Building Bridges Radio: Colombian May Day brutality and West Coast dock shutdown

Colombian May Day Brutality and West Coast Docker workers shut down the ports

*Click above to listen to story

West Coast Ports

Tens of thousands of docks, members of the International Longshore & Warehouse Union shut down the west coast ports in a protest against the war. While an arbitrators decision prevented the ILWU from officially sponsoring the strike, its members turned out en masse. The stand-down at ports including Los Angeles and Long Beach, which handle 40% of the imported goods arriving in the United States each year idled ships and halted movement of about 10,000 containers during the eight-hour stoppage.

Colombian Workers Brutalized at May Day Protests

The Bush Administration continues to push through a new free trade agreement with Colombia despite its history of assassinations and repression of trade unionists. The Colombian government claims its fighting that violence, which it says is perpetuated by paramilitary organizations. However, when Building Bridges reporters called Colombia on May 1, 2008 to speak with Javier Correa, Pres. of the Sinaltrainal union we learned that more than one hundred workers at their May Day demonstrations had been arrested, many were beaten and some had been disappeared .

See the full description of the stories and learn more about Building Bridges Radio at UnionReview or at the Building Bridges website

Building Bridges is regularly broadcast live over WBAI, 99.5 FM in the N.Y.C Metropolitan area on Mondays from 7-8pm EST and is streamed, archived and pod cast at www.wbai.org, it is also broadcast nationally in many locations. For more information contact Ken Nash - knash@igc.org

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Free Trade's working victims #2, Haiti's Government fall's after people cannot afford to eat

"per capita income is just $480 a year"

Is Free Trade a Good Thing for Haiti? Deforested lands, farmers forced out to make "Free Trade" zones, no self-sufficiency, no sustainable agriculture, dependence on imports and a population growth that is estimated at 110% higher than world average and 174% higher than the United States.

Drastic food inflation causes riots

Amid riots and death's, UN forces, led by Brazilian peacekeeping forces and humanitarian food aid, Haiti has overthrow it's leader, in a country where most of it's workers make less than $2 a day. It's a simple fact, with worldwide food inflation, the people in Haiti cannot afford to eat.

When you wonder why we as labor should care, take note that many former US employers in the textile industry have opened up shop in this land, and many in Haiti itself, shut their doors when human rights organizations persisted in campaigns for these workers. These companies who contracted clothing for the likes of Nike and Disney, shut their Haitian factories and headed to countries with even lower regard for labor and human rights, such as China.

Read on and get an idea of the wonderful world of "Free Trade" and "Global" economy

Haiti Tosses Out It's Leader After Promise of Sustainable Agriculture on Barren Land

From Reuters (4/12/08):

PORT-AU-PRINCE (Reuters) - Haiti's government fell on Saturday when senators fired the prime minister after more than a week of riots over food prices, ignoring a plan presented by the president to slash the cost of rice.
(continued)
The clash with senators came after the president of the country of 9 million people -- most of whom earn less than $2 a day -- managed to persuade rioters to end a week of violence in which at least five people were killed.

Stone-throwing crowds began battling U.N. peacekeepers and Haitian police in the south on April 2, enraged at the soaring cost of rice, beans, cooking oil and other staples.

The unrest spread this week to the capital, Port-au-Prince, bringing the sprawling and chaotic city to a halt as mobs took over the streets, smashing windows, looting shops, setting fire to cars and hurling rocks at motorists.

The Corporate Hands In Haiti

While in the late 90's Disney and Nike clothing contractor H.H. Cutler (a division of VF Corporation, one of the world's largest apparel companies), moved from Haiti to places in the world with even less human rights and lower pay, in the years since American companies such as Levi's have closed the doors here in the states and opened shop in the country. Workers in the country earn an average of less than $2 a day. A Cintas subcontractor, Haitian American Apparel Co. S.A. (or as workers call it, HAACOSA), has been alleged to have "Severe violation of Haitian Labor Codes and International Labor Standards", from the last link below:

"They lock the gates on us and sometimes put security guards out in front with rifles to prevent us from leaving, said Jacqueline, as she described the method her employer uses to force workers to work over 10 hours a day without compensation. The supervisors would yell and curse at us to finish our quota. My daily quota is sewing 90 dozen zippers on pants for 80 gourds (~$2 USD)."

The factory gets so hot it is like working in fire. Inside the air is so hot and full of dust that I can’t breathe, so I would put my handkerchief around my nose and continue working, she said. HAACOSA doe not have any purified water for us to drink. Instead, there is a tub of water that, I think, is rainwater or something because it is smelly and dirty. I think supervisors pee in the water because it smells so bad. When asked if she drinks the water, she responded, I have to, I don’t have money to buy water.

