AFL-CIO Criticizes USTR Over Lack of Trade Agreement Transparency
The American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO) said in a Feb. 4 letter to House and Senate lawmakers unions are not sufficiently consulted on Trans-Pacific Partnership negotiations and, therefore, are unable to make assessments on the labor impact of the prospective trade pact. The AFL-CIO has a seat on the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) Labor Advisory Committee on Trade Policy and Negotiations (LAC).
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“Because LAC members do not have access to the full negotiating texts, or to information regarding USTR priorities and choices, we cannot effectively influence the inevitable trade-offs in ways that would build the middle class and protect our democratic system,” said the letter. “And because we cannot share what little we do know with our membership or the larger public, we cannot use the traditional tools that civil society uses to offset the power of economic elites: education, organization, and mobilization of the public.”
Email ITTNews@warren-news.com for a copy of the AFL-CIO letter.