Washington
Fair Trade
Coalition
The Washington Fair Trade Coalition (WFTC) is a coalition of over 60 Washington labor, faith, environmental, farmer, and social justice groups that are committed to creating a fair, balanced, and sustainable global trading system.
News & Analysis
We Do the Work Radio Show on the new NAFTA
Have you been wondering holds up to the trade just community's demands? Last week the Washington Fair Trade Coalition got to talk with our friends at We Do the Work about exactly what's in the new NAFTA agreement from ISDS to food safety to access to medicines and...
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2018 Washington Fair Trade Coalition Breakfast
Join us at our annual breakfast! Keynote Speaker: Indira Trejo: How trade policy affects workers, families, and communities and how we can move our work beyond NAFTA (now USMCA) Wednesday, November 28, 2018 Doors open at 7:30 – Program from 8 to 9:00 AM...
read moreHighlighting good work happening at the Oregon Fair Trade Campaign--Last night, March 21, Earl Blumenauer held a public forum on the high cost of prescription drugs. The Congressman spent several minutes talking about NAFTA, and how the proposal for the revised NAFTA *locks in* high meds prices across the NAFTA zone. He said, "I've made it clear to the Trade Rep that the way this bill is written now, the treaty, is not something I'm comfortable advancing." We encouraged this, showing up as more than a dozen concerned citizens — plus our friends Health Care for All Oregon — to raise the issue and hear what commitments he would make. Onwards for trade justice and health equity.
BREAKING-- new statement from the AFL-CIO on the New NAFTA.
"We reaffirm our commitment to labor rights and decent work for workers in all nations. Economic justice cannot be achieved by continuing to give global firms free rein to abuse workers and exploit the environment in a race to the bottom disguised as 'free trade'"
"if the Administration insists on a premature vote on the new NAFTA in its current form, we will have no choice but to oppose it."
Trade Must Build an Inclusive Economy for All | AFL-CIO
aflcio.org
The AFL-CIO is committed to making the NAFTA renegotiation work for working people and if the Administration insists on a premature vote on the new NAFTA in its current form, we will have no choice but to oppose and mobilize to defeat it.Help eliminate #BigPharma giveaways from #NAFTA 2.0 before the revised deal is sent to Congress for a vote. Add your name and join the fight to #replaceNAFTA with a deal that puts people over profit.
org.salsalabs.com/o/1034/p/dia/action4/common/public/?action_KEY=23531
Eliminate NAFTA 2.0 Terms That Lock in High Drug Prices
org.salsalabs.com
Trump packed his NAFTA deal with new giveaways for Big PharmaBreaking--
Liberal wing of Democrats comes out against NAFTA replacement
politico.com
The Congressional Progressive Caucus, made up of more than 90 members, say they will reject the deal."This is a ringing indictment of our global economic system, which is failing the vast majority of humanity. Our world is richer than ever before, but virtually all of it is being captured by a small elite. Only 5% of all new income from global growth trickles down to the poorest 60% – and yet they are the people who produce most of the food and goods that the world consumes, toiling away in those factories, plantations and mines to which they were condemned 200 years ago. It is madness – and no amount of mansplaining from billionaires will be adequate to justify it."
It has never been more clear that we need a better vision for the global economy.
Bill Gates says poverty is decreasing. He couldn’t be more wrong | Jason Hickel
theguardian.com
An infographic endorsed by the Davos set presents coerced proletarianisation as a triumph, says the academic Jason HickelCurrent Campaign
Free Trade Facts
The Impact Of Free Trade Policy In Washington State
Manufacturing Jobs Lost in Washington State
Jobs Lost due to the Rising Trade Deficit With Mexico
Current Free Trade policy has proven to be a losing battle for workers, farmers, and communities in WA State and around the world.
Why Should I Care?
- Mexican farmers unable to compete with cheaper American
corn lose their land and migrate to cities to find work in maquilladoras
(sweatshops) or to the US and WA State as farm workers
- 65,193 workers were certified under Trade Adjustment Assistance
1994-2011 as directly losing their job because of US trade policy (US DoL statistics).
positions associated with these jobs such as drivers, suppliers and
small businesses do not qualify and are not counted.
- Mexican farmers unable to compete with cheaper American
corn lose their land and migrate to cities to find work in maquilladoras (sweatshops) or to the US and WA State as farm workers
Fair Trade
Not Free Trade
What Would It Look Like?
For too long, U.S. trade policy has benefited transnational corporations at the expense of workers’ rights, consumer safety and the environment at home and abroad. The Washington Fair Trade Coalition, working with local, national, and international partners, aims to build a new model of trade, a model that supports our communities and our world. What could that look like?