Life In Our Free Trade Neighbor


From The Associated Press (4/12/08) :

Globally, food prices have risen 40 percent since mid-2007. Haiti, where most people live on less than $2 a day, is particularly affected because it imports nearly all of its food, including more than 80 percent of its rice.

Much of Haiti's once-productive farmland has been abandoned as farmers struggle to grow crops in soil decimated by erosion, deforestation, flooding and tropical storms. To make a profit, the farms that remain often price their crops sharply higher than imported American products, which benefit from generous U.S. government subsidies.

Some aid was on its way Friday. Brazil, which has about 1,200 peacekeepers serving in Haiti, sent an air force plane with 14 tons of food, including beans, sugar and cooking oil. France pledged food and other aid worth $1.6 million. The U.N. World Food Program, which had collected only 15 percent of its Haiti budget before the riots, appealed for donations to meet its $96 million goal.

But the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization said Friday that high food prices in the developing world are unlikely to subside anytime soon as price speculation and market failures counteract increases in food production.

This spells disaster in a nation where the World Bank says per capita income is just $480 a year.

Francois, gaunt and balding at 32, doesn't even have that much. Hired as a "transportation inspector" last year by the mayor of the nearby Cite Soleil slum, he has no salary — just an identification card that can be used in the slums to exact bribes or collect fees. His 25-year-old girlfriend also does not work. With no education or skills, their job prospects aren't good in a place where most eligible adults are unemployed.

Mostly, Francois depends on handouts from neighbors and friends. He begs in the street. If all else fails, he hunts for scraps in the garbage piles at the nearby La Saline market, in view of towering stacks of U.S.-produced rice he cannot afford.

Francois and Joseph weren't impressed by the much-anticipated national address of President Rene Preval on Wednesday, delivered as gunshots rang through the capital and protesters yelled for his resignation.

The U.S.-backed leader blamed soaring food costs on Haiti's dependence on foreign imports and a badly damaged infrastructure that makes shipping difficult. A trained agronomist, Preval also pledged to build up Haitian agriculture and make the country more self-sufficient, offering government loans to help farmers afford fertilizer.

His message was lost on this couple. Like thousands of urban poor in the capital, they fled the hopelessness of the countryside in their youth. At age 10, Francois was given away by his rural parents to a family in Port-au-Prince, who forced him to work as a servant until he turned 18.

For them, promises to grow more food in the increasingly barren countryside are meaningless.

"By the time rice grows here, we'll all be dead," Francois said. "Preval is a country man. He should go plant rice."

In Haitian slang, Francois and Joseph describe their hunger pangs as "eating Clorox" because of the burning sensation in their guts. Flashing a sheepish smile, Joseph said they sometimes resort to a traditional hunger palliative — cookies made of dirt, salt and butter.

More People and No Sustainable Agriculture

One of the biggest problem in Haiti is that most of it's food is imported, most of it's own farmers have, been run off their land for "Free Trade" areas or have abandoned their farms due to much cheaper US Subsidized Agriculture, another major player is the population growth figures, Haiti has had an increase of 2.45% in 2007, thats more than twice as high as the world average, and almost triple that of the United States. Obviously unaffordable food and more people is a deadly mix.

Heres the stats on Haiti,

The following diagram shows the levels of exports and imports of the country over the years.



The country became a member of the World Bank in the year 1953. The country is also a member of the trade organizations like WTO and CARICOM.

From CIA.gov

World

Population growth rate:	1.167% (2007 est.)
Birth rate:	20.09 births/1,000 population (2007 est.)
Death rate:	8.37 deaths/1,000 population (2007 est.)

United States

Population growth rate:	0.894% (2007 est.)
Birth rate:	14.16 births/1,000 population (2007 est.)
Death rate:	8.26 deaths/1,000 population (2007 est.)

Haiti

Population growth rate:	2.453% (2007 est.)
Birth rate:	35.87 births/1,000 population (2007 est.)
Death rate:	10.4 deaths/1,000 population (2007 est.)

