{"id":43,"date":"2011-12-23T02:50:22","date_gmt":"2011-12-23T10:50:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.citizenstrade.org\/ctc\/oregon\/?page_id=43"},"modified":"2018-04-20T12:39:27","modified_gmt":"2018-04-20T19:39:27","slug":"the-future-of-trade","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.citizenstrade.org\/ctc\/oregon\/the-future-of-trade\/","title":{"rendered":"The TRADE Act"},"content":{"rendered":"

A Public Forum on the Local Impacts of Free Trade Agreements — and Opportunities for Change<\/strong><\/em>
\n\"TradeOn October 14, 2008, the Oregon Fair Trade Campaign hosted a forum in Portland on “The Future of Trade.” Co-sponsored by the First Unitarian Church’s Economic Justice Action Group, the forum featured a panel discussion, testimonials from displaced workers and a response from political candidates. Here is video from the event.<\/p>\n

Rev. Kate Lore<\/span><\/strong><\/a>(8:52)
\nSocial Justice Minister, First Unitarian Church<\/em>
\nOpening remarks on the future of trade<\/p>\n

It’s important to acknowledge just how far we’ve come [since the 1999 WTO protests].Ten years ago, most people had never even heard of the WTO.Today, it is the subject of a Hollywood movie.Ten years ago, many people were still ambivalent about the concept of free trade.Today, the pollsters at the Pew Research Center report, \u201cThere is now broad agreement that free trade negatively affects wages, jobs and economic growth in the United States.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tom Chamberlain<\/span><\/strong><\/a><\/strong>(8:46)
\nPresident, Oregon AFL-CIO<\/em>
\nOn job loss and wage stagnation due to existing trade pacts<\/p>\n

What we do with these trade agreements is look for the lowest common denominator \u2013 the poorest nations to exploit.Then we turn American workers against them, saying those countries are taking our jobs away.Well, they’re not taking our jobs away.The rich and the powerful are taking our jobs away.<\/p>\n

Erica Maharg<\/strong><\/a><\/span>(7:27)
\nColumbia Group Chair, Oregon Sierra Club<\/em>
\nOn the connections between “free trade” and increased global warming<\/p>\n

China’s energy portfolio is 40% more carbon intensive than the State of Oregon’s.That means that when a paper mill, for instance, moves from Oregon to China and they flip on the switch to just turn on the machinery, they’re already spewing 40% more carbon into the atmosphere.<\/p>\n

Ken Allen<\/span><\/strong><\/a>(9:30)
\nExecutive Director, AFSCME Council 75<\/em>
\nOn the potential for increased offshoring of service sector jobs<\/p>\n

\"Crowd\"Our members in the public sector provide a lot of essential services, but a lot of that can be done somewhere else for a much cheaper price\u2026 It’s a big concern to the public sector, because we’ve already seen what’s happened to the private sector.<\/p>\n

Arthur Stamoulis<\/strong><\/a><\/span>(9:28)
\nDirector, Oregon Fair Trade Campaign<\/em>
\nOn the TRADE Act and opportunities for change<\/p>\n

The past fifteen years of job loss, of wage stagnation, of inaction on global warming, of inaction on health care, of increased international animosity \u2013 all these things have shown that free markets are no way to organize an economy or run a government.This latest financial crisis simply puts an exclamation point on what a generation of experience has already taught us. We needreal change in this country, and the TRADE Act is one tool for making sure we get it.<\/p>\n

Frank Rouse<\/strong><\/a><\/span>(5:58)
\nPresident, Machinists Local 1005
\n<\/em>On the day’s plant closure announcement at Freightliner<\/p>\n

I wish I had better news, but this is the reality of what current trade deals have to offer our workers.The one thing that I ask is that we stop feeling helpless.We need to take control and unite as one to take back our country.We need to call the shots, and we need to tell the corporations that they need to take a back seat.It’s our turn.<\/p>\n

Mitch Besser<\/strong><\/a><\/span>(3:14)
\nHigh-tech worker from Lake Oswego<\/em>
\nOn “free trade” and the high-tech sector<\/p>\n

We went to the job fair and it was literally packed\u2026 After a while, [my son] looked at me and said, \u201cDad, you don’t stand a chance. There’s too many people here.It doesn’t matter how good you are or what you know. There’s just no way they’re going to know about you.\u201d<\/p>\n

Andrea Cano<\/span><\/strong><\/a> (Please jump to 54:53 for her comments)
\nExecutive Director, Oregon Farm Worker Ministry<\/em>
\nOn NAFTA’s impact on farm workers<\/p>\n

There are almost 175,000 farm workers in the State of Oregon \u2013 migrant, seasonal and year round\u2026 They’re part of the more than 1 million farmers who lost their livelihoods as a result of the corn dumping that occurred in Mexico.<\/p>\n

Gregory Pallesen<\/strong><\/a><\/span>(3:28)
\nVice President, Association of Western Pulp and Paper Workers<\/em>
\nOn “free trade” and the pulp and paper industry
\n\"FrankWith all due respect to all the politicians out there, I get very frustrated when I hear, even what I would consider good Democratic politicians and friends of mine, push for high labor standards in this country, as well they should, and push for high environmental standards in this country, as well they should\u2026 and then turn around and say, \u201cChina, you can come into the World Trade Organization, and you don’t have to follow any of those, and let’s go make a lot money for a handful of people.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jeff Merkley<\/span><\/strong><\/a>(5:10)
\nOregon Speaker of the House<\/em>
\nOn his vision for trade and the economy<\/p>\n

