Government Study Reveals Oregon Jobs at Risk Under Pending Trade Agreement

Labor Leaders & Others Urge Congress Not to Put More Oregonians in the Unemployment Line

IMG_4803Portland & Beaverton, Oregon — Labor and community advocates held rallies and press events in Beaverton and Portland this week to discuss the release of a new government study that finds Oregon jobs in manufacturing, agriculture, forest products and the service sector are at risk under the proposed Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade agreement.  In front of a giant prop representing an unemployment line, they called on area Congress members Suzanne Bonamici (D-01) and Earl Blumeanuer (D-02) to oppose the TPP.

This report shows how damaging the TPP would be for Oregonians’ jobs and wages, including in the machinery and equipment sectors,” said John Kleiboeker, president of the International Association of Machinists & Aerospace Workers’ Lodge 63 of Gladstone. “Given the ITC has historically overestimated the benefits and downplayed the costs of trade agreements, the fact that they’re saying so many Oregon industries are at risk under the TPP is a real cause for concern.  Representatives Bonamici and Blumenauer should be leading the charge against this job killer.”  

IMG_4838The U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) recently published its official findings on the TPP, which reveal:

  • More than 99% of Oregon’s manufacturing workers are in sectors of the economy projected to experience worsening trade deficits under the TPP.  95,269 Oregonians work in manufacturing sectors expected to lose under the agreement, while only 514 Oregonians work in the one manufacturing sector expected to see gains (petroleum and coal).
  • Oregon’s top agricultural export, wheat, is expected to suffer decreased exports under the TPP, as is the forest products sector.
  • White collar jobs are also at risk, with the U.S. service sector as a whole projected to experience a worsening trade balance under the TPP.  This includes worsening trade balances in everything from “transportation, logistics, travel and tourism” to “financial services.”

What’s more, most of what U.S. service-sector benefits are projected for the TPP aren’t from U.S.-based employees providing services cross-border, but rather from sales by U.S. companies’ foreign-owned affiliates, meaning profits for transnational corporations, but fewer jobs for Oregon workers.   

13516198_1229367233750848_4430757518365093896_nThe TPP was signed in February, but has not yet been submitted to Congress for a vote.  It is widely expected to be considered by Congress later this year.  Leading presidential candidates Hillary Clinton, Bernie Sanders and Donald Trump have all criticized the TPP as bad for American jobs, and have said it should not be approved by Congress.  Representatives Bonamici and Blumenauer, however, have said they are undecided on the TPP.  

Oregon can’t afford a trade deal that puts more hard-working people in the unemployment line,” said Michael Shannon, director of the Oregon Fair Trade Campaign.  “The U.S. Labor Department has already certified more than 63,000 Oregon livelihoods as destroyed are a result of offshoring or displacement by imports since the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) — and that’s just one narrow program that ignores huge sectors of the economy also hurt by bad trade policy.  This new ITC report indicates that type of job loss would only accelerate under the TPP.  There’s no reason for indecision.  It’s time for Oregon’s Congress members to join the chorus against the TPP.”

13510786_1229367127084192_1820351477358073503_nThe ITC report’s unexpected findings included that the TPP would provide almost no gains for U.S. economic growth (only 0.15 percent by 2032) while reducing employment in manufacturing, shrinking the U.S. service sector trade surplus and increasing the overall U.S. trade deficit.  Because the agency employs a model that incorporates unrealistic assumptions, such as constant full employment and no currency manipulation, past projections have systematically overstated the benefits of trade pacts relative to their outcomes.    

The ITC projected much more optimistic outcomes for the most recent previous U.S. trade agreement on which TPP was modeled, the 2012 U.S-Korea Free Trade Agreement. But in reality, the U.S. trade deficit with Korea in the top 10 products that Oregon exports to Korea – including everything from machinery to agricultural products – ballooned 98 percent in the agreement’s first four years. The overall U.S. goods trade deficit with Korea surged $15.4 billion (99 percent). According to the administration’s trade-jobs ratio, that equates to the loss of over 102,554 U.S. jobs in four years of the FTA.  The TPP dwarfs the size of the Korea trade agreement, covering approximately 40% of the global economy.  

