JAN, 21, 2011:NWLP
1/18/11
10:35 AM
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U.S.-Korea trade
deal draws protests
in Portland, Eugene
Several dozen opponents of the pro-
posed U.S.-Korea Free Trade Agree-
ment demonstrated Jan. 12 outside the
Portland office of U.S. Sen. Ron
Wyden (D-OR).
In December, U.S. and Korean trade
negotiators struck a deal that is ex-
pected to bring the Korea FTA to the
floor of Congress early this year. It is
the biggest free trade deal since the
North American Free Trade Agreement
passed in 1994, and it is opposed by the
AFL-CIO and most labor unions.
Among the crowd of demonstrators
in Portland was Kim Kyung-Ran, di-
rector of external relations for the Ko-
rean Confederation of Trade Unions.
Kyung-Ran was on a West Coast tour
speaking out against the trade pact. The
previous evening at the Machinists Hall
in Southeast Portland she presented a
slide show exhibiting the opposition
that is building against the trade deal in
South Korea.
Kyung-Ran said the same provi-
sions in the agreement that encourage
off-shoring of U.S. manufacturing jobs
— such as special investor privileges,
deregulatory requirements, and sub-
standard labor protections — also
weaken labor’s hand in South Korea.
“FTA only brings us chaos,” she
told protesters at Wyden’s office. “For
laborers and common people, FTA
cannot be hopeful. It will greatly re-
duce our jobs, and it will also reduce
the social welfare of the people. We
need to unite to fight against the FTA.”
Wyden was the target of the protest
because he chairs the Senate Subcom-
mittee on International Trade. Many
union officials are upset that — given
the history of 5 million manufacturing
jobs lost to free trade and outsourcing
since the inception of NAFTA — he
hasn’t made any attempt to stop the
deal with Korea.
The Economic Policy Institute pre-
dicts that if the trade deal passes, within
seven years Korean imports will have
displaced 888,000 more American
jobs.
“We’ll obviously gain some jobs,
too, as a result of the agreement,” said
Arthur Stamoulis, director of the Ore-
gon Fair Trade Campaign, “but any
way you cut it, Oregon should expect
thousands more job losses. What’s
worse, the jobs being lost pay much
better than the jobs created.”
Madelyn Elder, president of Com-
munications Workers of America Lo-
cal 7901, said the Korea FTA “gives in-
vestment and legal protections to large
multi-national corporations that shift
jobs off shore in search of the lowest
labor and environmental costs — and
the highest profits. These protections
could overrule the common good of all
people on Earth.”
Kyung-Ran’s West Coast tour also
included stops in Eugene and Seattle.
Her Portland and Eugene visits were
co-sponsored by Machinists Lodges 63
and 1005, Portland Jobs with Justice,
and the Lane County Fair Trade Cam-
paign.
Union pilots at
Evergreen Airlines
authorize strike
Madelyn Elder, president of Communications Workers of America Local
7901, addresses several dozen opponents of the Korea Free Trade Agreement
during a protest rally Jan. 12 in front of the Portland office of U.S. Sen. Ron
Wyden. In December, U.S. and Korean trade negotiators struck a deal that
is expected to bring the Korea FTA to the floor of Congress this year. In the
background, Carpenters Local 247 retiree Bruce Dennis dons a “Corporate
Greed” pig costume.
McMINNVILLE — Unionized pi-
lots at Evergreen International Airlines
— a cargo airline headquartered in
McMinnville, Oregon — voted over-
whelmingly to strike if an agreement is
not reached with management. Bar-
gaining for a new union contract has
been going on, without success, for six
years.
Evergreen International Airlines is a
cargo airline, operating a fleet of Boe-
ing 747s out of New York (JFK) and
Travis Air Force Base, California. The
company is a subsidiary of privately-
held Evergreen International Aviation,
which also owns Evergreen Helicop-
ters, Inc.
The saga began when pilots at Ever-
green International Airlines formed
their own independent union, The Avi-
ators’ Group (TAG) secured a union
contract in 1999. The contract ran
through the end of 2004.
Bargaining on a new contract began
in 2004, but went nowhere. Mediated
talks began in 2005, supervised by the
National Mediation Board (NMB) —
the federal agency that regulates rail-
road and airline union issues. Still no
progress. In 2007, TAG members voted
overwhelmingly to merge into the
much larger Air Line Pilots Associa-
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NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS
JANUARY 21, 2011