AFL-CIO President John J. Sweeney Feb. 8 warned a congressional trade panel that the protests at the World Trade Organization's Seattle meetings will be just the tip of the iceberg if global trade practices are not adjusted to address the needs and concerns of working families.
"If we do not do better in the future--if the global system continues to generate growing inequality, environmental destruction and a race to the bottom for working people--then I can assure you, it will generate broad opposition that will make Seattle look tame," Sweeney told a House of Representatives Ways and Means Subcommittee on Trade hearing on the "Outcome of the WTO Ministerial in Seattle."
Echoing remarks he made Jan. 28 to the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Sweeney said that from labor's "side of the bargaining table, it appears that the current rules of the global economy have been used to tilt the odds in favor of corporations at the expense of workers, family farmers, the environment, and sometimes small businesses."
AFL-CIO Gives List of WTO Reforms
With this in mind, he set out a list of seven reforms that the AFL-CIO believes the WTO must carry out "to survive as a legitimate and politically viable institution:
Incorporate enforceable rules on core workers' rights (including the freedom of association, the right to bargain collectively, and prohibitions on child labor, forced labor and discrimination).
Establish accession criteria requiring that new WTO members are in compliance with core workers' rights.
Overhaul existing rules to strengthen national safeguard protections in the case of import surges and ensure that trade rules do not override legitimate domestic regulations.
Develop stricter rules against the mandatory transfer of technology, production, and production techniques.
Ensure that WTO rules do not create pressure on governments to privatize public services.
Carry out institutional reforms, enhancing transparency, accountability and access, so that citizens can understand the basis for WTO decisions, as well as provide meaningful input into this process.
Provide more technical and legal support to developing countries so their participation in negotiations is not hampered by lack of resources or technical expertise."
However, Sweeney believes that the U.S. government also must change its policies, starting with the effective and consistent enforcement of its own existing trade laws. As an example, he pointed to the administration's failure to act on "the steel wire rod Section 201 case." In Dec. 1998, the United Steelworkers and U.S. wire rod producers filed a petition for relief from imports under U.S. trade laws. The president was required to decide on relief by Sept. 29, 1999, but has yet to do so.
Opposes WTO Accession for China
With regard to permanent normal trade relations (NTR) for China and its accession to the WTO, Sweeney said that none of the concerns he was currently airing is addressed in the accession agreement signed last year by the United States and China. He noted China's "abysmal" human rights record and that it also has a record of violating terms of its trade agreements and that if it is granted permanent NTR, its record will most likely worsen, not improve.
"It is absolutely essential that Congress take a firm and principled position against permanent NTR, so that we can begin to build a global economy that lives up to its potential and to our expectations," said Sweeney.
Before Sweeney's remarks, Trade Subcommittee ranking member Sander M. Levin (D-Mich.), in his opening statement, discussed "the challenge of both moving forward in traditional areas of trade negotiation ... and developing approaches to newer areas--such as the relationship between trade and core labor standards," which Seattle poses for trade ministers.
In the second point of his six point plan "for helping to shape globalization," Levin emphasized the need to "continue efforts to bring labor market issues into trade policy making." In making this point, he was careful to explain that the aim is to "avoid distortions that result when workers are denied core rights," not to eliminate developing countries' comparative advantage.
UAW Annual Legislative Conference
Meanwhile, the United Auto Workers Feb. 8 was holding its annual legislative conference and listened to Jeff Faux, president of the Economic Policy Institute, discuss the problem of increasing income inequality in the United States.
According to Faux, 30 years ago, the highest paid chief executive officer in the United States, General Motors Corp.'s chief executive officer, made $800,000 per year, 140 times the income of the average worker. Today, Faux said, Disney's CEO makes $577 million per year, which is 25,000 times the income of the average worker. The average American CEO today makes $6 million per year, he said.
Faux also discussed the U.S. trade deficit and its effect on American workers. He said that the increasing deficit, which will soon hit $275 billion, will result in the loss of 3.5 million jobs, mostly in manufacturing.
Presaging Sweeney's remarks, Faux voiced his concern for China's accession to the WTO and granting it permanent NTR. "They have broken every [trade] agreement they have signed," he said. As examples, he cited unfulfilled agreements to import U.S. auto parts and to crack down on the pirating of U.S. compact discs and videos.
"The people selling us China are the same who sold us [North American Free Trade Agreement]," Faux said. "If they don't know what's going on south of the border, how will they know what's going on in China 30 to 40 years from now?"
If China gets into the WTO, he said, any chance for having decent labor rights and standards in the global economy is dead. First, we need enforceable labor standards and rights, then China can come into the WTO, he added. "Otherwise, it will be free to exploit its 625 million workers at the point of a bayonet," said Faux.
Democrats Weigh in on WTO, China
Rep. Patrick Kennedy (D-R.I.) addressed the conference and adopted the position that other countries must adopt labor standards similar to those in the United States. He said, "Unless other countries protect their workers like we protect ours--what goes around, comes around."
The auto workers also heard from Sen. Paul Wellstone (D-Minn.). In expressing his opinion of the WTO and global trade, Wellstone said that when it comes to the global economy, "we will organize to ensure that it works for working people" and the environment. He also said that China will not be coming into the WTO.
Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.), spoke at the UAW conference as well. In addressing the concerns of organized labor, she spoke about the minimum wage and said that the chance of achieving a living wage depends on continual pressure to raise the minimum wage. Waters echoed Faux's remarks by stating that China should not be allowed in the WTO.
Copyright c 2000 by The Bureau of National Affairs, Inc., Washington D.C.:
