Cross-Border Days of Solidarity Against Rigged Trade

Community and labor activists in El Paso, Tex., are calling for trade policies that put the interests of working people, family farmers and the environment ahead of billionaires and corporations.  El Paso is one of a dozen cities across North America joining together for “Cross-Border Days of Solidarity Against Rigged Trade.”

Coming ahead of the mandated July 1st review and renegotiation of the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA), participants demanded that the Trump administration and other governments prioritize the needs of people and communities in upcoming trade talks and rejected attempts to pit working people in the U.S., Mexico and Canada against one another in an ongoing race-to-the-bottom.

The El Paso action featured a community breakfast and panel discussion at Cafe Mayapan / Museo, followed by a march to the border crossing.

One of many topics discussed at the El Paso event was the disproportionate impact that the offshoring and wage suppression caused by corporate-driven trade deals has had on communities of color and women.

“When we think of NAFTA, you saw a lot of Midwestern white men who lost their jobs, but we were invisible from the beginning,” said Cemeli de Aztlan, an organizer for the Texas Fair Trade Coalition.