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Announcement :: Globalization |
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Congressional Hearing: Victims Of "Free" Trade |
Current rating: 0 |
by Food First!
(No verified email address) |
22 Jun 2003
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Look on-line for the transcript of the briefing or go to the Food First website. |
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MEDIA ADVISORY
June 11, 2003
Contact: Nick Parker
510-469-5228
510-290-3414
American Casualties of Free Trade Policies to Brief Congress
What:
In an open challenge to the United States Trade Representative and the Bush administration's economic policies, a delegation of America's working poor from all walks of life will expose the truth behind free trade agreements at a congressional briefing convened by the Institute for Food and Development Policy/Food First. The briefing is sponsored by the Congressional Progressive Caucus and will feature testimony from farm workers, displaced industrial sector and garment workers, and family farmers on the impact of free trade policies on their lives and communities.
Where:
2168 Rayburn House Building, Washington, DC
When:
Thursday, June 12, 2003, from 9 to 11:30 a.m.
Who:
Testifiers: AFL-CIO, American Corn Growers Association, Association
of Border Workers, Black Farmers and Agriculturalists Association, 'Charleston 5' International Longshoreman's Association, Chinese Progressive Association,
Coalition of Immokalee Workers, Farm Labor Organizing Committee,
Fuerza Unida, National Family Farm Coalition, Pacific Coast
Federation of Fishermen's Association, Public Citizen, and United
Farm Workers of America.
Confirmed Representatives: Co-Chairs Dennis Kucinich (D-OH) and Barbara Lee (D-CA), Julia Carson (D-IN), John Conyers (D-MI), Eni Faleomavaega (D-Am. Samoa), Chaka Fattah (D-PA), Bob Filner (D-CA), Raul Grijalva (D-AZ), Marcy Kaptur (D-OH), Sheila Jackson-Lee (D-TX), James McGovern (D-MA), Major Owens (D-NY), Ed Pastor (D-AZ), Donald Payne (D-NJ), Bernie Sanders (I-VT), and Lynn Woolsey (D-CA).
Background:
Since signing the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) in 1994, the United States has lost an estimated three million jobs. Contrary to claims made by trade liberalization advocates, Americans who have found employment in the post-NAFTA economy work longer hours with less job security and fewer benefits. Overall, real wages have remained stagnant and the low-skill jobs created by free trade agreements pay 13 percent less than before.
Within this year, Congress must make decisions on U.S. trade agreements with Singapore, Chile, and Central America, in addition to the proposed 34-nation Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA) and on the Doha agenda of the World Trade Organization (WTO). In this context, the Institute for Food and Development Policy/Food First has organized this congressional briefing to set the record straight by bringing forward those most directly affected by trade policies.
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Nick Parker
Food First/Institute for Food and Development Policy
398 60 Street
Oakland, CA USA 94618
Tel: (510) 654-4400, ext. 229
Fax: (510) 654-4551 |
See also:
http://www.foodfirst.org/progs/anhr/
http://www.foodfirst.org/
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