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News :: Miscellaneous |
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Coalition of 135 Groups Voice Opposition to Fast Track |
Current rating: 0 |
by AFL-CIO
(No verified email address) |
07 May 2002
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Letter to Senate Calls Push for Fast Track 'Backwards-Looking' |
WASHINGTON - May 6 - In a letter to the Senate, 135 groups denounced the Baucus / Grassley Trade Promotion Authority bill, also known as "fast track," saying that it simply replicates the flawed bill that passed by a single vote margin in the House in December. The letter calls on the Senate to instead support international trade and investment policies that ensure that the benefits of trade are broadly shared, that the environment is protected, and that allow ordinary citizens full access to the decision-making process.
"Fast track legislation consistently overlooks the rights of workers in developing countries. In the race toward economic globalization, poor women are at a particular disadvantage," said National Organization for Women President Kim Gandy. "NOW stands firmly against the Baucus/Grassley bill and any international trade policy that does not protect women workers around the world."
"This fast track bill will lead to trade agreements that could derail a wide range of critical public interest and environmental protections,"said Brent Blackwelder, President of Friends of the Earth. "We stand together with a broad coalition to reject it."
The signers represent a remarkably broad coalition representing many of the nation's most influential citizens' groups including women's organizations, unions, consumer groups, family farm advocates, environmentalists, community activists, human rights organizations, and more.
Under Fast Track, the Congress gives up its authority to amend trade deals negotiated by the President, and can only vote them up or down.
A full copy of the letter and signers is attached.
TRADE ALLIES LETTER TO THE SENATE ON THE BAUCUS-GRASSLEY FAST TRACK BILL
Dear Senator:
We are writing to express our strong opposition to the Baucus/Grassley Trade Promotion Authority bill (also known as fast track).
This legislation is a backwards-looking approach to trade policy, and the Senate should reject it. We believe the United States should show responsible leadership in the global economy by calling for a new generation of international trade and investment policies that will ensure the benefits of globalization are broadly shared, that the environment is protected, and that ordinary citizens can understand and participate in forming the policies that affect their daily lives.
This fast track bill accomplishes none of these goals. In nearly all key respects, it simply replicates the flawed bill that passed by a single vote margin in the House of Representatives last December. It also follows the same framework that led to the rejection of fast track legislation by the Congress in 1997 and 1998. We urge you to vote against this bill and reject this overwhelmingly partisan and divisive approach to trade policy.
Sincerely,
A. Philip Randolph Institute
ACT UP Philadelphia
Africa Action
Air Line Pilots Association
Alabama Fair Trade Coalition
Alliance for Democracy
The Alliance for Justice: Medical Mission Sisters
Alliance for Responsible Trade
Alliance for Sustainable Jobs and the Environment (ASJE)
American Corn Growers Association
American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE)
AFL-CIO
American Federation of State, County & Municipal Employees (AFSCME)
American Federation of Musicians (AFM)
American Federation of Teachers (AFT)
American Lands Alliance
American Postal Workers Union (APWU)
Americans for Democratic Action (ADA)
Association of Flight Attendants (AFA)
Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers International Union
Boston-Cambridge Alliance for Democracy
Boston Global Action Network
Campaign for America's Future
Center for Progressive Political Communication
Center for Science in the Public Interest
Center of Concern
Church Women United, Northern California and Nevada
Citizens Action Coalition of Indiana
Citizens Trade Campaign
Coalition for Justice in the Maquiladoras
Coalition of Black Trade Unionists
Coalition of Immokalee Workers
CISPES-Committee in Solidarity with the People of El Salvador
Communications Workers of America (CWA)
Concerned Citizens Coalition of Roane, Calhoun & Gilmer Counties, West Virginia
Conference of Major Superiors of Men's Institutes
Congregation Justice Committee, Sisters of the Holy Cross (Notre Dame, IN)
Connecticut Coalition to Stop Fast Track
Consumer's Choice Council
Critical Path AIDS Project
Defenders of Wildlife
Democratizing the Global Economy Project, American Friends Service Committee
Department for Professional Employees, AFL-CIO
Development Group for Alternative Policies (DGAP)
Earthjustice
The Evangelical Life Committee of the Sisters of St. Francis of Philadelphia
Farm Labor Organizing Committee (FLOC)
Feminist Majority
Fifty Years Is Enough: U.S. Network for Global Economic Justice
Food and Allied Service Trades, AFL-CIO
Friends of the Earth
Front Range Fair Trade Coalition
Global Exchange
GRACE Public Fund
Graphic Communications International Union (GCIU)
Grassroots International
Greater Kansas City Fair Trade Coalition
Guatemala Committee of Boston
Health GAP
Idaho Rural Council
Indiana Alliance for Democracy
Indiana Fair Trade Campaign
Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy
International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM)
International Brotherhood of Boilermakers, Iron Shipbuilders, Blacksmiths, Forgers and Helpers
International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW)
International Brotherhood of Teamsters (IBT)
International Labor Rights Fund
International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU)
International Organization of Masters, Mates and Pilots
International Union of Bricklayers and Allied Craftworkers (BAC)
Jobs with Justice
Jubilee Economics Ministries
Jubilee Northwest Coalition
Jubilee USA Network
Labor Council for Latin American Advancement (LCLAA)
The Leadership Team of the Sisters of St. Francis of Philadelphia
Medical Mission Sisters North America
Mexico Solidarity Network (MSN)
Minnesota Fair Trade Coalition
National Education Association
National Family Farm Coalition
National Farmers Union
National Organization for Women (NOW)
Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC)
Network in Solidarity with the People of Guatemala
NETWORK: A National Catholic Social Justice Lobby
North Carolina Occupational Safety and Health Project (NCOSH)
Northern Plains Resource Council
Ohio Fair Trade Campaign
Ohio Valley Environmental Coalition
Oxfam America
PACE International Union
Peace and Justice Task Force, Rocky Mountain Conference,
United Church of Christ
Pennsylvania Citizen Action Network
Pennsylvania Fair Trade Coalition
Pennsylvania Lesbian and Gay Task Force
Powder River Basin Resource Council (Wyoming)
Presbyterian Church (USA) Washington Office
Professional Airways Systems Specialists (PASS)
Public Citizen
Quantum Leap 2000
Quixote Center/Quest for Peace
Resource Center of the Americas
RESULTS USA
The Rocky Mountain Peace and Justice Center
Sacramentans for International Labor Rights
Sacramento Activists for Democratic Trade
Service Employees International Union (SEIU)
Sheet Metal Workers International Association
Sierra Club
Sierra Student Coalition
Southwest Ohio Green Party
SouthWest Organizing Project
Student Global AIDS Campaign
Texas Fair Trade Coalition
Thomas Merton Center
Tradewatch New York City
TransAfrica Forum
Transport Workers Union
Transportation Trades Department, AFL-CIO
Union of Needletrades, Industrial, and Textile Employees (UNITE!)
United Auto Workers
United Electrical Radio and Machine Workers of America (UE)
United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW)
U.S. Public Interest Research Group (US PIRG)
U.S. Student Association
United Steelworkers of America
United Students Against Sweatshops
Vermont Workers' Center
Western Organization of Resource Councils
Witness for Peace
Wisconsin Fair Trade Campaign
Women's EDGE
Women's Environment and Development Organization (WEDO)
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