Mineapolis Star and Tribune | September 13, 2003 About 125 people gathered Friday for a midday rally and march in downtown Minneapolis to protest World Trade Organization talks taking place in Cancun, Mexico.
Larry Weiss, coordinator of the Minnesota Fair Trade Coalition, said one-third of the 50,000 manufacturing layoffs that have taken place in Minnesota during the Bush administration can be directly tied to unfair international trade policies.
"Our trade policies encourage American companies to send jobs out of the country to sweatshops in places like Mexico and China, where we pay workers far below the poverty level in those countries," Weiss told the crowd. "The United States government has been insistent that protections for workers, the environment and democracy not be built into international trade deals."
David Finke, a staff nurse at Hennepin County Medical Center, spent his lunch hour protesting because, he said, price increases by pharmaceutical companies have been devastating to consumers.
"Several times a week, we have a situation where a patient cannot afford a life-saving drug," he said.Mineapolis Star and Tribune:
