McCain Adviser: No Labor Standards in Trade Deals

[Omaha Steve]

http://blog.aflcio.org/2008/06/10/mccain-adviser-no-labor-standards-in-trade-deals/

by Seth Michaels, Jun 10, 2008

Sen. John McCain has embarked on his general election campaign, and we’re learning more and more about how he would set policies related to trade and jobs if elected president.

In an interview with the Sporting Goods Manufacturers Association, McCain’s top economic adviser, Douglas Holtz-Eakin, acknowledges McCain doesn’t want to include labor and environmental standards in trade agreements.

IMPROVED...http://www.aflcio.org/issues/politics/mccain.cfm?source=mccainrevealed

McCain would reject the use of labor and environmental issues to block trade, says Holtz-Eakin.

But McCain is missing the point. Labor and environmental rules are just as much a part of the trade equation as copyright protection or investment rules. It isn’t a question of blocking trade but of making sure that trade deals are fair to workers, don’t trash the environment and provide the right incentives to businesses and governments. McCain’s trade policy would serve only one constituency: multinational corporations.

This comes as no surprise: McCain, after all, is a strong advocate of trade deals likes the North American Free Trade Agreement and the Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA) and has never met a trade agreement he couldn’t vote for. He’s a strong supporter of the anti-worker U.S.-Colombia FTA, asserting that America’s discontent with the direction of the country is because the Colombia deal hasn’t passed. (Where did he get this idea from? Maybe from a major fundraiser who was a lobbyist for the Colombian government?)

Colombia is an incredibly dangerous place for workers, with dozens of unionists murdered this year alone, and dozens of legal obstacles to workers’ right to organize. It’s a prime example of why we should not negotiate trade deals with governments that cannot or will not protect the interests of their own workers.

In rejecting environmental and labor standards outright, McCain has gone even farther than Bush, who agreed to include labor and environmental standards in future trade negotiations.

To find out more about McCain’s record on trade, check out McCain Revealed.

McCain needs to listen to what working families care about. He needs to set a trade agenda that respects and protects workers and good jobs in America, not ignores them.

[Cant trust em]

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