This week’s press conferences were held in front of a 8’ by 16’ silhouette of an unemployment line emblazoned with the names of approximately 10,000 recent trade-related plant closures and downsizings.

13516560_1229364983751073_8634239163721711671_nWith Hillary Clinton, Bernie Sanders and Donald Trump all saying the TPP is a job-killer that doesn’t deserve the support of Congress, it’s distressing that members of Oregon’s Congressional delegation are still waffling over it,” said Laurie King of Climate-Jobs PDX.  “Yes, this might help Phil Knight make another billion dollars off of Vietnamese labor, but he doesn’t need that.  Oregonians really do need good-paying jobs at decent wages, and the TPP puts their livelihoods at risk. Our Congressional delegation, including Earl Blumenauer and Suzanne Bonamici, should not take a more corporate stand than these presidential candidates.”

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Bad Trade Kills Good Jobs rallies in Oregon!

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Beaverton & Portland Rallies

We need your help in telling Congress not to let the Trans-Pacific Partnership put more people in the unemployment line!

The corporate push for the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade agreement is going full force — and we need to push back!  Join us at either of the upcoming Bad Trade Kills Good Jobs tour stops and rallies in Oregon:

Beaverton Rally * Bad Trade Kills Good Jobs

Monday, June 27  *  10:30am * Outside Rep. Bonamici’s office 12725 SW Millikan Way, Beaverton

RSVP for Beaverton Online 

Portland Rally * Bad Trade Kills Good Jobs

Tuesday, June 28, 2016 * 12 noon * Outside Rep. Blumenauer’s office 911 NE 11th Ave St, Portland

RSVP for Portland Online

The TPP allows big corporations to pit local workers against highly-exploited workers abroad making less than 65 cents an hour.  This trade agreement threatens to offshore more jobs and drive down wages.  If we stand together we can stop the TPP!

Join us in Portland and Beaverton to hear from workers and community leaders calling on Congress to oppose the job-killing Trans-Pacific Partnership!

Help spread the word! Like and Share on Facebook here and ReTweet here!

For more information e-mail Shannon at m.shannon@oregonfairtrade.org

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PRIDE Activists say No to the TPP!

AJ Pride Meme

June 17th, 2016, Portland, OR—In wake of the Orlando massacre and in celebration of PRIDE weekend, Oregon Fair Trade Campaign hosted a rally against the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) in front of Rep Earl Blumenauer’s office, highlighting the trade deal’s lack of protections for LGBT rights.

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The TPP, which has been signed by 12 countries but is not ratified, has yet to enter congress. 26 House Democrats, led by Rep. Mark Pocan of Wisconsin, recently signed a letter asking President Obama to renegotiate the trade deal due its disregard for LGBT justice. The letter cites the TPP’s inclusion of Brunei, where the state can stone citizens to death for being in a same-sex partnership, and Malaysia, where police have arrested transgender individuals for their choice of clothing. The author addresses Obama, reading “Given the continued prevalence of attacks on the LGBT community in Malaysia and Brunei, we urge you to consider renegotiating the agreement to include protections for gender and sexual minorities and further demand that these countries treat all of their citizens as equal.”

Despite his recent statement of support for the LGBT community trailing the Orlando Massacre, Rep. Earl Blumenauer has failed to come out against the Trans Pacific Partnership. “With his voting history, Rep. Blumenauer has repeatedly voted for the interest of the queer community,” commented Shannon Michael, Executive Director of Oregon Fair Trade Campaign. “Blumenauer’s vote on the TPP will test the depth of his allyship to his LGBT constituents.” Peter Defazio, who has been vigilant in his resistant to the TPP, remains the only Oregon signatory on Pocan’s letter.

While Blumenauer previously voted yes to Fast Track the TPP, he has not yet declared what he will vote once the bill comes back to congress.

13423819_1222739907746914_3428155719677858111_nAJ Mendoza, a queer activist, noted, “You cannot merely share sympathy with LGBTQ victims of the Orlando massacre and call yourself an ally. If you are an ally, you don’t get to pick and choose when to vote for solidarity” Mendoza, who became the first openly gay student at George Fox University, an evangelical university in Newberg, Oregon, now serves as Executive Director of One George Fox, and is no stranger to empty words. “The United States has chosen to believe in the ugly lie of collateral damage. There is no economic gain that merits sacrifice of human life.”