In Conclusion

My quick conclusion, not being the expert on Foreign affairs and this travesty in Haiti, more education and less population growth would be a good start. Any true trade pact should have this type of thing involved in it, we simply cannot just rape a country dry without helping the people create their own sustainable environment, so, is Free Trade a good thing? When people come somewhere closer to the top, with actual human rights, with regulated monitoring. With Corporate investment into the communities they invade. Will that happen? I really don't know, in this world where you need consumers, it seems that the corps are killing their own businesses. Constantly fretting on this quarters bottom line and not foreseeing past that, the entire corporate structure is flawed in it's methods. When there were businessmen who wanted to achieve their dreams of highly sought after products, and the leading products in their respective fields amidst competition, they looked past a 3 month span. They invested in the future of their companies. In todays world we have a few CEO and board members who look to get the highest bonus and pay in very small sections of time. It's a losing proposition. Especially when no one can afford their products. Biofeul's using the food supply is a huge contributer to the food demand, but then again theres another story for another day...

Also read Part 1: "Free Trade's working victims, Bangladesh's workers cannot afford rice, John McCain on free trade"

Also: "The cost of food: facts and figures"

More links of Corporations in Haiti From Hartford Web Publishing

Disney/Nike Contractor Leaves Haiti for China

Campaign for Labor Rights, Action Alert, 8 August 1998. H.H. Cutler is planning to pull production out of Haiti to relocate to China. More than 2,000 badly needed jobs in Haiti could be lost. H.H. Cutler (a division of VF Corporation, one of the world's largest apparel companies) has sewn clothing in Haiti for the last several years under contract with the Walt Disney Company and Nike.

Disney/Haiti workers threatened

Labor Alerts, 26 October 1998. Concerning the Megatex factory in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, which produces clothing for the Disney company. The worker organization, Batay Ouvriye, reports that a factory supervicor threatened two union members at Megatex with firing and violence.

No work at Megatex; no answer from Disney

Campaign for Labor Rights, Labor Alerts, 16 May 1999. Megatex, a factory in Port-au-Prince which manufacturers clothing for Disney and other brands and which has been the focus of several previous labor alerts. The entire export production sector is spiraling down. Foreign capital is deserting the country. The company remains silent.

Haiti private sector decries ‘climate of terror’

By Michael Deibert, Reuters, 24 November 2002. In another blow to embattled President Jean-Bertrand Aristide, Haiti's largest private sector association blamed high authoritiesclimate of terror. The business group calls for the arrests of some government supporters. for allowing a

Betting on its brand name, Hilton sees a future in Haiti: Poor economy, protests fail to dim chain's vision

By Marika Lynch, The Miami Herald, Friday 20 December 2002. The walls are to be 15 feet tall in the planned Hilton D'Haiti in Port-au-Prince. The 196-unit, $52.5 million complex is shooting for a 2005 opening. The Hilton D'Haiti hopes to attract business people seeking to slip into the country and avoid the trek—and the safety risks—of heading downtown.

Farmers forced out as global brands build Haiti free-trade area

By Jacqui Goddard, Ouanaminthe, Haiti, The Sunday Times, 6 July 2003. The Maribahoux Plain is one of Haiti's most fertile agricultural regions. Located on Haiti's border with the Dominican Republic, it has a production capacity enough to feed half a million people. But under a scheme funded by the World Bank, 54 peasant farmers have been evicted to free up land for an industrial Free Trade Zone (FTZ).

Levi Strauss moving to Haiti; N. American plants closing in March

By Don Thomas, The Edmonton Journal, Saturday 4 October 2003. Levi Strauss closing its North American plants and ramping up production in Third World countries, including Haiti, the poorest nation in the western hemisphere. With help from the World Bank, Grupo M, the Dominican Republic's largest employer, has opened a plant in a free trade zone in nearby Haiti.

Labor Abuses At CINTAS Producing Factory in Haiti

UNITE, [21] October 2003. The working conditions of the women garment workers at a Cintas subcontractor, Haitian American Apparel Co. S.A. (or as workers call it, HAACOSA). Severe violation of Haitian Labor Codes and International Labor Standards, as well as Cintas' own Code of Conduct.

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Free Trade's working victims, Bangladesh's workers cannot afford rice, John McCain on free trade

I would call the price changes, which followed the high price of oil, as a crime against humanity - Dr Sajjad Zohir, Dhaka Economic Research Group

After 7 weeks, American Axle says the UAW offer to end the strike is not good enough, while it threatens to leave the USA for good.

Do you blame them if, thanks to "Free Trade", they can go to the lowest bidding country, where workers can not even afford to buy rice at $.40 a pound?

The American dream was sold out, at the end side of this article I add some information about Hillary's husband, her campaign strategist and John McCain's very ugly record's on protecting American workers.


Food lines have become longer as prices have gone up, Fights over food frequently break out in the queues

Bangladesh faces food crisis

From BBC (4/10/08) :

There is a simple enough way of judging how serious Bangladesh's food crisis has become this year - it is to count the changing number of people queuing up to buy government-subsidized rice each day.

As the weeks have passed and the sun above Dhaka has become stronger, so the queues are now forming earlier, and more and more people are joining them.

The shops are little more than bamboo and sheet-metal sheds set up on patches of waste ground, and the men working in them are soldiers of the Bangladesh Rifles. This unit's normal job is to guard the country's borders. But for months now it has been helping preserve the country's stability by selling cheap food to the poor.

The rice they sell is three-quarters of the market price.

Originally the shops saw the poorer class of people, the rickshaw pullers and day laborers, but recently the higher paid, such as teachers, security guards and government workers are on the line waiting to get rice from the government subsidized shops. Bangladesh is known for it's garment factories, whose clothes are exported to such outfits as Levis and H&M among others, but factory owners are reluctant to raise wages due to stay competitive with China.

Now you might think that we are talking a lot of money for rice, but in fact the wages are so low in the country that the working class must stay in line, often fighting with other people to get the staple food in their country, rice, for 3/4 of the going rate.

So, what exactly is the going rate*?

Almost 2 lb's of rice sells for around $0.94 United States dollars.

Even if the family needed 40 pounds of rice, at the regular price, thats only $20

Working class people, who are making the products which were once made in the United states are so underpaid by these multi-national corporations that they cannot even afford rice.

The shoppers are no longer just rickshaw pullers and day-labourers, as they were in January, but government workers, security guards and teachers.

Instead of two orderly queues, one of men, the other of women, there are now often four queues, and a scrum of frustrated people at the front.

"The price rise has been really hard on the people of Bangladesh," Milon Das, a primary school teacher, said.

"Though I am a teacher, my salary is low, and I cannot afford rice at the normal markets. This is our country's biggest problem."

Social unrest has been predicted if the situation worsens, predicts a former government minister

"There will be chaos, there will be demonstrations, there will be muggings, there will be hijackings, there will be strikes," Mohammed Akhtar Hossein, who works as a security guard at a luxury block of flats, said.

"If people don't have food in their stomachs they will go out into the streets to take whatever they can because they have to survive."

This is the cost of Free Trade

The cost of Free Trade, it is destroying the entire planet. Almost 500 textile mills in the United States have closed their doors for good here in America since Bill Clinton slammed the Bush written NAFTA into law against Congress, Bush Jr. has been adding Free Trade agreements all along, Now Bush has been trying to slam the Colombian Free Trade Agreement through Legislature and with a mostly partisan Congressional vote to slow the Fast Track status of the agreement, he almost accomplished his task.

I'm not saying that this is a Dem/Rep thing, but you can tell who stands to gain by the agreement, or is too stupid to realize that extending Free Trade to the absolute worst country for a worker isn't a good idea, you can see them by their NO vote to slow down the fast track decision on the Colombian Free Trade Agreement. Take a look at the tally here, Republicans are in italic.

As a matter of fact Bill Clinton has made a lot of money speaking in favor of Colombia Free Trade and Hillary's campaign strategist has been at meetings lobbying for the agreement.

John McCain is no winner either, he has stated he is a "free trader", he also voted in favor of NAFTA, CAFTA and other bad trade deals.

[1]McCain Has Voted for Every Other Bad Trade Agreement That Has Come Up. McCain votes in support of any and all trade agreements regardless of their negative impacts on U.S. workers. He voted for trade agreements with Oman, Singapore, Chile and Morocco, among others, as well as for Fast Track bills to make it easier for the president to enact trade agreements without strong worker protections.[2]

McCain in 1999: “I Would Negotiate a Free Trade Agreement with Almost Any Country.” “If I were president, I would negotiate a free trade agreement with almost any country willing to negotiate fairly with us.” [3]

And John McCain has not protected workers from the ill affects of these agreements

McCain Supported President Bush’s Outsourcing Efforts. McCain voted to allow overseas outsourcing of government contracts after President Bush’s economic advisers released a report saying America should outsource its jobs. [4]

McCain Voted Against Limiting Tax Breaks to Companies That Re-Import Foreign Manufactured Goods. He voted against a bill to tax multinational companies on income from foreign factories when goods are shipped back to the United States and to require companies to notify employees and give a reason before they move their jobs overseas. [5]

McCain Supported Waiving and Weakening Buy American Laws. McCain voted to allow the Secretary of Defense to waive Buy American laws for defense systems and place our defense manufacturing industry in jeopardy. He also voted to exempt defense goods from six European countries from Buy American requirements that traditionally have required most military equipment and defense systems to be manufactured in the United States. [6]

