Carrying signs and banners that read “Fair Trade Now!” more than 100 people crossed the Ford Bridge between Minneapolis and St. Paul and marched to a rally at the United Auto Workers Local 879 hall. They called on Congress to pass the TRADE Act, legislation that would require trade agreements to protect workers, the environment, consumers and others.
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| Marchers crossed the Ford Bridge over the Mississippi River connecting Minneapolis and St. Paul. |
“We understand that American workers are part of a global economy,” Congressman Keith Ellison told marchers. “But we can’t participate in a global economy that destroys human rights, that depends on child labor and destruction of the environment.”
The march and rally, organized by the Minnesota Fair Trade Coalition, ended a “Seattle +10 Week of Action” that included teach-ins and discussions to commemorate the 10th anniversary of the protests that shut down the 1999 World Trade Organization talks in Seattle.
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| Larry Weiss |
Weiss, the former coordinator of the Minnesota Fair Trade Coalition and the former director of the national Citizens Trade Campaign, said it is time for efforts to move to a new level.
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Since the passage of NAFTA, the North American Free Trade Agreement, in 1993, activists have concentrated on stopping bad trade agreements. In recent years, they have halted action on several pacts, including the Free Trade Area of the Americas. The TRADE Act (The Trade Reform, Accountability, Development and Employment Act of 2009) provides the opportunity to champion a positive vision for the global economy, Weiss said.The Act, which already has more than 130 co-sponsors in Congress, sets forth food and product safety; environmental and labor standards; federalism protections; agriculture rules and other provisions that must be included in all American trade pacts. It calls for previous pacts to be reviewed and, if necessary, re-negotiated to include these provisions. And it opens up the previously closed trade process to closer scrutiny by Congress.
Speakers at the rally emphasized how different organizations are working together on issues of economic and social justice. Auto Worker Lynn Hinkle said unions and environmental groups are challenging the deindustrialization of the United States and calling for the creation of “green jobs” to produce wind turbines, solar panels, electric vehicles and other products.
Ashley Gaschk, a student at University of Minnesota-Morris and a member of United Students Against Sweatshops, described the successful effort by students across the country to change the anti-labor practices of Russell Athletic. Under pressure from students, 96 American universities, including the University of Minnesota, the entire University of California system and most of the Big Ten and Ivy League schools, suspended or severed ties with Russell, a major supplier of college logo t-shirts and sweatshirts.
Last month, the company announced it was re-opening a factory in Honduras that it had closed and was recognizing the workers’ union.
“It was a great victory,” Gaschk told the crowd at the UAW hall. “It really gives me new hope.”
For more information
Visit the websites of the Minnesota Fair Trade Coalition and the Citizens Trade Campaign.
More photos
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| Erik Davis, a member of the Industrial Workers of the World, led marchers in song before they trekked from Minnehaha Park to the UAW hall. | Congressman Keith Ellison told participants they are showing leadership by speaking out for a just global economy. |
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| Marchers pass Ford Motor Company\'s Twin Cities Assembly plant, which manufactures Ford Ranger trucks. Jobs at the plant, which is slated to close, have been threatened by unfair trade deals. |
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| Josh Whitney-Wise of the Service Employees International Union leads marchers in chants outside the UAW hall. |
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| United Auto Worker Dave Perkins welcomed marchers to the Local 879 hall. | Minnesota Fair Trade Coalition coordinator Alicia Ranney briefed participants on the TRADE Act. |
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Carrying signs and banners that read “Fair Trade Now!” more than 100 people crossed the Ford Bridge between Minneapolis and St. Paul and marched to a rally at the United Auto Workers Local 879 hall. They called on Congress to pass the TRADE Act, legislation that would require trade agreements to protect workers, the environment, consumers and others.
|
| Marchers crossed the Ford Bridge over the Mississippi River connecting Minneapolis and St. Paul. |
“We understand that American workers are part of a global economy,” Congressman Keith Ellison told marchers. “But we can’t participate in a global economy that destroys human rights, that depends on child labor and destruction of the environment.”
The march and rally, organized by the Minnesota Fair Trade Coalition, ended a “Seattle +10 Week of Action” that included teach-ins and discussions to commemorate the 10th anniversary of the protests that shut down the 1999 World Trade Organization talks in Seattle.
|
| Larry Weiss |
In the past decade, environmentalists, union members, family farmers and faith and social justice activists have built a movement “to establish a just global economy that would raise living standards everywhere,” said Larry Weiss, keynote speaker at the rally.
Weiss, the former coordinator of the Minnesota Fair Trade Coalition and the former director of the national Citizens Trade Campaign, said it is time for efforts to move to a new level.
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Since the passage of NAFTA, the North American Free Trade Agreement, in 1993, activists have concentrated on stopping bad trade agreements. In recent years, they have halted action on several pacts, including the Free Trade Area of the Americas. The TRADE Act (The Trade Reform, Accountability, Development and Employment Act of 2009) provides the opportunity to champion a positive vision for the global economy, Weiss said.
The Act, which already has more than 130 co-sponsors in Congress, sets forth food and product safety; environmental and labor standards; federalism protections; agriculture rules and other provisions that must be included in all American trade pacts. It calls for previous pacts to be reviewed and, if necessary, re-negotiated to include these provisions. And it opens up the previously closed trade process to closer scrutiny by Congress.
Speakers at the rally emphasized how different organizations are working together on issues of economic and social justice. Auto Worker Lynn Hinkle said unions and environmental groups are challenging the deindustrialization of the United States and calling for the creation of “green jobs” to produce wind turbines, solar panels, electric vehicles and other products.
Ashley Gaschk, a student at University of Minnesota-Morris and a member of United Students Against Sweatshops, described the successful effort by students across the country to change the anti-labor practices of Russell Athletic. Under pressure from students, 96 American universities, including the University of Minnesota, the entire University of California system and most of the Big Ten and Ivy League schools, suspended or severed ties with Russell, a major supplier of college logo t-shirts and sweatshirts.
Last month, the company announced it was re-opening a factory in Honduras that it had closed and was recognizing the workers’ union.
“It was a great victory,” Gaschk told the crowd at the UAW hall. “It really gives me new hope.”
For more information
Visit the websites of the Minnesota Fair Trade Coalition and the Citizens Trade Campaign.
More photos
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|
|
| Erik Davis, a member of the Industrial Workers of the World, led marchers in song before they trekked from Minnehaha Park to the UAW hall. | Congressman Keith Ellison told participants they are showing leadership by speaking out for a just global economy. |
|
| Marchers pass Ford Motor Company\’s Twin Cities Assembly plant, which manufactures Ford Ranger trucks. Jobs at the plant, which is slated to close, have been threatened by unfair trade deals. |
|
| Josh Whitney-Wise of the Service Employees International Union leads marchers in chants outside the UAW hall. |
|
|
| United Auto Worker Dave Perkins welcomed marchers to the Local 879 hall. | Minnesota Fair Trade Coalition coordinator Alicia Ranney briefed participants on the TRADE Act. |