120830-prideatworkJobs remained at the forefront of the rally, which accumulated signatures for an emerging campaign, “Bad Trade kills Good Jobs.” Be Marston, an organizer at PRIDE @ Work and lead Bartender at Portland 5 shared, “The struggle for queer justice and the struggle of the labor movement are deeply connected. Like the stonewall riots, we are not here to meet the status quo of corporate interests, we are here to fight power.” Nghia Nguyen, a local trans community activist, declared, “We will not let corporations co-opt our movement. Queerness has been challenging colonialism and capitalism for hundreds of years, and we will fight the TPP that values profit over people.”

In the crowd of nearly 40 who attended the rally, activists pulled out their cell phones to immediately ask Blumeanuer to vote no on the TPP. Blumenauer and his staff where nowhere to be seen at the rally.

Drew Elizarde-Miller, Human Rights Intern, Oregon Fair Trade Campaign

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ORFTC Fair Trade Monitor, May 2016

ORFTC Fair Trade Monitor

Fair trade update from the Oregon Fair Trade Campaign, May 2016

In this issue:

  1. The US International Trade Commission report on the Trans-Pacific Partnership
  2. Labor and Human Rights forums
  3. Bad Trade Kills Good Jobs tour coming to Portland and Beaverton!
  4. Upcoming events in June and beyond

1. The US ITC report on the TPP

In late May the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) released “the” big, government study about the projected effects of the TPP — something that’s already gotten considerable attention from Congress and the media.  Despite a long history of grossly overestimating the benefits and underestimating the costs of proposed trade agreements, the ITC’s projections show significant costs associated with the TPP and almost non-existent benefits.  That the ITC is saying this should be a major red flag.

Among the ITC’s findings are that:

  • The TPP would increase the U.S. global trade deficit by $21.7 billion by 2032.
  • That TPP would worsen the balance of trade for 65% of the U.S. economic sectors it chose to feature, including vehicles, wheat, corn, auto parts, titanium products, chemicals, seafood, textiles and apparel, rice and even financial services.  While manufacturing would take a major wallop, even the overall U.S. services trade balance is projected to worsen, with losses in the majority of service industries.
  • The projected economic gains under the TPP are a minuscule 0.15% by the year 2032, which some have called the equivalent of a rounding error.  Put another way, the ITC projects that the United States would be as wealthy on January 1, 2032 with the TPP as it would be on February 15, 2032 without it.

Members of Congress need to be asked whether a trade agreement that the ITC, with its record of overestimating the benefits of trade agreements, finds will have almost no benefits, weighs against the shared concerns being raised by civil society organizations about the TPP’s very real threats to jobs and wages, inequality, the environment, food safety and public health.

Call your Representative today at 202.225.3121. Remind them that the ITC report is damning to the TPP and ask them to commit to vote no on the deal. You can also email your Congress people here.

For more analysis of the ITC report, check out Global Trade Watch’s detailed press release

2. Labor and Human Rights Forums

On May 14th, activists and organizers from El Salvador to Oregon to the Philippines gathered to share their stories of struggle and resistance against human rights violations fueled by free trade agreements. In unity, the panel declared the Trans-Pacific Partnership disastrous for human rights, as past free trade agreements have pushed indigenous people from their land and forced migration, something the TPP will intensify all while limiting access to medicine and making no improvement in anti-LGBTQ government policies.

One of the speakers, Monico Ito Cayog, a Bagobo elder from Davao del Sur, Southern Phillipines gave these helpful inspiring words as a call to action: “Indigenous people are like small fish in our traditional ways that are constantly being eaten by bigger fish. Wisdom tells us we must join together and become a big fish to defeat the other fish.” Drew Elizarde-Miller, Human RIghts Intern, ORFTC

On May 7th, leaders from AWPPW, ILWU, UA Local 290, Oregon Tradeswomen, and Portland Jobs with Justice came together with Oregon Fair Trade Campaign for Our Jobs, Our Economy: Labor and the TPP. Watch the forum online here. Thank you to David Delk for filming and editing! Thank you to Local 290 for hosting us!