McCain Voted to Allow Unsafe Foreign Trucks on U.S. Roads. McCain voted against an amendment to prohibit Mexican trucks from operating beyond a limited border zone because they are not held to the same safety standards as U.S. trucks. [7]

McCain Abstained from Voting to Protect Steel Jobs. McCain abstained from a vote to filibuster a bill to protect steelworker jobs from illegal dumping after 10,000 steelworkers lost their jobs. [8]

McCain Voted Against Providing Health Insurance for Employees and Retirees of Bankrupt Steel Companies. McCain voted against a measure that provided temporary health insurance assistance to retirees of bankrupt steel companies. [9]

The EPI (Economic Policy Institute), states in part "since China entered the WTO in 2001, job loss has increased to an average of 353,000 per year. U.S. jobs"[1]

NAFTA was the beginning of the Global adjustment which we are all now seeing with our own eyes. Current administration bullying our jobs away with henchmen on both sides are doing everything in their power to make it worse.

---

Notes: *from the above article "The price of a kilogram of coarse rice, the staple food of Bangladesh's poor, has more than doubled over the past 12 months, to about $0.60 (30p)."
.60 Euros = 0.94938 U.S. dollars
1 kilogram = 35.2739619 ounces
[1] John McCain Revealed [2] S. 33569, Vote #190, 6/29/06; H.R. 2739, Vote #318, 7/31/03; H.R. 2738, Vote #319, 7/31/03; H.R. 434, Vote #353, 11/3/99; H.R. 3009, Vote #115, 5/16/02, Vote #117, 5/21/02, Vote #207, 8/1/02; S. 1269, Vote #292, 11/4/97 [3] (Speech to the National Press Club, 5/20/99) [4] S.1637, Vote #32, 3/4/04 [5] S.1637, Vote #83, 5/5/04 [6] S. 2400, Vote #135, 6/22/04; S. 1050, Vote #191, 5/21/03 [7] H.R. 2299, Vote #252, 7/26/01 [8] H.R. 975, Vote #178, 6/22/99 [9] S.Amdt. 3433, Vote #117, 5/21/02

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Colombia Free Trade Agreement off the fast track

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) says the time limit should be lifted because Congress and the president should be focusing their energy on the needs of America’s working families as the economy staggers toward a recession, not on the flawed trade deal.

It is chilling to think how this measure by the House to fast track the Colombia FTA was defeated by only 29 votes, 195 mostly Republican Reps voted to make this thing happen on the Bush fast track. That means 195 people who we elected don't think that this is worth investigation. You can see who's-who here

*Click here for more Videos and info

Here's Mike Halls' AFL-CIO WebBlog Post from (4/10/08) :

House Takes Colombia Trade Deal Out of Fast Track

The U.S. House of Representatives, this afternoon, told President Bush there will be no Fast Track for his flawed U.S.-Colombia Free Trade Agreement (FTA). By a 224–195 vote, the House removed Fast Track’s 90-day deadline for an up or down vote on the deal.

The vote will delay consideration of the deal indefinitely, probably until Bush leaves office in January.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) says the time limit should be lifted because Congress and the president should be focusing their energy on the needs of America’s working families as the economy staggers toward a recession, not on the flawed trade deal.

AFL-CIO President John Sweeney has called Bush’s push for the Colombia trade deal “an outrageous disregard for basic human and workers’ rights” that, if passed, would “reward murder.”

The violence against trade union members in Colombia has claimed more than 2,500 lives since 1986, including 39 murdered in 2007, and another 17 killed so far in 2008—a rate of more than one a week. Yet the Colombian government has obtained convictions in less than 3 percent of the cases and has done little to stop the bloodshed or guarantee worker and human rights in the country.

Said AFL-CIO President John Sweeney:

The AFL-CIO position on the Colombia FTA remains unchanged: The violence, murders, impunity, and violations of workers’ rights in Colombia must end. Until and unless the Colombian government achieves sustained results on the ground to that effect, the AFL-CIO will muster all its resources in opposition to this agreement.

Because the Colombia deal was negotiated under the now-expired Trade Promotion Authority or Fast Track, it normally would have had to be voted within 90 legislative days, but Pelosi said the House has the right to set its own rules.

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Support working mothers this Mother's Day

By U.S. Labor Education in the Americas Project:



Show your love for working mothers this Mother’s Day!

