working together for social and environmental justice in trade policyl

Thank Congresspeople Brady, Carney, Doyle, Holden and Murtha!!

For cosponsoring the T.R.A.D.E. Act of 2009

The Pennsylvania Fair Trade Coalition (PAFTC) is a statewide coalition of labor, family farm, faith, environmental and student organizations whose mission is to work for socially, economically and environmentally just trade policies which promote a fair global economy and to oppose unjust, unsustainable trade policies.

We believe the NAFTA-WTO model of globalization has failed the U.S. and our trading partners. During the NAFTA-WTO era, we have seen one out of every four U.S. manufacturing jobs destroyed and real wages decline as income inequity has soared. Since 2000 Pennsylvania has lost over 200,000 manufacturing jobs.

Pennsylvania Job Loss:

According to a new analysis from the Economic Policy Institute (EPI), 755,000 Pennsylvania jobs are "offshorable," while 286,000 Pennsylvania jobs are "highly offshorable." This translates into a combined 1,041,000 Pennsylvania jobs – or 18 percent of the state’s total workforce of 5.7 million – that are vulnerable to offshoring. ("Offshoring" is the term businesses coined to describe their practice of sending work now performed in the United States to other countries.)

Fair Trade Vs. Free Trade: Debate with Mike D’Amore, Allentown City Council and Gregg Potter, LeHigh Valley CLC President

http://www.wfmz.com/businessmatters/

President PA AFL-CIO Billy George's Story on CAFTA

http://www.paaflcio.org/media/pressreleases/2005/opinion/OP060305.htm

Current News:

Labor & Environmental Groups Applaud Congressman Carney

for His Broad Support

The PA Fair Trade Coalition (PAFTC), the United Steelworkers (USW) and the Clean Air Council visited with Congressman Carney to applaud him for his continued support on fair trade, the Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA) and green collared jobs.

Right here in Pennsylvania, more than 1 million jobs are vulnerable to being sent overseas or jobs being outsourced. To address the outsourcing problem, PAFTC recommends state congressional members sign onto the TRADE Act, which is a review and renegotiation of all past, present and future trade agreements. Over 75 members of Congress in the United States have co-sponsored the bill, including Congressman Carney.

The Employee Free Choice Act enables working people to bargain for better wages, benefits and working conditions by restoring workers’ freedom to choose for themselves whether to join a union. The E.F.C.A. will create a level playing field and help rebuild America’s working middle class. The groups praised Carney for his continued support of the E.F.C.A.

The groups also thanked Carney for his vote on the autoworkers bailout bill. Carney frowned upon republicans attempting to tie the Colombia Free Trade Agreement with the auto bailout. Carney has voted against Colombia.