WHEREAS:

Because the U.S. is by far the most influential force in the world economy and its international institutions, its policies determine the rules for global trade and integration; and

WHEREAS:

To the extent that trading relationships among nations play a role in distributing the fruits of economic growth, the labor movement is concerned with who will benefit—the tiny number of people on the top rungs of the economic ladder or the vast numbers of working people at the bottom and middle rungs; and

WHEREAS:

The model which the U.S. has promoted in recently-signed trade agreements such as the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) with the World Trade Organization (WTO), and in pending trade agreements is less dedicated to the goal of raising worldwide living standards than it is to abetting multinational corporations in their search for cheap, repressed labor; and

WHEREAS:

The issue is not whether nations should be engaged in economic activity internationally, but how to be engaged so that trade is beneficial to workers and how such benefits are equitably distributed; and

WHEREAS:

The experience after four years of NAFTA is proof that the NAFTA model does not bring prosperity. By 1995, Mexico was plunged into a depression, the value of the peso collapsed, two million people lost their jobs and real wages in Mexico—which were already one-tenth of U.S. wages—fell about 30 percent. Rather than expanding trade with the U.S., imports from the U.S. fell, eliminating almost 400,000 U.S. jobs, of which only about 200,000 were offset by increased exports; and

WHEREAS:

The labor side agreement in NAFTA has proved totally ineffective. Even for proven violations of a nation’s own laws concerning fundamental labor rights, such as freedom of association and collective bargaining, there is no legal sanction at all and only meaningless "consultation" between officials; and

WHEREAS:

The failure of the Clinton Administration to secure the necessary votes for "Fast Track," a procedure that prohibits Congress from amending trade agreements and limits debate on them, revealed that the experience under NAFTA turned the majority of House of Representatives against "Fast Track;" and

WHEREAS:

Since 1995, the United States State Department has been leading a virtually secret effort to negotiate among the world’s 29 richest nations the Multinational Agreement on Investment (MAI), which is designed to limit the ability of any government (federal, state, or local) to regulate foreign investors (individuals and corporations) and their investments, be they owners of stock, factories or real estate; and

WHEREAS:

The MAI would elevate business interests to a status equal to that of a national government by limiting the right of governments to regulate business and granting business the right to sue governments in international court to enforce their new freedom from regulation. The MAI grants not one single right to workers and excludes workers and their representatives from the international courts where the treaty would be interpreted; and

WHEREAS:

The MAI would restrict the ability of state and local governments to use their purchasing and regulatory powers to develop local economies and aid low-wage workers, as well as prohibit state and local governments from boycotting companies because they do business in or are headquartered in a particular country. In fact, investors could sue in an international court if a local government refused to purchase goods from a company that does business in a country with unacceptable labor, human rights or environmental practices such as Burma or apartheid-era South Africa.

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED:

That AFSCME will oppose any trade agreement which does not contain basic worker rights guaranteed through enforceable sanction mechanisms and does not retain the power of state and local governments to adopt economic, labor, environmental and human rights policies that benefit working families. Future negotiations over trade agreements must result in guarantees concerning freedom of association and the right to bargain collectively. Insuring that both government and employer interference in the legitimate rights of workers to join unions is prohibited will create a climate of labor stability, and not one of fear of being replaced. Prohibitions on forced labor and discrimination in employment must be included. Negotiations must also seek to carefully delineate rules and regulations to insure a safe and healthy workplace, to prevent child labor and to establish appropriate standards concerning hours of work and minimum wage levels; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED:

That AFSCME call upon the U.S. Government to reject the MAI and the wholesale transfer of rights from state, local and federal governments to international business; and continue to work in solidarity with the AFL-CIO, Public Services International (PSI) and their affiliated unions to strengthen international opposition to the treaty; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED:

That AFSCME join with other labor, environmental, and citizen organizations across the globe to fight for the transparency of investment and trade negotiations, making them open to all citizens, with public availability of draft texts, country positions and schedules; and

BE IT FINALLY RESOLVED:

That new international trade and investment agreements must make it possible for agricultural, industrial and public sector workers to receive their "just" share of the benefit of increased productivity and economic expansion.

SUBMITTED BY:

Alice Goff, President and Delegate
Carmen Hayes-Walker, Recording Secretary and Delegate 
AFSCME Local 3090, Council 36
California