Instead of getting your mom chocolates or flowers again this year, think about making a donation in her name to support the basic rights of working mothers in Latin America. The US Labor Education in the America Project (USLEAP) has designed two beautiful Mother’s Day cards, each featuring a photo of a Colombian flower worker and her child. In exchange for a $25 donation to USLEAP’s Flower Worker Economic Justice Campaign, your mother will receive a card in the mail, with a personalized message from you inside.

On the back of the card, she can read about women who work in the flower industry in Colombia, which ships nearly all of its flowers to the United States. About 60% of flowers sold in the U.S. are imported from Colombia, and the majority of workers on Colombian flower plantations are women.

In the weeks leading up to Mother’s Day, flower workers are often required to work 12-15 hour days with few breaks and are subjected to increased productivity quotas. Flower workers routinely undergo repetitive stress injuries, health problems related to over-exposure to pesticides, and humiliating and degrading treatment by management. Workers seeking to form a union in Colombia face bureaucratic hurdles, violence, and harassment, and as a result there are currently no contracts held by independent unions in the flower sector.

Sending this card will say to your mom that you care about her, but also that you care about the rights of all mothers.

Place your Mother’s Day Card order now at: http://www.usleap.org/mothers_day_card

With your donation, USLEAP will be able to continue our support for flower workers in Colombia, where women are subjected to labor rights violations as well as violations of their rights as women. To read more about our flower campaign, please visit our website:

www.USLEAP.org

The U.S. Labor Education in the Americas Project (USLEAP) is an independent non-profit organization that supports workers who are fighting for a better life for their families and to overcome poverty in Latin America.

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Act Now to stop the Colombia Free Trade Agreement and the Clinton involvement

UPDATED-> Colombia Free Trade Agreement off the fast track (4/11/08)

In Colombia it's outright dangerous to be a unionist, while some claim that only 39 union leaders were killed last year is a good thing, we here at Joe's union Review tend to think differently. It' s Now Or Never People, I called the desk of Hillary Clinton and had to leave a message, there are 3 E-Action campaign's, get involved before it's too late.

The Scoop From AFL-CIO

House Set to Vote on Removing Fast Track Timetable from Colombia Trade Deal

by Mike Hall, Apr 9, 2008

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) announced that tomorrow the House will vote to lift the 90-day Fast Track time limit for the House to vote on the Colombia Free Trade Agreement (FTA) that President Bush sent to Congress yesterday.

Pelosi said Congress and the president should be focusing their energy on the needs of America’s working families during these precarious economic times, not on the flawed trade deal. She told reporters she told Bush on Monday that:

we really had to continue our conversation about addressing the economic concerns of America’s working families.

Says AFL-CIO President John Sweeney:

We agree with Speaker Pelosi that Congress must keep a hard focus on the economic crisis facing America’s working families—and certainly before consideration of another flawed trade deal. We applaud her for taking decisive action to reassert congressional authority over trade.

Read Full Story

From the E-mail box

American Rights At Work

Dear Joseph, Urgent: First Vote Tomorrow Say NO to Fast-Tracking the Colombia "Free" Trade Agreement Write Your Reps. Now! There's little in life that's free. You’re savvy enough to look for the hidden costs, or the catch. Americans now know the catch in "free" trade agreements like NAFTA and CAFTA. The hidden costs of these pacts took a tremendous toll: 1 million jobs disappeared, countless communities collapsed, and workers' rights were exploited at home and abroad. 1 But now George W. Bush and Elaine Chao, the Secretary of Labor, want another "free" trade deal, this time with Colombia. To make matters worse, Bush wants to unilaterally "fast-track" this agreement in 90 days. The first vote takes place tomorrow in the House of Representatives. Tell your Members of Congress and Secretary Elaine Chao that you oppose the Colombia free trade agreement. We can stop this. http://action.americanrightsatwork.org/campaign/colombia_fta_chao/8kkg6bn207nw3jnw? Outside of the obvious negative consequences for the United States, the Colombian free trade agreement (FTA) fails to meaningfully address a severe Colombian crisis: union members there are regularly assassinated. Violent incidents against union members are pervasive in Colombia, and the country's president has done little to stop the attacks. Since 1991, at least 2,245 union members have been killed for supporting a union, including 18 deaths already in 2008. 2 Believe it or not, Elaine Chao doesn't seem to think that's a problem. She even had the gall to suggest that because fewer union members are being killed than in previous years, we should implement the trade agreement - without putting in place real protections to stop violence against union members. 3 Voice your opposition to the Colombia free trade agreement - write to your representatives and Elaine Chao now: http://action.americanrightsatwork.org/campaign/colombia_fta_chao/8kkg6bn207nw3jnw? You've heard from me before about the sorry state of labor law in the United States; most of America's workers never get a free and fair chance to join a union because of threats, intimidation, and misinformation from their employers. But as bad as America's workers have it, Colombia's aspiring union members literally put their lives on the line to have a voice at work. This is an unacceptable situation, and the United States should not engage in agreements with leaders who overlook serious issues like the assassination of union members. With Bush threatening to unilaterally pass this agreement in less than three months, your voice is needed to take away his power to do so. Please write to your representatives now. Thanks for all you do for workers everywhere. Sincerely, Liz Cattaneo American Rights at Work www.americanrightsatwork.org Sources: 1. Revisiting NAFTA, report by Economic Policy Institute, 9/06: http://www.epi.org/content.cfm/bp173 2. Labor Rights and Freedom of Association in Colombia, report by the Colombian Trade Union Federations, 10/07: http://www.aflcio.org/issues/jobseconomy/globaleconomy/upload/colombianlabor_english.pdf 3. Department of Commerce press release, 2/27/08: http://www.commerce.gov/NewsRoom/PressReleases_FactSheets/PROD01_005275

