Fight backroom deals for the 1%

[Teamster Jeff]

Teamsters from the Capitol Region will protest the 14th round of secret talks for the latest job-killing trade deal in Leesburg, Va., on Sunday. Many social justice organizations want the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) to be negotiated in the open. They include unions, environmental, public health, family farm, consumer, and Occupy.

Here's what the International Brotherhood of Teamsters is telling its members in Virginia, Maryland and the District of Columbia.

The TPP is poised to become the largest job-killing trade deal Free Trade Agreement in U.S. history. Approximately 600 corporate lobbyists have been granted access to the negotiating texts, while the general public is barred from even reviewing what U.S. negotiators are proposing in our names. If it continues on its current course, the TPP is likely to:

Offshore good-paying jobs to low-wage nations and undercut working conditions globally

Create new tools for attacking environmental and consumer safety policies

Deregulate Wall Street banks, hedge funds and insurance companies

Further concentrate global food supplies, displacing family farmers and subjecting consumers to wild price fluctuations

Lengthen patents thereby blocking access to affordable, generic medications

Rally cosponsors include the American Medical Student Association, CISPES, Citizens Trade Campaign, Communications Workers of America, Friends of the Earth, Global Justice for Animals and the Environment, HealthGAP, International Association of Machinists, International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, International Brotherhood of Teamsters, ItsOurEconomy.us, National Family Farm Coalition, New York Whale and Dolphin Action League, Nodutdol, Occupy Wall Street Trade Justice Working Group, October2011.org, Pennsylvania Fair Trade Coalition, Public Citizen, Sierra Club, Trade Justice New York Metro, United Students Against Sweatshops and many others.

If you live in the region, you can RSVP for the rally -- and get a free ride on a union-operated bus.

http://teamsternation.blogspot.com/2012/08/fight-backroom-deals-for-1.html

[Angry Dragon]

1. No more Free Trade Agreements