When is a labor standard not a labor standard? Compromise between Bush and Congressional democrats

[Omaha Steve]

http://www.shiftbreak.com/tools/qp.dwp?task=show_post&post_id=1580

When is a labor standard not a labor standard?
May 16, 2007 - Miscellaneous
Core labor and environmental standards will be included, but not enforced in the compromise between Bush and Congressional democrats on new trade legislation.

From tompaine.org:
Democrats Sing Off-Key On Trade
By Young Choe May 15, 2007

It’s been over 120 days since Democrats regained control over Congress, but one could hardly tell by the recent trade deal struck between the Democratic leadership with the Bush administration. Democrats have stayed the course on some promises made during the mid-term elections, like securing a timetable for withdrawing troops, but on the issue of trade, which rocked the vote and mobilized the masses, the Democratic leadership has turned their backs on the working class and progressives who put them in power.

The Democrats, led by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, House Ways and Means Chair Charles Rangel and Senate Finance Chair Max Baucus, struck a deal with the Bush administration that lobbyists for multinational corporations are declaring will pave the way for Congress to pass four bilateral trade agreements, including Panama, Peru and Korea, and extend Fast Track authority to President Bush.

“Pending U.S. free trade agreements will be amended to incorporate key Democratic priorities,” read a press release from Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi trumpeting this compromise, which was then substantiated with vague rhetoric on fair trade, workers’ rights and environmental protections. I'm really glad that Pelosi is against things that most Americans agree are bad, like child and slave labor. But saying that core labor and environmental standards will be included—but not enforced—in agreements that just expand the failed NAFTA model is an affront to the auto workers who will be laid off in Detroit. We haven’t actually seen the legislation, but if statements by K Street lobbyists are accurate, the compromise fails to grant unions the right to go to courts to demand the enforcement of labor laws while granting multinational corporations greater rights to sue sovereign local, state and federal governments for laws that protect us.

Worse, if Democrats extend Fast Track to President Bush, they will not only sign over to this lawless president the exclusive right to negotiate massive trade deals. They will never realize the trade agenda put forth by freshmen Democrats and their progressive colleagues who have consistently demanded a “trade policy which will work for America’s working families, farmers, businesses, the environment and our local communities.”

As a Korean American, I don't want to pit American workers versus, say, Korean workers. The Korean Metalworkers Union is just as opposed to the Korea-U.S. Free Trade Agreement as the UAW, and both view this trade agreement as an opportunity for multinational corporations to reap more off the backs of working people of both nations. In this globalized economy, workers are forced to build solidarity across national borders as the landscape is not so clearly drawn: the U.S. automaker GM owns South Korean Daewoo Motors, and Hyundai sets up shop in the American South, where labor is not as strong as in Detroit. Workers in South Korea and the United States also share in common their struggle against ever encroaching multinational corporate power over the democratic process.

FULL story at link.

[madrchsod]

1. we are so fucked

add the "anti-union"/ anti worker immigration bill to the mix and i see there really is`t a future for the middle class in this country.

[reprobate]

2. That leaves only the slaves and the rich. That's an economy that's bound to fail.

So the rich like the Waltons import the cheap shit from china to sell in their big box stores, but there will be no one who can afford to buy the crap. With few customers the retail empires of the slave owners will experience a downward spiral of losses. The end point will come when there will be little difference between the rich and the poor.

In fact if I'm not mistaken Wall street has reported losses at Wal Mart for the first time last week. It's started already.