the path their country and economy should follow,” said AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka. “We are very grateful for all the activists, families, community leaders, and elected officials who worked so tirelessly for transparency and worker rights in international trade deals. 

“The debate over Fast Track so far has been a marvelous contrast to the corporate money and disillusionment that normally mark American politics today,” Trumka said.  “This was truly democracy in action – millions of people exercising their free rights to inform their elected representatives.  We should all draw from this experience to help replenish our democracy at every level on every issue.

“The conversation now should turn to putting a raising-wages agenda in motion,” he said. “Let’s discard the old ways of arranging corporate trade entitlements, and open a path to revitalizing our economy on the basis of real growth, worker rights, higher wages, and shared prosperity.  We look forward to working with any Democrat or Republican committed to a raising wages agenda, including pro-worker trade deals that will transform the American economy and lift up all workers.”

Postal Unions Take a Stand

The postal unions were active in the campaign against the trade deal, participating in protests, organizing opposition in key congressional districts, taking part in lobbying efforts, and mobilizing opposition among union members, retirees and members of the APWU Auxiliary.

“We have urged you to end the undemocratic practice of voting on Trade Promotion Authority before the trade and investment agreements negotiated in secret by our government and its trading partners are made public,” three postal union presidents wrote to members of the House on June 10. “Such authority guarantees enactment of these agreements before their flaws can be democratically debated and amended,” they wrote.

“There is a long history of failure associated with these so‐called ‘free trade’ agreements,” said the letter, which was signed by Fredric Rolando, president of the National Association of Letter Carriers; Paul Hogrogian, president of the National Postal Mail Handlers Union, and APWU President Mark Dimondstein.

The TPP and other proposed trade agreements covered by the Trade Promotion Authority include rules that “could promote privatization and/or dramatically affect the viability of the U.S. Postal Service,” they wrote.  “Only Congress should make decisions about our invaluable postal system – not faceless, unaccountable trade negotiators and certainly not the corporate lobbyists who have been given insider access to these secret talks.”

Backers of the trade bill say it will improve the economy, but opponents point out that similar legislation has resulted in job losses.

After intense lobbying by unions and other organizations, Democrats joined Republicans on Friday to kill the companion bill to the main legislation, thereby stopping the main measure.

The House could reconsider the measure next week, but passage is considered unlikely.