NAFTA: 20-year legacy of middle-class harm
class did not happen by accident —
By CASSANDRA WATERS
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Twenty they are the result of the NAFTA model,
years later and what have we learned a model that deals with broad economic
from the North American Free Trade governance issues, including invest-
ment, intellectual property, consumer
Agreement (NAFTA)?
Nearly 700,000 U.S. jobs have been and environmental protections, labor
rights — issues not in-
lost or displaced, union den-
herently trade-related.
sity in the United States, Flat wages and
NAFTA made it easier
Mexico and Canada fell and
and less risky for com-
income inequality has in- an eroding
panies to move opera-
creased. The AFL-CIO’s new middle class
tions where the cost of
report, NAFTA at 20, dis- did not happen
labor was cheapest,
cusses how current U.S. trade
but contained no ef-
policy has failed to raise by accident —
fective mechanism to
wages, improve social stan- they are the
ensure labor rights or
dards or address inequality
result of the
environmental protec-
— and what needs to change
tions were enforced.
to ensure that future trade NAFTA model.
The model’s dereg-
agreements actually work for
ulatory agenda limits government’s
working people.
NAFTA was sold to the public as a ability to act in the public interest. For
way to promote equitable growth, but example, procurement provisions pre-
as the report details, NAFTA-style trade vent governments from including re-
deals benefit corporations at the ex- quirements that companies contribute to
pense of workers, farmers, consumers local development or respect funda-
mental human rights in contracts, limit
and communities.
Wages in all three countries are stag- equitable access to public services and
nant. Productivity has increased, but the raise the price of medicines through
share going to workers has decreased. stringent intellectual property protec-
Union density has declined, and precar- tions.
Meanwhile, investors were given un-
ious work without stable hours or bene-
fits is on the rise. The overall volume of precedented privileges and protections,
trade between the three countries has which have been replicated in later trade
grown, but these gains are concentrated agreements. Along with various dereg-
at the top, not distributed across society. ulatory guarantees, multinational cor-
porations obtained sweeping property
Instead, inequality has skyrocketed.
Flat wages and an eroding middle rights and a unique — and uniquely
...Football players can unionize
(From Page 1)
But Ohr said the players satisfied key
legal points: That the employer pays
them for their work, and the employer
profits from it. His ruling also gives an
idea of the scope of big-time college
athletics. Northwestern, which is
known for its academics, gave full-ride
scholarships to 85 of the 131 football
team members, and each scholarship is
worth $61,000 yearly. In return, the uni-
versity earned more than $30 million
during the football season and cleared
a profit on football of approximately $9
million, Ohr said.
Northwestern tried several argu-
ments to convince Ohr the football
players can’t unionize. He bought none
of them.
When it argued the players’ prime
purpose is to attend class, Ohr retorted
they spent more hours a week on foot-
ball, and that the employer could arbi-
trarily fire them by yanking their schol-
arships. The university argued the
players are temps, whose scholarships
last at most five years. It compared
them to part-time student janitors at a
San Francisco art school several years
ago. Ohr replied the janitors — whom
the Board did not allow to unionize —
had high turnover due to the fact that
their prime mission was studying art.
And Northwestern said players are
like resident assistants and teaching as-
sistants at private colleges. The NLRB
PAGE 2
dangerous — way of enforcing them:
Investor to State Dispute Settlement
(ISDS). ISDS allows foreign investors
to directly sue national governments
over policies they think threaten their
bottom line. Instead of domestic courts,
claims go before secretive international
tribunals that can award unlimited tax-
payer money but are unaccountable to
the public. Multinationals have used
these quasi-courts, which are usually
composed of the same trade lawyers
that bring these claims on behalf of
companies, to challenge numerous reg-
ulations in the public interest.
The report highlights the need for a
trade model that promotes shared pros-
perity.
Unfortunately, current U.S. trade ne-
gotiations on two agreements — the
Trans-Pacific Partnership and the
Transatlantic Trade and Investment
Partnership, which involve 39 countries
in Asia, the Americas and Europe —
seem to only offer more of the same.
The lack of transparency around the ne-
gotiations means the exact content of
the proposed agreements remains un-
known, preventing public debate and
scrutiny. But leaked documents indicate
that the agreements contain the same
flawed provisions, and then some. Draft
text expands areas like intellectual prop-
erty rights and opens up new sectors, in-
cluding financial regulation, which
could imperil the government’s ability
to react to and prevent economic crises.
Workers live in a globalized econ-
omy, and now more than ever global
rules to protect people and the planet
are necessary. The NAFTA model does
has gone back and forth on whether
RAs and TAs are employees and thus
can unionize.
“Unlike the graduate assistants, the
facts here show the employer never of-
fers a scholarship to a prospective stu-
dent unless they intend to provide an
athletic service to the employer. In fact,
the players can have their scholarships
immediately canceled if they voluntar-
ily withdraw from the football team,”
Ohr replied.
“Given the substantial length of the
players’ employment it is clear they
cannot be found to be temporary em-
ployees,” Ohr said.
CAPA President Ramogi Huma
said the NCAA invented the term ‘stu-
dent athlete’ to prevent the exact ruling
that was made. For 60 years, people
have bought into their notion that they
are students only. The reality is, players
are employees and this ruling confirms
that.”
CAPA organized the players around
several key issues, notably job-related
injuries. It says it would bargain for
guaranteed medical coverage for injury
expenses and post-injury treatment, as
well as injury prevention measures. It
also plans to bargain over establishing
trust funds to help former players pay
tuition and expenses to complete their
degrees after their scholarships end.
not deliver on the things people need —
quality employment, enhanced social
mobility and shared prosperity. It’s time
for a new approach.
(Editor’s Note: This report is from
the national AFL-CIO.)
Floppy disk petition urges Sen. Wyden
to oppose outdated trade policy
Fair trade advocates delivered over 10,000 petition signatures adhered to old-
fashioned 5.25” floppy diskettes to U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden’s office in Portland’s
Lloyd District on March 20. The petition, spearheaded by the Oregon Fair
Trade Campaign and Fight for the Future, urges the senator to oppose the
renewal of 1970s-era “fast track” legislation on the pending Trans-Pacific
Partnership (TPP) and Trans-Atlantic Free Trade Agreement (TAFTA).
Wyden recently became chair of the U.S. Senate Finance Committee and will
determine whether or not the expired fast track process is resurrected. Similar
actions were held throughout the week at the senator’s offices in Bend,
Eugene, LaGrande, Medford and Salem. “Sen. Wyden has been outspoken
about the need for greater public participation in trade policy-making, and
with his new role as Senate Finance Chair, he’s finally in a position to do
something about it,” said Elizabeth Swager of the Oregon Fair Trade
Campaign. “This petition encourages the senator to stay true to his
democratic principles and to stand up for ordinary Americans.”
Social Security
Disability benefits:
You paid into the
system while you
worked and if you
can't work anymore,
it's time to obtain them.
(Editor’s Note: Press Associates Inc.
contributed to this report.)
NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS
APRIL 4, 2014