It’s all about jobs: Coalition spotlights candidates’ records on trade

“Jobs are on everybody’s mind, but there seems to be a disconnect when it comes to why jobs have left our country,” notes Jessica Lettween, director of the Minnesota Fair Trade Coalition. “It mostly comes down to our trade agreements have not supported small businesses and workers in this country and have mostly been written for the multinational corporations that have off-shored our jobs to take advantage of weaker environmental standards and lower wages.”

The coalition is working to educate voters about the connection between trade and jobs, holding events recently at the offices of U.S. Representatives Erik Paulsen, R-3rd District, and Michele Bachmann, R-6th District, highlighting their support for unfair trade deals. Both representatives are up for re-election Nov. 2.

Members of the Minnesota Fair Trade Coalition sent a message to Congresswoman Michele Bachmann at a demonstration outside her St. Cloud office. Photo courtesy of the Minnesota Fair Trade Coalition

Both voted against federal legislation to require China to reform its currency laws and stop the flood of cheap Chinese imports due to unfair competition. Both have supported trade deals that benefit corporations while undercutting standards for workers in the United States and abroad.

The Fair Trade Coalition, whose members include more than 40 labor, environmental, family farm and social justice organizations, supports federal legislation – called the TRADE Act – that would require a re-examination of all existing trade agreements and institute provisions to protect workers, consumers and the environment. The coalition is putting pressure on the members of Minnesota’s Congressional delegation to become sponsors of the TRADE Act, including coordinating phone calls to U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., urging her to sign on. Her colleague, Al Franken, is a co-sponsor.

Bipartisan concern
Trade’s effect on jobs is as an issue that crosses party lines, Lettween said. “More and more people from both parties are getting really angry about trade.”

A recent NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll found broad-based concern. The poll showed that 69 percent of Americans believe free trade agreements with other countries have cost jobs in the United States, while just 18 percent believe they have created jobs. A 53 percent majority — up from 46 percent three years ago and 30 percent in 1999 — believes that trade agreements have hurt the nation overall.

“Moreover, that rising skepticism extends across the political spectrum — a sign that continued trade expansion may be no easier for Republican leaders to promote if they regain control of Congress than it has been for Democrats,” NBC reported.

While the topic of trade isn’t dinner table conversation for most people, they quickly make the connection when coalition members share some statistics, Lettween said.

According to an Economic Policy Institute report issued earlier this year, Minnesota ranks No. 6 in job loss to China by share of total state employment, with almost 60,000 Minnesota jobs lost to that country since 2001.

Minnesota has lost more than 50,000 manufacturing jobs since NAFTA, the North American Free Trade Agreement, went into effect in 1994, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

The Economic Policy Institute estimates nearly a half million Minnesota jobs have the potential to be off-shored or out-sourced under unfair trade agreements.

“Those are some big numbers,” said Lettween. “We’re trying to emphasize with people that it’s not just manufacturing jobs anymore that are going to other countries. It’s white collar jobs, service sector jobs and a number of clean energy jobs” which have been touted as the future for the U.S. economy.

Armed with information
The coalition believes information is key to countering these trends and is promoting tools such as the “Job Tracker” database launched earlier this month by Working America and the AFL-CIO.

Visitors to the Job Tracker site can search by zip code, company and industry to see where companies are exporting jobs and laying off workers due to imbalanced trade agreements. The database draws from sources including the U.S. Department of Labor’s Trade Adjustment Assistance records, Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) Act notices, Occupational Safety Health Administration records and more. The site also enables visitors to use Facebook, Twitter and email to report companies exporting jobs in their communities.

In addition to supporting the TRADE Act, the Fair Trade Coalition is raising the alarm about three pending free trade agreements with Colombia, Panama and South Korea that threaten U.S. jobs and fail to raise standards abroad.

For more information

Visit the Minnesota Fair Trade Coalition website

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