Fair Trade not Free Trade: Community Forum on TPP
Saturday, June 28, 3-5 PM
Downtown Branch, Tacoma Public Library (Olympic Room)
Tacoma, WA
Sponsors: * Washington Fair Trade Coalition * Pierce County Central Labor Council * Sierra Club Tatoosh Group * One America * St. Leo’s Social Justice Commission * Fair Trade Market Committee *
How will the TPP impact you as a worker, a consumer, and a community member? Join Tacoma community groups as we come together to educate and mobilize each other around the largest, most secretive free trade agreement (FTA) in history: the Trans-Pacific Partnership.
For four years, the US has been negotiating the massive Trans-Pacific Partnership trade agreement behind closed doors. Until recently not even Congress could see the negotiating texts, but some 600 corporate lobbyists can. What are they proposing in our names?
What’s On the Table:
- Flooding the U.S. with unsafe food and other consumer products
- Increasing drug prices, decreasing access to medicine
- Bans on “Buy American” policies needed to create green jobs and rebuild our economy
- Freeing Wall Street from oversight
- Empowerment of corporations to attack environment and health safeguards
Who’s at the Table:
- Walmart-Encouraging suppression of labor and environmental standards in the countries in which they do business. Enabling retaliation and murder of labor organizers in their supply chain
- Zyomogenetics-owned by Bristol-Myers Squibb, major player in Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA), putting intellectual property rights and patents ahead of global health by reducing access to generic medicines.
- Cargill-advocating for profits over healthy food, eager to dump inexpensive food on developing countries in the name of ‘food security,’ and destruction of forests to create massive, monoculture palm oil farms.
This free and open forum will feature a panel discussion, Q&A, and opportunities for action. Panelists include:
*Dean McGrath, President, International Longshore Workers Union, on job loss and lowered labor protections due to existing trade agreements.
*Robin Everett, Organizing Representative, on how international trade agreements impact environmental regulations.
*Jeff Panek, local activist, WAmend Coalition, on how big money in our elections impacts the US and our trading partners.
*Gillian Locascio, Campaign Coordinator, Washington Fair Trade Coalition, on fair trade principles and the Trans-Pacific Partnership.
Together, we can raise our voices for a trade policy for the 21st century, one that increases trade and also protects workers, communities, and the environment.
Spread the word! Use our event flyer, our TPP info sheet, or invite your friends on Facebook.
Inspired to take action? Join us at one of our Independence Rallies at the offices to tell your US Congressional Representative, no back room deals for the 1%! We the People want representation in the trade policies that will re-write our domestic laws and impact our lives. Learn more about our upcoming events here.
Main rally: Noon, Monday, June 30, Offices of Derek Kilmer, 950 Pacific Ave.
1:30 PM, Monday, June 30, Offices of Denny Heck, 6000 Main St. SW, Lakewood
Noon, Tuesday, July 1, Offices of Adam Smith, 101 Evergreen Building, 15 S Grady Way, Renton
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