So-called ?free trade? policies likely have cost Minnesota thousands of manufacturing jobs more than previously reported and threaten to wipe out thousands of more jobs connected with the region?s sugarbeet industry.

That was the message Thursday at two concurrent news conferences at the Minnesota State Capitol, one organized by the Minnesota AFL-CIO and another organized by businesses, sugar beet growers and unions from Minnesota and North Dakota.

Detailed AFL-CIO studies in four other states suggest that recent trade-related job losses in Minnesota could be much higher than currently reported, state and national AFL-CIO representatives said, citing new research by the AFL-CIO Industrial Union Council?s Job Export Database Project.

?Between January 2001 and August 2004, Minnesota lost more than one in nine of its manufacturing jobs,? said Bob Baugh, executive director of the AFL-CIO Industrial Union Council. That represents a loss of 45,400 manufacturing jobs.

Robert Baugh

As reported by U.S. Department of Labor, trade-related job losses in Minnesota represent about one-third of the mass lay-offs and one-quarter of all lay-offs. But ?this is just the tip of the iceberg,? Baugh said. ?The system is incredibly flawed tracking what?s happened.?

In Ohio, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania and Washington, Baugh reported, ?we found trade-related job losses in those states runs from more than 50 percent up to almost 90 percent of all manufacturing layoffs.?

Trade-related job loss
Those higher percentages for trade-related job losses were documented by tracking public media reports, trade association reports and other job loss data, Baugh said, not just the Transitional Adjustment Assistance (TAA) aid figures used by the Labor Department to track job losses from the North American Free Trade Act (NAFTA).

?My expectation is the number in Minnesota would certainly rise above 50 percent,? Baugh said. He emphasized that the report released yesterday was preliminary and that his office is now engaged in the detailed research for Minnesota that the Job Export Database Project completed in the four other states.

?We did this report because we wanted to make a wake-up call to policy-makers,? Baugh said. ?There are thousands of jobs in manufacturing and other industries that? are being shipped overseas but are not being documented by the state of the U.S. Labor Department.?

?We need to remember that each of those numbers is a face, a family, sometimes an entire community,? said Steve Hunter, secretary-treasurer of the Minnesota AFL-CIO.

Sugar beets and CAFTA
Meanwhile, just a few steps away in the State Capitol rotunda, business leaders, sugar beet growers and union leaders were highlighting fears about the community impact and potential job losses from the proposed Central America Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA).

The news conference showcased nearly 26,000 names on petitions opposed to CAFTA, which were mounted for display on 22 four foot wide by eight foot tall plywood panels.

Copies of the petitions also sat stacked in boxes ready to be sent to President George W. Bush, presidential candidate John Kerry, and the Minnesota Congressional delegation.

?We feel nearly 26,000 signatures is a powerful statement: Don?t trade away the jobs of our family, friends, neighbors,? said Victor Krabbenhoft, board chair of the Minn-DAK Farmers Cooperative. ?Farmers, business people and unions have come together to fight for our industry.?

Organized as the Midwest Fair Trade Coalition, the group fears that cheap sugar imports likely to result from adopting CAFTA could devastate the $3 billion sugarbeet industry in Minnesota and North Dakota, which supports 32,000 jobs.

?Every town throughout our sugarbeet production area will feel the pinch of CAFTA,? said Randall Billmeier, Willmar, president of Local 369G of the Bakery Confectionary Tobacco Grain Millers International Union, which represents workers at the Southern Minnesota Beet Sugar Cooperative in Renville, Minn.

?We have a great area to live in and raise a family. We need to keep it that way.?

?Yes, I do believe trade is good,? Billmeier said. ?Trade is what builds the economies of every country, rich or poor. But it must be fair trade, not agreements that simply permit the dumping of cheap surplus products into our U.S. marketplace.?

The news conference showcased sugar beet products and petitions bearing the names and signatures of 26,000 people opposing CAFTA. Speakers included Jennifer Weichert, a representative of Hawkins, Inc., which trucks supplies for the beet industry; Victor Krabbenhoft (left), chair of the board of the Minn-Dak Farmers Cooperative; and Randy Billmeier, president of Local 369G of the Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco & Grain Millers union. Labor Review photo

?CAFTA unnecessarily puts at risk the sugarbeet industry, which provides thousands of jobs,? said Jennifer Weichert, a representative of Hawkins, Inc. , a Minneapolis-based company which supplies the sugarbeet industry. ?CAFTA is all about whether we have a thriving agriculture industry in our state and a thriving support sector.?

?We cannot afford to pass CAFTA at the expense of American jobs,? she said.

?In a lame duck session [of Congress], we may well be seeing consideration of CAFTA,? the Minnesota AFL-CIO?s Steve Hunter said. ?No matter who wins the election, trade is going to be a big issue.?

A school group toured the Capitol rotunda after the news conference, where the backdrop was a display of 22 large panels filled with 26,000 signatures gathered on petitions opposing CAFTA. Labor Review photo

For more information:
The AFL-CIO?s report on job losses may be found at www.aflcio.org
The sugarbeet industry?s opposition to CAFTA may be explored at www.mdfarmerscoop.com
Read more in the Workday Minnesota special section, Understanding the Global Economy

Steve Share edits the Minneapolis Labor Review, the official publication of the Minneapolis Central Labor Union Council. E-mail him at laborreview@mplscluc.com