I’m all for trade. If one country has copper ore and one has iron ore and they swap them for mutual benefit, that’s a great thing. But a trade system that is designed on different labor standards and environmental standards to such a degree that it sweeps all the manufacturing jobs out of one country, wipes out the middle class — that doesn’t sound like a good deal for America.<\/p>\n

U.S. Senator Gordon Smith<\/strong> declined an invitation to participate in this event.<\/p>\n

Thanks to Dave King for videotaping. Top still photo by Andrea Townsend. Other still photos by Victor Pierce.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A Public Forum on the Local Impacts of Free Trade Agreements — and Opportunities for Change On October 14, 2008, the Oregon Fair Trade Campaign hosted a forum in Portland on “The Future of Trade.” Co-sponsored by the First Unitarian … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":[],"yoast_head":"\nThe TRADE Act - Oregon Fair Trade Campaign<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.citizenstrade.org\/ctc\/oregon\/the-future-of-trade\/\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:title\" content=\"The TRADE Act - Oregon Fair Trade Campaign\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:description\" content=\"A Public Forum on the Local Impacts of Free Trade Agreements — and Opportunities for Change On October 14, 2008, the Oregon Fair Trade Campaign hosted a forum in Portland on “The Future of Trade.” Co-sponsored by the First Unitarian … Continue reading →\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.citizenstrade.org\/ctc\/oregon\/files\/2011\/12\/Panel_Web.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.citizenstrade.org\/ctc\/oregon\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.citizenstrade.org\/ctc\/oregon\/\",\"name\":\"Oregon Fair Trade Campaign\",\"description\":\"Fighting for Fair Trade Policy\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.citizenstrade.org\/ctc\/oregon\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.citizenstrade.org\/ctc\/oregon\/the-future-of-trade\/#primaryimage\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.citizenstrade.org\/ctc\/oregon\/files\/2011\/12\/Panel_Web.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.citizenstrade.org\/ctc\/oregon\/files\/2011\/12\/Panel_Web.jpg\",\"width\":\"288\",\"height\":\"192\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.citizenstrade.org\/ctc\/oregon\/the-future-of-trade\/#webpage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.citizenstrade.org\/ctc\/oregon\/the-future-of-trade\/\",\"name\":\"The TRADE Act - Oregon Fair Trade Campaign\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.citizenstrade.org\/ctc\/oregon\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.citizenstrade.org\/ctc\/oregon\/the-future-of-trade\/#primaryimage\"},\"datePublished\":\"2011-12-23T10:50:22+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2018-04-20T19:39:27+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.citizenstrade.org\/ctc\/oregon\/the-future-of-trade\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.citizenstrade.org\/ctc\/oregon\/the-future-of-trade\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.citizenstrade.org\/ctc\/oregon\/the-future-of-trade\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.citizenstrade.org\/ctc\/oregon\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"The TRADE Act\"}]}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"The TRADE Act - Oregon Fair Trade Campaign","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.citizenstrade.org\/ctc\/oregon\/the-future-of-trade\/","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_title":"The TRADE Act - Oregon Fair Trade Campaign","twitter_description":"A Public Forum on the Local Impacts of Free Trade Agreements — and Opportunities for Change On October 14, 2008, the Oregon Fair Trade Campaign hosted a forum in Portland on “The Future of Trade.” Co-sponsored by the First Unitarian … Continue reading →","twitter_image":"https:\/\/www.citizenstrade.org\/ctc\/oregon\/files\/2011\/12\/Panel_Web.jpg","twitter_misc":{"Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.citizenstrade.org\/ctc\/oregon\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.citizenstrade.org\/ctc\/oregon\/","name":"Oregon Fair Trade Campaign","description":"Fighting for Fair Trade Policy","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.citizenstrade.org\/ctc\/oregon\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/www.citizenstrade.org\/ctc\/oregon\/the-future-of-trade\/#primaryimage","inLanguage":"en-US","url":"https:\/\/www.citizenstrade.org\/ctc\/oregon\/files\/2011\/12\/Panel_Web.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.citizenstrade.org\/ctc\/oregon\/files\/2011\/12\/Panel_Web.jpg","width":"288","height":"192"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.citizenstrade.org\/ctc\/oregon\/the-future-of-trade\/#webpage","url":"https:\/\/www.citizenstrade.org\/ctc\/oregon\/the-future-of-trade\/","name":"The TRADE Act - Oregon Fair Trade Campaign","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.citizenstrade.org\/ctc\/oregon\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.citizenstrade.org\/ctc\/oregon\/the-future-of-trade\/#primaryimage"},"datePublished":"2011-12-23T10:50:22+00:00","dateModified":"2018-04-20T19:39:27+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.citizenstrade.org\/ctc\/oregon\/the-future-of-trade\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.citizenstrade.org\/ctc\/oregon\/the-future-of-trade\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.citizenstrade.org\/ctc\/oregon\/the-future-of-trade\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.citizenstrade.org\/ctc\/oregon\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"The TRADE Act"}]}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.citizenstrade.org\/ctc\/oregon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/43"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.citizenstrade.org\/ctc\/oregon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.citizenstrade.org\/ctc\/oregon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.citizenstrade.org\/ctc\/oregon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.citizenstrade.org\/ctc\/oregon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=43"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.citizenstrade.org\/ctc\/oregon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/43\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.citizenstrade.org\/ctc\/oregon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=43"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}