Visit the web address below to tell your friends about American Rights at Work. Tell-a-friend!

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From (4/8/08)

AFL-CIO Working Families E-Activist Network

Dear Joseph, President Bush is demanding a vote on the U.S.-Colombia Free Trade Agreement (FTA) before he leaves office next year. The Colombia FTA is wrong for workers both in the United States and Colombia. Tell your senators and representative that you OPPOSE the Colombia Free Trade Agreement and that they should, too. Use our toll-free number to do so today: 1-866-338-5720 And please click here to let us know how your lawmakers plan to vote on the Colombia FTA. With the U.S. economy in near free fall, President Bush has sent the U.S.-Colombia Free Trade Agreement (FTA) to Capitol Hill—Bush wants to force a vote before he leaves office next January. The all-out, nationwide mobilization to let members of Congress know that working Americans oppose this deal begins today. As the fight gears up, we need to know whose side your members of Congress are on. Call your senators and representative today to ask if they will side with workers and oppose the Colombia FTA. The call is toll free: 1-866-338-5720 We need you to report back to us: Click here to let us know how your lawmakers will vote. The deal is wrong for workers in both countries. Bush has made passing this agreement a priority, even though it will do next to nothing for the failing U.S. economy. The Colombia FTA represents a continuation of the Bush administration’s failed trade policies, an agenda that has contributed to the loss of more than 3 million manufacturing jobs since 2000, skyrocketing trade deficits and shrinking paychecks. Colombia remains the most dangerous country in the world for union members—39 trade unionists were murdered in 2007 and another 17 to date in 2008. Of the more than 2,500 murders of trade unionists since 1986, only some 70 cases—about 3 percent—have resulted in convictions. Balanced trade agreements must guarantee the right to organize, lift the lives of workers in both countries and prevent exploitation. But this can’t happen in a country where workers who try to organize are killed. Colombia’s government has thwarted workers' right to organize and bargain collectively—by weakening labor protections, refusing to register legitimate unions and failing to enforce the law against anti-union discrimination. Remember to call your representative and senators today. Tell them to oppose the Colombia FTA: 1-866-338-5720. In solidarity, Working Families e-Activist Network, AFL-CIO P.S. Please tell your friends to call the U.S. House and Senate today at 1-866-338-5720. Together, we can stop the Colombia FTA.

Click the link below to tell your friends about this campaign. Tell-a-friend!

From (4/4/08)

LabourStart

It has been nearly a month since the murder of Leonidas Gomez Rozo, a leader of the National Union of Bank Workers of Colombia.

His murder in early March was one of several violent attacks against trade unionists in that country -- many of which have been highlighted on LabourStart's Colombia news page recently.

Today we've been asked by UNI Global Union -- a global union federation to which Rozo's union was affiliated -- to flood Colombian embassies around the world with messages of protest next week.

Please send off your message by clicking here. And spread the word.

Thanks.

Eric Lee

More News,

Working Life - "Killing In The Name Of So-Called "Free Trade" (UPDATED)" (4/7/08)

I keep thinking that there will be a limit on how far thinking people will go to turn a blind eye to the death and misery brought to us courtesy of so-called "free trade". But, lo and behold, every day brings new wonders at the capacity of our government, and its servants in the "free market", to ignore reality in the service of profits and "efficiency" and "low costs". Prepare yourself for another example coming down the pipeline this week when the Administration tries to ram another so-called "free trade" deal down the throats of the Congress—-and down the throats of the American people.

