Teamster Press Release | Sept. 12, 2003 (Cancun, Mexico) - Non-governmental organizations including the Teamsters, the Sierra Club and the American Federation of Teachers were thrown out of Friday's World Trade Organization (WTO) meeting between U.S. trade representatives, a U.S. Congressional delegation and U.S. corporations including Wal-Mart as well as the National Retail Association.
The U.S. trade representatives told hotel officials in Cancun to physically remove the NGO representatives and have them arrested, despite a previous invitation to the groups to participate in the meeting on U.S. trade policy.
"U.S. trade representatives are only willing to discuss U.S. trade policy with multi-billion dollar corporations, and not with any other groups, including those who represent workers or the environment," said Jennifer Esposito, Teamsters trade lobbyist who served as cleared advisor for General President James P. Hoffa on President Bush's Advisory Committee on Trade Policy and Negotiations. The Teamsters are the only labor union represented on that committee.
Members of the NGOs were physically removed and threatened with arrest after carrying signs into the meeting. The slogans on the signs said, "U.S. Trade Policy: Good for Wal-Mart, Bad for Workers." While trade representatives and corporations freely displayed their flyers and other information, the NGOs were the only group who were removed from the meeting for carrying advocacy materials.Teamster Press Release:
