PAGE 6 | March 20, 2015 | NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS
...Oppose fast track
Who’s on our side?
By Tom Chamberlain Oregon AFL-CIO President
From Page 1
Trade deals that work for workers
F
or decades, Americans have been told that
free trade is a wonderful thing that benefits
everyone. Politicians have promised us that if
other countries simply lower their tariffs, our
products will be more affordable, our cus-
tomer base will grow, and everybody will win.
But what does it mean when a country
“wins?” If employers take advantage of in-
vestment protections and move their offices
overseas, Oregon workers aren’t winning.
If other employers use trade deals to under-
mine American environmental and labor stan-
dards, Oregon workers aren’t winning.
For decades, the benefits of trade deals
haven’t trickled down to working families.
They’ve been captured almost entirely by
global corporations and their executives.
These companies have taken advantage of our
bad trade policy to shift their supply chains
from one country to the next to find the lowest
wages and weakest regulations possible. In the
process, they’ve laid off workers, suppressed
wages, and devastated communities.
In an era of record income inequality, we
need new rules for trade. We need rules that
raise wages for working people. But that isn’t
likely to happen anytime soon.
As I write this, our country is negotiating
the biggest trade agreement ever: the Trans-
Pacific Partnership (TPP). The TPP would
cover the U.S. and 11 other Pacific Rim coun-
tries (Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan,
Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Sin-
gapore, and Vietnam). The Obama Adminis-
tration and the U.S. trade representative have
said it’s the most progressive trade deal in his-
tory. Well, that’s like saying it’s more nutri-
tious than sugar; it doesn’t mean much.
If a trade deal is actually going to benefit
Oregon businesses and their workers by
boosting exports and creating good-paying
jobs, it will need to look very different than
NAFTA (North American Free Trade Agree-
ment) and every other trade agreement in ex-
istence. But it’s instead on track to benefit
multinational corporations whose lobbyists
have been given special seats at the table
while the rest of us get thrown under the
bus. Under NAFTA, Oregonians lost a net
8,700 jobs. Promising TPP will be different
doesn’t make it so.
To ensure a bad trade deals’ chances of suc-
cess, the Obama Administration is lobbying
Oregon’s representatives in Congress to sup-
port Trade Promotion Authority, also known
as fast track. Fast Track is a legislative proce-
dure that would force Congress to cede its
constitutional authority over trade policy. It
wouldn’t let our elected representatives offer
amendments to improve any provision that’s
bad for the environment, food safety or work-
ing people. Instead, within 90 days, Congress
would be forced to give the TPP a simple up
or down vote. You can bet corporations will
be loudly weighing in during those 90 days.
After all, they have a lot of money at stake.
To get Congress behind the proposal, the
Administration and Senate Republicans are
leaning hard on Sen. Ron Wyden (D-
Oregon). Sen. Wyden is the ranking member
of the Finance Committee, which puts him in
a position to stand up for increased trans-
parency and accountability in trade negotia-
tions, which will lead to better trade rules or
throw it all away by signing onto another old-
style fast track bill. Sen. Wyden hasn’t signed
on to support fast track yet. While he makes
up his mind, Oregonians need to urge him to
stand against secrecy and for trade deals that
work for working people.
Join me and call Sen. Wyden’s office and
ask him to reject fast track. Tell him we need
a trade deal that raises American living stan-
dards, not one that accelerates a race to the
bottom.
Tom Chamberlain is president of the Oregon AFL-CIO,
a 120,000-member-strong federation of labor unions.
...Airline coalition threatens to sue PDX
From Page 1
ies like port commissions try to
raise wages or otherwise inter-
fere with that profitable business
model, they’ll see the airlines in
court.
“We don’t want to be sued,”
Commission president Jim
Carter replied to DeLucia. “On
the other hand, we don’t want to
be cowed into not doing any-
thing we think it’s appropriate to
do.”
“It’s sort of what we’re used
to hearing,” Oregon AFL-CIO
President Tom Chamberlain, a
member of the Port Board of
Commissioners, told the Labor
Press. “Pass paid sick leave;
you’re going to get sued. Raise
wages, and you’re going to get
sued.”
Besides the legal threat from
A4A, commissioners also heard
push-back from a representative
of the Airline Service Providers
Association, from Capers Cafe
co-owners Christian and An-
nette Joly, and from Edward
Gerdes, general counsel for the
Cafe Yumm chain of virtuous
restaurants.
Cafe Yumm is a new kind of
business, Gerdes told commis-
sioners, legally committed to the
“triple bottom line” of people,
planet and profit. It already pro-
vides compensation at or above
the Port’s proposed $13 an hour
threshold, Gerdes said. And yet,
Cafe Yumm would not have
signed an airport concessions
contract if the pro-worker policy
had been in place, because of
the “administrative cost over-
lay” of complying. Gerdes did
not return a call from the Labor
Press seeking more detail about
that burden.
Commissioners are expected
to vote on a final draft in April
or May.
blimp in Umatilla, La Grande,
Baker City and Ontario.
“Ron Wyden: It’s up to you.
Don’t betray us” said a large
sign on the blimp, which was set
up by the Internet freedom
group Fight for the Future.
Wyden’s role is pivotal in the
fast track debate, because he’s
the top Democrat on the Senate
Finance Committee, and his
support is considered necessary
to pass fast track. But Wyden
hasn’t yet reached agreement
with Finance Committee chair
Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) on the de-
tails of the fast track proposal.
Wyden wants Congress to be
able to reject fast track treatment
for any agreement that doesn’t
meet the goals it sets for such
agreements, something Hatch
disagrees with.
The TPP is opposed not just
by labor but by environmental
groups, consumer groups and In-
ternet freedom activists. And the
TPP negotiators themselves
faced protests at their most recent
meeting March 9-16 at Waikoloa
Beach Marriott Resort in Hawaii,
organized by MoveOn, Public
Citizen, and other groups.
The Oregon AFL-CIO is call-
ing on union members to join
the fight by texting the word
“FAIR” to 77948, for updates.
The labor federation is also ask-
ing union members to call their
members of Congress to say that
Oregon can’t afford another bad
trade deal.
U.S. Sen. Jeff Merkley and
Congressman Peter DeFazio are
committed opponents of fast
track and the TPP. But other
Oregon members of Congress
haven’t made it clear where they
stand, and Wyden in particular
is crucial.
“Until I hear them make a
public statement against it, we
have to assume they might vote
for it,” said Oregon Fair Trade
Coalition director Elizabeth
Swager. “Their constituents
have to contact them and urge
them to publicly oppose it, be-
cause jobs, the environment,
health, food safety, everything is
on the line.”
Sen. Ron Wyden:
1-866-502-6055
Rep. Suzanne Bonamici:
202-225-0855
Rep. Greg Walden:
202-225-6730
Rep. Earl Blumenauer:
202-225-4811
Rep. Kurt Schrader:
202-225-5711
FREE CLASSIFIED ADS
AUTOMOTIVE
GMC TRUCK, flat bed, 1.5 ton, runs
and drives, 1946 vintage, licensed
2017, $3,800. 541-219-2212
HOUSING
ROCKAWAY BEACH rental, 3 bed, 2
bth, sleeps 10, Jacuzzi, 5 min to beach/
shops.Vacationhomerentals.com/43026
ROCKAWAY ocean front, 503-777-
5076, 5bdrms/2 bath, book now for
summer! http://rockawaybeachfron-
trental.co
250 ACRES, SECLUDED large juniper
trees, lots of wildlife, $750 per acre, less
for cash, terms. 541-4698-2961
SPORTING GOODS
SKS RIFLE magazines, 2-20 rnd. & 1-
30 rnd. new, never used $30. 360-836-
7512
WANTED
OLD WOODWORKING tools, planes,
levels, chisels, handsaws, slicks, adzes,
wrenches, folding rulers, axes, hatch-
ets, tool chests. 503-659-0009
BUYING US & world coins to add to col-
lection, paying fairly, any amount wel-
come. 503-939-8835
COLLECTOR, cash paid, old fishing
tackle, wood plugs, reels, creels,
salmon fishing photos, etc. 503-775-
4166
COLLECTOR PAYS cash for older toys,
oil paintings, American art pottery, and
costume jewelry. 503 703-5952
1951 FORD PARTS or parts car, also
WWII German pistols, P38, Walther, Lu-
gars, etc. cash paid. 503-852-6791
MISCELLANEOUS
1947 CLEVELAND Welding Co. Good-
year boys bike w/springer, tank, in good
original condition, $500. 503-798-6517
CLASSICAL MUSIC, albums and
records, great voices, 67 records, $35
cash. 503-654-7941
CLASSIFIED AD GUIDELINES
Subscribers may place one free classified ad per
issue. Ads should be 15 to 20 words, all in lower
case (NO CAPITAL LETTERS). Ads must include a
phone number, including area code, or they will
not be published. No commercial or business ads.
HOW TO SUBMIT A CLASSIFIED AD
Indicate which union you are a member of, and
send your ad to michael492@comcast.net or by
mail to PO Box 13150, Portland OR 97213. We
publish the first and third Fridays of each month,
and the deadline is one week prior to that.
