Northwest labor press., November 01, 2013, Page 5, Image 5

NAFTA-style TPP delayed, but fast track may come up
The Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP)
free trade agreement — a NAFTA-style
trade deal covering 12 Pacific Rim na-
tions — was supposed to be signed,
sealed and delivered last month, but dif-
ferences between the negotiating parties
have delayed agreement. Trade negotia-
tors have set a new deadline for the end
of year to conclude the agreement.
The American people, by design,
know very little about what U.S. nego-
tiators are promising in closed-door
talks with Australia, Brunei, Canada,
Chile, Japan, Mexico, New Zealand,
AFSCME #189 backs
Smith for re-election
The American Federation of
State, County and Municipal Em-
ployees (AFSCME) Local 88 has
endorsed Loretta Smith for re-elec-
tion to the Multnomah County Board
of Commissioners, District 2.
Smith’s first term in office expires
in 2014.
Local 88 represents more than
3,000 workers in Multnomah
County and at Transition Projects
Inc. and Central City Concern.
The union held a candidate’s fo-
rum at its general membership meet-
ing Oct. 16.
NOVEMBER 1, 2013
Peru, Singapore, Malaysia, and Viet-
nam. But 600 corporate advisers have
access to the text, reports the Alliance
for Retired Americans, an allied group
of the AFL-CIO
U.S. Senator Ron Wyden (D-Ore-
gon), chair of the Senate Trade Sub-
committee, told a group of Portland la-
bor leaders in August that he would lead
a fight this fall to make the talks more
transparent. But Arthur Stamoulis, di-
rector of the Citizens Trade Campaign,
says he’s unaware of any such cam-
paign.
Stamoulis said his organization, a
coalition of unions and environmental
groups, is focusing on stopping “fast
track.” Fast track is the name given to
legislation that would tie Congress’
hands when trade agreements come up
for approval: They could not be
amended, and would have to be voted
on with little debate. Fast track last ex-
pired in 2007 and has not yet been re-
newed by Congress.
But Senate Finance Committee
Chairman Max Baucus (D-Montana)
and House Ways and Means Commit-
tee Chairman Dave Camp (R-Michi-
gan) have said they want to pass fast
track by the end of the year.
Ruben Burks, secretary-treasurer of
the Alliance for Retired Americans, said
in a press release: “What has come to
light is that in addition to corporate-fa-
vored terms that would send American
jobs offshore and decrease environmen-
tal and health safeguards, the TPP could
undermine the ability of states or the
federal government to moderate esca-
lating prescription drug, biologic drug
and medical device costs in public pro-
grams. That includes limiting the gov-
ernment’s ability to negotiate lower
prices for prescription drugs through
Medicaid and the Veterans Administra-
tion.”
The retirees group is joining with la-
bor and others in urging Congress and
President Obama to make the negotiat-
ing process more transparent, to allow
public input, and to ensure that the TPP
agreement doesn’t limit the tools of
states or the federal government to man-
age pharmaceutical and medical device
costs in public programs or bind the
U.S. to a 12-year exclusivity period for
brand-name biologic drugs.
For more about the trade deal, go on-
line to www.citizen.org/TPP.
Service Employees file 5 hospital reform ballot measures
Service Employees International
Union (SEIU) announced Oct. 21 a
campaign to get five hospital reform
ballot measures on Oregon’s Novem-
ber 2014 ballot. The campaign will be a
joint effort by SEIU locals 49 and 503,
led by Local 49, which represents hos-
pital support workers at Kaiser Perma-
nente and Legacy Health Systems.
The prospective measures are:
Minimum Charity Care in Hospi-
tals. Require non-profit hospitals to
spend at least 5 percent of payments for
hospital services on charity health care
and community health service.
Pricing Transparency in Hospi-
tals. Require hospitals to display, on
site and online, the “actual price
charged” for common procedures.
Quality Transparency in Hospi-
tals. Require hospitals to display online
and on site, quality of care performance
measures like infection rates, mortality
rates, and patient satisfaction rates.
Reasonable Rates in Hospitals.
Cap hospital prices at 30 percent above
the actual cost of providing care.
Caps on Executive Compensa-
NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS
tion. Limit executive compensation to
no more than 15 times the wage of the
lowest paid employee.
Backers turned in initial paperwork
to the Secretary of State Elections Di-
vision Oct. 22. The next step is to col-
lect 1,000 signatures on each petition,
at which point the state would issue a
ballot title and approve the initiative pe-
titions for general circulation. Each ini-
tiative would need 87,213 valid signa-
tures of registered voters by July 3,
2014, in order to qualify for the ballot.
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