July 22, 2003
Washington, DC – Congresswoman Barbara Lee (D-CA) today appeared at a press conference in the Capitol with Teamsters General President James P. Hoffa and Members of Congress who oppose the unfair trade agreements with Chile and Singapore. The agreements, which will be voted on later this week, threaten to undermine worker protections abroad and drive jobs out of the United States.
In her remarks, Lee said,
“We are here today to champion a fundamental principle: that workers not just in the United States, but all over the world, deserve protections. These trade agreements challenge and undermine that principle. They do nothing to ensure that workers of Chile and Singapore will be protected. These agreements merely give lip service to meeting the International Labor Organization’s core labor standards.
That shouldn’t be a surprise because this Administration puts corporations first and workers last. This Administration doesn’t care that jobs are streaming out of this country. This year alone, 400,000 service jobs this year will be newly located overseas. And that number will only climb over the next few years – by 2015, that number is expected to be 3.3 million jobs.
We feel these effects directly, Mr. President. In my congressional district, the unemployment rate is at 11%, but you want to cause more pain for the people of the East Bay of California! At a time when you’ve lost 3 million jobs since coming into office, why do you want to lose more!
Finally, these agreements provide no protections for the environment, even though both of these countries have export trade centered on the destruction of natural resources. In fact, 1/3 of the remaining primary temperate forests in the world are in Chile.
We cannot afford to lose the important resources, and we cannot afford to give up protections for workers. We must defeat these agreements because they do not provide protections for workers, and we must defeat these agreements because this Administration wants them to be a model for future agreements.”
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Congresswoman Barbara Lee Asks House Members to Reject Singapore and Chile Free Trade Agreements
Trade Agreements Would Undermine Protections for Workers
Washington, DC – Congresswoman Barbara Lee (D-CA) today appeared at a press conference in the Capitol with Teamsters General President James P. Hoffa and Members of Congress who oppose the unfair trade agreements with Chile and Singapore. The agreements, which will be voted on later this week, threaten to undermine worker protections abroad and drive jobs out of the United States.
In her remarks, Lee said,
“We are here today to champion a fundamental principle: that workers not just in the United States, but all over the world, deserve protections. These trade agreements challenge and undermine that principle. They do nothing to ensure that workers of Chile and Singapore will be protected. These agreements merely give lip service to meeting the International Labor Organization’s core labor standards.
That shouldn’t be a surprise because this Administration puts corporations first and workers last. This Administration doesn’t care that jobs are streaming out of this country. This year alone, 400,000 service jobs this year will be newly located overseas. And that number will only climb over the next few years – by 2015, that number is expected to be 3.3 million jobs.
We feel these effects directly, Mr. President. In my congressional district, the unemployment rate is at 11%, but you want to cause more pain for the people of the East Bay of California! At a time when you’ve lost 3 million jobs since coming into office, why do you want to lose more!
Finally, these agreements provide no protections for the environment, even though both of these countries have export trade centered on the destruction of natural resources. In fact, 1/3 of the remaining primary temperate forests in the world are in Chile.
We cannot afford to lose the important resources, and we cannot afford to give up protections for workers. We must defeat these agreements because they do not provide protections for workers, and we must defeat these agreements because this Administration wants them to be a model for future agreements.”
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