3. Bad Trade Kills Good Jobs tour coming to Oregon

By allowing big corporations to pit local workers against highly-exploited workers abroad making less than 65 cents an hour, the proposed Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade agreement threatens to offshore jobs and drive down wages.  Please join displaced workers and community leaders in calling on Congress to oppose the job-killing TPP at either of these events…

Beaverton Rally * Bad Trade Kills Good Jobs

Monday, June 27  *  10:30am * Outside Rep. Bonamici’s office 12725 SW Millikan Way, Beaverton

RSVP Online 

Portland Rally * Bad Trade Kills Good Jobs

Tuesday, June 28, 2016 * 12 noon * Outside Rep. Blumenauer’s office 911 NE 11th Ave St, Portland

RSVP Online 

4. June Events

At noon on June 17th join ORFTC and allies to kick off Portland Pride weekend by sending a loud and proud message to Rep Blumenauer: No to the TPP! Did you know that in Brunei, a TPP country, that the government sanctioned punishment for same-sex relationships is death by stoning? We stand with our LGBTTQ brothers, sisters, and siblings in saying no to preferential trading with countries that do not recognize basic human rights. Join us to kick off PRIDE weekend with action!

Our ally Common Cause teamed up with environmental activists to investigate one question: How do fossil fuel companies try to buy Oregon’s democracy? Now they want to share our findings with you. Join them as they go in depth to show how the energy industry tries to buy our elections, influence lawmakers, and prevent Oregon from confronting the threat of climate change. More information and to RSVP click here.

Portland’s monthly Trade Justice meetings are held the 4th Wednesday at 6pm of every month at the ORFTC office in downtown Portland. We have a lot of great ideas for summer and we need your help to make them happen. Interested in more information? Can’t make meetings but want to get more involved? Interested in starting a Trade Justice group in your community? E-mail action@oregonfairtrade.org

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Clinton and Sanders Oppose Lame Duck TPP Vote

For Immediate Release
May 6, 2016

Clinton and Sanders Oppose “Lame Duck” Vote on the Trans-Pacific Partnership

Portland, Ore. — Democratic frontrunner Hillary Clinton voiced opposition to lame duck consideration of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), saying the proposed twelve-nation pact fails to meet her standards on American jobs, wages and national security, according to a candidate questionnaire published today by the Oregon Fair Trade Campaign.  Candidate Bernie Sanders also opposed a lame duck vote on the TPP in his responses to an identical questionnaire.

“The Democratic candidates agree that attempting to sneak the TPP through during lame duck is completely and totally inappropriate,” said Michael Shannon, director of the Oregon Fair Trade Campaign.  “Popular opposition to job-killing trade agreements is at an all time high.  The votes clearly do not exist to pass the TPP before the election, and TPP proponents’ plan to try to get just-voted-out-of-office, looking-for-corporate-lobby-work Congress members to rubber stamp it after the election is something that more-and-more politicians are speaking out against.”

In their questionnaire responses, both Clinton and Sanders detailed their opposition to the TPP, a pact whose final text was released in November 2015, but has not yet been submitted for a vote in Congress.  Many observers believe the TPP may be submitted for a vote during the “lame duck” session of Congress, after the election, before the newly-elected Congress is seated — a moment in the political calendar when accountability to constituents is at its lowest.

In response to the question, “If elected President, would you oppose holding a vote on the TPP during the ‘lame duck’ session before you take office?,” Clinton responded, “I have said I oppose the TPP agreement – and that means before and after the election,” and Sanders responded, “Holding a vote on the TPP during a ‘lame duck’ session would be going against the will of the people.”

Clinton detailed her opposition to the TPP in a number of areas:

  • When asked about the TPP’s intellectual property provisions, she responded, “As I have said with respect to TPP, we need to make sure we’re not putting the interests of drug companies ahead of patients and consumers. Those provisions in the final TPP agreement are one of the reasons I opposed it.”
  • When asked if she believes the TPP does enough on climate change, she responded, “I do not. As president I will ensure that our trade policy supports, rather than undermines, our policies to reduce emissions at home and encourage climate action abroad.”
  • On investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS), she said, “With respect to the flawed ISDS provisions in TPP, I believe we need to have a new paradigm for trade agreements that doesn’t give special rights to corporations, but not to workers and NGOs.”
  • On labor and human rights abuses among TPP partner nations, she said, “I think we need a fundamental rethink of how we approach trade deals going forward. It is critical that we address labor protections and ensure that human rights are protected.”
  • In another response, she wrote, “One of the reasons I opposed the Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement was my concern that we need to do more to address currency manipulation. I will take on foreign countries that keep their goods artificially cheap by manipulating their currencies, and expand our toolbox to include effective new remedies to respond, such as duties, tariffs, or other measures.”
  • She also said the TPP’s rules of origin provisions are not adequate to protecting American jobs, particularly “its weak rules of origin standard for what counts as a car that can get treaty benefits.”

