In a rally at the state Capitol and a protest outside U.S. Senator Norm Coleman's Minnesota office, labor and environmental groups Thursday voiced their opposition to CAFTA, the proposed Central American Free Trade Agreement. They called on elected officials to invest in good jobs and a clean environment.

"We are going to focus today on passing trade deals in this global economy that work for working people, that work for the environment," said Josh Syrjamaki, staff of the United Steelworkers of America and a member of the Minnesota Blue Green Alliance, which organized the events. The alliance is a coalition of labor and environmental groups seeking to promote both good-paying jobs and environmentally safe economic development.

Several dozen Blue Green members rallied in the state Capitol Rotunda Thursday, then later were joined by scores of other people in protesting CAFTA outside Coleman's office. The Bush administration is hoping Congress will approve CAFTA this spring.

Alliance members say current trade policy is moving the United States backward, at the same time the nation should be aggressively investing in new, clean technologies.

Environmentalist Diane McKeown and farmer Dennis Sjodin were among the people speaking out at a state Capitol rally. Workday Minnesota photos

'Lowest common denominator'
"These bad trade deals lower the standards for workers and the environment to the lowest common denominator," said Diana McKeown, program director for Clean Water Action Alliance-Minnesota. Corporations exploit the current trade system by moving jobs to countries were wages are lower and they are free to pollute, she said.

Alternatives exist, said Dee Long, a program director for Minnesotans for an Energy Efficient Economy. She cited the example of Germany, which has made extensive investments in wind power. There, the wind power industry is the second-largest user of stainless steel.

Minnesota could take advantage of its windy terrain by building more wind turbines ? and produce the stainless steel needed with taconite mined here in the state. "Renewables equal more jobs for the state of Minnesota," Long said.

Mark Froemke, a leader of the Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco and Grain Millers union, held up a sugar beet as a he spoke about the harm that CAFTA would pose to the state's economy. The beet sugar industry along the Minnesota-North Dakota border ? which contributes $3 billion a year to the economy ? would be destroyed under CAFTA and similar agreements, taking with it 30,000 jobs that are directly and indirectly supported by it, he said.

Grain Miller Mark Froemke held up a sugar beet as he talked about the threat that CAFTA poses to this important industry. Workday Minnesota photo

Dennis Sjodin, vice president of the Minnesota Farmers Union, echoed Froemke's comments. "The farmers I represent are very concerned about what will happen if CAFTA will pass," said Sjodin, a corn and beans farmer and cattle operator from Cambridge. "What will happen to our rural communities, our schools, our churches?"

Demonstration at senator's office
Later in the day, more than 125 demonstrators lined W. University Ave. outside Coleman?s office, urging him to oppose CAFTA if it comes up for a vote. Despite reports in Minnesota and Washington that Coleman is against the trade deal, a spokeswoman in his Twin Cities office confirmed that the senator has not taken a position.

Demonstrators, including speakers standing atop the Lakes and Plains Carpenters' rig, were not shy in pointing out the detrimental impact CAFTA is likely to have on jobs in Minnesota, on the environment in Central America, and on workers and communities in all the affected nations.

Steve Hunter, secretary-treasurer of the Minnesota AFL-CIO, called CAFTA a "foul trade" agreement that would repeat the mistakes of NAFTA. One of those mistakes is the environmental degradation CAFTA would allow, he and others said.

"The impact is as close as the songbirds we hear in the morning," said Christopher Childs, of the North Star Chapter of the Sierra Club. He said CAFTA would encourage the destruction of habitat for the 300 species of birds that winter in or fly over the Central American nations after they leave Minnesota.

CAFTA and similar trade deals "are about production and profit," Childs said. "They're not about people, and God knows they're not about the planet."

He called for replacing trade deals that are "corporate-driven experiments" with trade that is "fair, open and just."

More than 125 demonstrators spread out along University Ave. with their call for fair trade policies. Among them were (from right) Steve Clemens, a member of the Community of St. Martin in Minneapolis, Don Ackland and Chip Squires, both from IBEW Local 343 in Rochester. Union Advocate photo

Reported by Barb Kucera, Workday Minnesota, and Michael Kuchta, St. Paul Union Advocate.

For more information
Read more about CAFTA and other trade agreements in the Workday Minnesota special section, Trade and jobs