As Congress prepares to vote on "fast track" trade legislation and finance ministers gather for a World Trade Organization summit in Qatar, workers are mobilizing to call for fair trade that protects people and the environment.
In the United States, the U.S. House of Representatives will vote on fast track within two weeks, House Speaker Dennis Hastert, R-Ill., told the Associated Press. Global Trade Watch, a citizen's organization, has declared Wednesday, Nov. 7, as a national call-in day to protest fast track, which would take away the ability of Congress to amend any trade deals negotiated by the president.
To participate in the call-in day, phone this toll-free number, 1-800-393-1082, enter your zip code and leave a message for your representative in Congress.
Meanwhile, labor organizations around the globe plan demonstrations during the upcoming World Trade Organization summit in Qatar, a Middle Eastern country where protest is heavily restricted. Trade ministers from 142 countries will gather in Doha, Qatar, from Nov. 9-13 to decide whether or not to launch a new round of trade negotiations.
A high-level international trade union delegation, led by Bill Jordan, general secretary of the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions, will make a presentation to the ministers in Qatar, one of the few protest actions that will be allowed. At the same time, workers will gather in dozens of countries, from Nigeria to New Zealand, Mexico to Malaysia, to call attention to the devastating effects of current trade policy on people around the world.
In the United States, the AFL-CIO and other organizations will lead a peaceful vigil at the office of the U.S. Trade Representative.
"The tragic and still-unfolding effects of Sept. 11 underscore the fact of what globalization means: threats to the national security of our country also represent threats to the economic security of workers both here in the United States and around the world," the AFL-CIO said in a statement. "Working families need a global economic recovery package that addresses the needs of the poor, not just the wealthy. Debt relief, market access, democracy and human rights are essential to the fight against poverty."
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Currently, international trade agreements are negotiated and administered in secret. The World Trade Organization has widespread power to set the rules of trade, to penalize nations whose policies differ from trade provisions and even to overturn the laws of a particular country, threatening national sovereignty. Unions, religious groups, environmental organizations and citizen groups are part of a growing movement to demand a place at the table where the future of the global economy is decided.
"Fast track" trade authority, first sought by President Clinton and now by President Bush, would limit the involvement of U.S. citizens in trade policy by denying Congress the right to change or amend trade pacts. Fast track proponents say fast track is needed as the U.S. enters a new round of global trade talks. Some in the Bush administration have also promoted the legislation as necessary in the fight against terrorism.
According to reports in the New York Times and other media, proponents remain about 40 votes short of the number needed to pass the legislation in the House.
For more information
About the national call-in against fast track: http://www.citizen.org/hot_issues/issue.cfm?ID=151
About the WTO meeting in Qatar: http://www.citizen.org/trade
The AFL-CIO statement on the Global Day of Action: http://www.aflcio.org/globaleconomy/global_action.htm
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As Congress prepares to vote on “fast track” trade legislation and finance ministers gather for a World Trade Organization summit in Qatar, workers are mobilizing to call for fair trade that protects people and the environment.
In the United States, the U.S. House of Representatives will vote on fast track within two weeks, House Speaker Dennis Hastert, R-Ill., told the Associated Press. Global Trade Watch, a citizen’s organization, has declared Wednesday, Nov. 7, as a national call-in day to protest fast track, which would take away the ability of Congress to amend any trade deals negotiated by the president.
To participate in the call-in day, phone this toll-free number, 1-800-393-1082, enter your zip code and leave a message for your representative in Congress.
Meanwhile, labor organizations around the globe plan demonstrations during the upcoming World Trade Organization summit in Qatar, a Middle Eastern country where protest is heavily restricted. Trade ministers from 142 countries will gather in Doha, Qatar, from Nov. 9-13 to decide whether or not to launch a new round of trade negotiations.
A high-level international trade union delegation, led by Bill Jordan, general secretary of the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions, will make a presentation to the ministers in Qatar, one of the few protest actions that will be allowed. At the same time, workers will gather in dozens of countries, from Nigeria to New Zealand, Mexico to Malaysia, to call attention to the devastating effects of current trade policy on people around the world.
In the United States, the AFL-CIO and other organizations will lead a peaceful vigil at the office of the U.S. Trade Representative.
“The tragic and still-unfolding effects of Sept. 11 underscore the fact of what globalization means: threats to the national security of our country also represent threats to the economic security of workers both here in the United States and around the world,” the AFL-CIO said in a statement. “Working families need a global economic recovery package that addresses the needs of the poor, not just the wealthy. Debt relief, market access, democracy and human rights are essential to the fight against poverty.”
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Currently, international trade agreements are negotiated and administered in secret. The World Trade Organization has widespread power to set the rules of trade, to penalize nations whose policies differ from trade provisions and even to overturn the laws of a particular country, threatening national sovereignty. Unions, religious groups, environmental organizations and citizen groups are part of a growing movement to demand a place at the table where the future of the global economy is decided.
“Fast track” trade authority, first sought by President Clinton and now by President Bush, would limit the involvement of U.S. citizens in trade policy by denying Congress the right to change or amend trade pacts. Fast track proponents say fast track is needed as the U.S. enters a new round of global trade talks. Some in the Bush administration have also promoted the legislation as necessary in the fight against terrorism.
According to reports in the New York Times and other media, proponents remain about 40 votes short of the number needed to pass the legislation in the House.
For more information
About the national call-in against fast track: http://www.citizen.org/hot_issues/issue.cfm?ID=151
About the WTO meeting in Qatar: http://www.citizen.org/trade
The AFL-CIO statement on the Global Day of Action: http://www.aflcio.org/globaleconomy/global_action.htm
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