Clinton’s completed questionnaire is available online here.

Sanders also detailed his opposition to the TPP in a number of areas:

  • When asked about the TPP’s intellectual property provisions, he responded, “A major reason why I am leading the fight against the disastrous Trans-Pacific Partnership is because it would significantly increase prices for prescription drugs for some of the most desperate people in the world.”
  • When asked if he believes the TPP does enough on climate change, he responded, “No… We need to fundamentally rewrite our trade agreements to protect the environment and raise living standards in the U.S. and throughout the world.”
  • On investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS), he said, “As president, I will not approve any trade agreement that gives foreign corporations the right to undermine American democracy through the disastrous Investor State Dispute Settlement system.”
  • On labor and human rights abuses among TPP partner nations, he said, “In my view, the TPP is not, nor has it ever been, the gold standard of trade agreements. That is especially true when it comes to addressing human rights abuses abroad.”
  • In another response, he wrote, “My Administration would use every means necessary to end currency manipulation and stop the outsourcing of American jobs.”
  • He also said the TPP’s rules of origin provisions are not adequate to protecting American jobs, adding, “That is unacceptable.”

Sander’s completed questionnaire is available online here.

The Oregon Fair Trade Campaign is a statewide coalition of labor, environmental and human rights organizations working together in support of better trade policies.  The coalition also approached the Donald Trump, Ted Cruz and John Kasich campaigns with the same questionnaire, but did not receive responses.

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Urge Congress to Say NO to the TPP

The corporate push for the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) is on.  We need your help pushing back. Last week, the Business Roundtable, U.S. Chamber of Commerce and other corporate lobbies formally launched their campaigns to get the TPP passed early this year. NikeStory Action12.2016

TAKE ACTION NOW: Please contact your Members of Congress and urge them to oppose calls to pass the TPP in early 2016 and beyond.

The TPP would have a tremendously harmful impact on U.S. jobs and wages.  But it doesn’t end there.  The TPP is also a disaster for the environment, food safety, access to medicines and democracy itself.   What more should we expect from a trade deal that was negotiated behind-close-doors with the aid of hundreds of corporate advisors, while the public and press were shut out?

Oregon Fair Trade Campaign joined our national allies in a united cross-sector movement of labor, environmental, family farm, consumer, faith, LGBT, women’s, student and other groups in delivering a letter signed by over 1,500 organizations calling on Congress to oppose the TPP.  Our “movement of movements” is getting stronger every day.

Understanding that they’re really in a “now or never” moment, corporate interests groups are pushing hard for a TPP vote this year.  But if we push back hard enough, we will overcome them.  Please take action now by urging your Members of Congress to say NO to the TPP.

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Fast Track Accountability Flyering

Fast Track Accountability Flyering

This month, a number of champions of issues that Oregonians hold near and dear have gone missing. They were last seen voting for Fast Track for the job-killing, environment-devastating, Main Street-destroying TPP. Judging from the amount of corporate contributions they’ve received, we have reason to believe that they’ve been captured by corporate interests.