The uproar over Mark Penn’s work for the Colombian government, and his resignation from the Clinton campaign, has partly obscured the content of the issue (most of the traditional media and, frankly, progressive media and blogs, have been far more focused on Penn and the political/electoral insider story than the actual Colombia deal). This pact, which is in a whole lot of trouble, as it should be, is awful for a variety of reasons. But, the main one is this: union activists and leaders have a funny way of ending up dead in Colombia, courtesy of death squads that have been linked to the government.

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The Clinton Involvement

Change To Win "Mark Penn Thinks You Are Really Dumb" (4/9/08)

... dumb enough to believe that he has been fired from Hillary Clinton's campaign staff, when in fact he has just had his job title changed.

I posted about this yesterday, of course, but since that post went live the evidence of Penn's non-dismissal continues to mount.

Sam Stein at the Huffington Post reports "Mark Penn Speaks (In Private): Will Still Advise Clintons, Calms Nervous Aides":

Mark Penn, who resigned over the weekend as the Clinton campaign's chief strategist, went into full damage control mode on Monday, hosting a conference call with Burson Marsteller's managing directors to persuade them that the fallout from his resignation was both overblown and would soon pass.

Peppered with questions from colleagues -- one mentioned her "pretty panicked client," another asked bluntly, "Ultimately did you think that it was the best thing for the company [to work for Clinton's campaign]?" -- Penn insisted that "the situation has played itself out."

But he confirmed that while his title with the campaign had changed -- and his work load would undoubtedly decrease -- he still would play a direct advisory role for Clinton.

Karen Tumulty at Time Magazine reports "Mark Penn is Not Out":

Two sources confirm Marc Ambinder's scoop that Penn was on the campaign's message-of-the-day call this morning, and was involved in debate preparation this afternoon.

Tom DeFrank and Michael McAuliff at the New York Daily News report "Mark Penn still in Clinton loop: source":

Hillary Clinton's political guru may have been pushed from the top spot in her campaign, but he didn't land in the grave.

Despite embarrassing the White House hopeful by consulting for the Colombian government on a U.S. trade agreement she opposes, Mark Penn remains "very much in the loop," a Clinton source said...

"Reports of Mark's death are greatly exaggerated," said a Penn confidant.

"You don't break a circle like that easily and quickly," a senior Clinton adviser agreed.

So the message to insiders is: Penn's not going anywhere, just wait a few days for the public to stop paying attention and everything will be back to Business As Usual.

That's disappointing.

Don't be a Mark Penn -- help stop the Colombia "free" trade agreement! Fair trade supporters across America are writing to their Members of Congress today urging them to oppose this deeply flawed agreement. Use our easy online form to write your Members and help send the Mark Penns of the world packing.

Huffington Post "Bill Clinton's Ties To Colombia Trade Deal Stronger Than Even Penn's" (4/8/08)

On Sunday evening, Sen. Hillary Clinton's chief campaign strategist, Mark Penn, resigned from his post after it was revealed he was working (on the side) for the passage of a Colombia Free Trade Agreement that his candidate opposed.

But within the Clinton campaign, Penn is not the highest-ranking adviser with financial ties to groups and individuals supporting the passage of the measure.

Former President Bill Clinton has earned hundreds of thousands of dollars speaking on behalf of a Colombia-based group pushing the trade pact, and representatives of that organization tell The Huffington Post that the former president shared their sentiment.

In June 2005, Clinton was paid $800,000 by the Colombia-based Gold Service International to give four speeches throughout Latin America. The organization is, ostensibly, a development group tasked with bringing investment to the country and educating world leaders about the Colombia's business opportunities.

The group's chief operating officer, Andres Franco, said in an interview that the group supports the congressional ratification of the free trade agreement and that, when Clinton was on his speaking tour, he expressed similar opinions.

"He was supportive of the trade agreement at the time that he came, but that was several years ago. In the present context, I don't know what his position would be. It is not only about union trade rights. It is about what benefit or damage it can do to the US economy," said Franco. "Events with the Clinton campaign [concerning Mark Penn] are not good at all for the trade agreement... Right now it became a campaign issues and that is sad, because it needs to go through."

The comments were supported by a June 23, 2005 article from the news portal Terra (uncovered by Ben Smith at Politico) in which Clinton offered unambiguous support for the free trade agreement with Colombia.

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Another trade union leader killed in Colombia, why does our administration insist on Colombian FTA?