Please help us find the following Members of Oregon’s Congressional Delegation by posting these missing person flyers around their district offices, on streets with lots of pedestrian traffic, or in your neighborhood:

Blumenauer Accountability FlyerRep. Earl Blumenauer: Missing Climate Champion

The Congressman claims to be an environmental and climate champion — but his support of Fast Track and the TPP says otherwise. The TPP would increase rip-and-strip natural resource extraction and attack policies that fight climate change. (download & print)

 

Bonamici's Flyer imageRep. Suzanne Bonamici: Missing Small Business Champion

The Congresswoman claims to stand for small local businesses in Oregon. In Oregon, only 6% of small and medium-sized businesses export any good to any country, and they can’t afford the flood of cheap imports from TPP countries that have been subsidized by sweatshop labor and lack of environmental enforcement. (download & print)

Schrader Flyer imageRep. Kurt Schrader: Missing Representative of the Middle Class

The Congressman doesn’t think we should worry about the secret TPP because “it’s not finished.” More than 61,000 Oregon jobs have been certified as lost to offshoring or imports since NAFTA, resulting in stagnant wages across industries. Trade policies that erode the middle class sound like something to worry about. (download & print)

Senator Wyden: Missing Government Transparency Champion

wyden flyer imageIn his letter to ORFTC in 2012, Senator Wyden promised to fight for transparency in TPP negotiations — he said Oregonians deserve the right to know what’s being proposed in our names in real time; that we deserve the right to participate in the formative stages of the negotiations. Instead, he signed off on a plan that grants hundreds of corporate lobbyists from companies like Walmart, Chevron, and Cargill access to TPP negotiations — but we don’t get to see them until after the negotiations are over and changes are all-but-impossible. (download & print)

You can also pick up flyers outside our office in Portland: 310 SW 4th Ave., Suite 436 (6am-6pm M-F & 8am-1pm on Sat). Flyer with friends after happy hour, an ice cream social, or pot-luck picnic, or by yourself on the way home from work. Don’t forget to take lots of pictures and post them to our Fast Track Accountability Flyering Facebook page or tweet them to your Member of Congress:@repblumenauer,@RepBonamici,@RepSchrader, @RonWyden

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Missing Climate Champion Flyering!

Captured by Corporate Polluters. Recently seen voting to Fast Track the TPP. If found, please Return him to the people.

Representative Blumenauer claims to be an environmental and climate champion — but his support of Fast Track and the TPP says otherwise. The TPP would increase rip and strip natural resource extraction and attack policies that fight climate change. It will give corporate polluters the power to sue governments in private tribunals for enacting policies that interfere with their profits. Fracking bans, GMO labeling legislation/bans, provisions of the Clean Air Act, and public health regulations would all be on the chopping block.

for form Missing: Climate Champion Blumenauer.jpg

Friends of the Earth recently released a television ad calling out Blumenauer for turning his back on the environment. We want to ensure that Rep. Blumenauer gets the message.


Post these flyers on telephone poles and in coffee shops to hold Blumenauer accountable for his support for Fast Tracking the TPP, despite its harm to the environment and the climate.

 

DOWNLOAD AND PRINT FLYERS HERE!

Post photos of yourself flyering on the action’s Facebook page here and let us know where you hung up your flyers! #BlumenauerFlyer for Twitter:


Endorsers:

rising tide logo.png FOE logo 350pdx.png

greenpeace logo.jpg

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Tell President Obama, Just Don’t Do It!

Stop Fast Track and the TPP! -Protest at Nike Friday, May 8, 2015

just don't do it banner med

President Obama is visiting Oregon to promote the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade agreement and legislation that would Fast Track the deal through Congress, effectively stripping Congress of its constitutional authority to regulate international trade. Obama will make his pitch at the headquarters of the company that wrote the book on offshoring — Nike. Today, less than 1% of the 1 million workers producing Nike products are in the U.S. In fact, Phil Knight, the founder of Nike, even wrote his graduate school thesis on a business model based on low-wage foreign labor.

Hundreds of thousands of jobs producing Nike goods are already located in Vietnam, where the minimum wage is less than 60 cents an hour. The TPP makes it easier for other employers to move jobs there, and not just in the shoes-and-apparel industry, but in everything from high-tech manufacturing to computer programming. Nike is a perfect example of our lost jobs and low-wage future under the TPP.

Rally at President Obama’s Trade Speech

Friday, May 8  *  9:00am

Outside of Nike Headquarters, SW Murray Blvd entrance

Beaverton, Ore.

Click here to check out the Facebook event

Get on the bus in Portland!

Meet at Westminster Church parking lot, 1624 NE Hancock, at 8am. A bus will take us to Nike in Beaverton for the demonstration. Then we’ll go to Rep. Bonamici’s office for another action. Click here to save your seat on the bus!

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