FTAA & unions

[Teufelsdröckh]

I wanda make it clear that I hav been arguing not against globalization
but against the corporate control of it. Why not instead of WTO we set
up a trade division of the U.N., which is an attempt for more democratic
participation in global concerns, whereas the WTO is an attempt for
less? The Labor Party of the USA sees things pretty clearly, I think:

<http://www.igc.org/lpa/documents/program.html>

Points 3 and 9 of their program address issues lately under discussion
here. Point 3 calls for restoring workers rights to organize, bargain,
and strike. Point 9 calls for ending corporate abuse of trade.

-------------------------------------
3. Restore Workers Rights to Organize, Bargain and Strike

The right to organize unions, bargain freely and strike when necessary
is being destroyed by employers and their representatives in government.
Today, nearly 1 out of 10 workers involved in union organizing drives is
illegally fired by employers who wage a campaign of fear, threats and
slick propaganda to keep workers from exercising a genuinely free choice.

That is why union membership is declining. And as union membership falls
so do the wages of all working people, union and non-union alike. (The
buying power of the average worker’s wage has declined by 15 percent
over the last 25 years.)

As a Labor Party, we will support the courageous efforts of our brothers
and sisters out in the streets and in the fields all over this nation to
overcome these legal handicaps, especially in the South and Southwest
where the laws are most hostile. 

We also must dedicate ourselves to fighting for a complete overhaul of
this country’s labor laws.

All scabbing must be banned and no workers should be fired without just
cause. We must win repeal of the anti-worker Taft-Hartley Amendments,
which sharply tilted the labor law in favor of employers.

We want card-check recognition of union bargaining status, as in Canada.
New union members must have the right to submit a first contract to
binding arbitration at the request of the union.

All employees of federal, state and local governments must have full
collective bargaining rights; they must enjoy full participation in the
political process (i.e. partial repeal of the Hatch Act); and the FLRA
and all applicable state laws must be amended accordingly.

Agricultural and other excluded workers must be covered by federal labor
laws, except where existing state laws offer more protection.

We oppose all attempts to legalize company unions and to repeal or
weaken the Davis-Bacon Act or Section 13c of the Federal Urban Mass
Transit Act of 1964. 

Railway unions must be able to exercise their rights to bargain and to
strike without government interference. The right of other unions must
be similarly protected.

We demand a law requiring employers who purchase or merge with other
companies to honor all existing collective bargaining agreements and
contracts. 

While we support rehabilitation and the learning of skills, we oppose
all use of prison labor for the production of goods and services.

-------------------------------------
9. Stop Corporate Abuse of Trade

Multinational corporations and most of their hired politicians claim
that free trade is good for us. But the corporate version of free trade
is really about seeking the cheapest sources of labor and escaping labor
and environmental standards wherever they interfere with profits.

We favor free and open trade, but only if the rights of all workers,
both here and abroad, are strongly protected. Then trade will not only
be free, it will also be fair. Trade is not free or fair if it pits us
against workers who get paid pennies a day, work in horrid conditions,
and enjoy no legal rights. Trade is not free or fair if it makes it
easier for corporations to pollute their workers and the environment.

We oppose NAFTA and GATT in their current forms. We also reject narrowly
nationalistic solutions to trade imbalances that scapegoat our fellow
workers in other countries. We believe in trading freely with all
trading partners who adhere to basic minimum labor and environmental standards.

We call for establishing the strongest international labor and
environmental standards that improve conditions for low-wage workers,
not ratchet ours down. 

We call for worker inspection teams to police these standards. Such
teams of worker representatives from different nations should regularly
visit export-oriented facilities around the world to determine whether
minimum standards are being met. 

Only products meeting such standards would receive a "fair trade" seal
of approval and be eligible for free and open trade. 

And we insist that workers themselves be able to enforce these
sanctions, relying on traditional rights to refuse to handle "unfair" products.

Our Labor Party will actively promote a strategy of international
solidarity and cooperation with labor movements and labor parties in
other nations through the exchange of information, worker organizing,
collective bargaining, and other actions and strategies that demonstrate
our commitment to work together to confront the global attacks on our
environment and living and working conditions. We oppose all policies
instituted by corporate-dominated lending institutions like the World
Bank that force developing nations to lower the wages of their workers.
We will especially strive to bring pressure to bear on those U.S.-based
transnational corporations that are violating labor rights in other
nations of the world, and to fight against any U.S.-based policies that
would undermine the rights of workers in other nations to organize.

Finally, we demand that our government stop doing the bidding of global
corporations and stop using military and foreign policy to prop up
anti-labor regimes that violate human rights.

-------------------------------------
--Teufelsdöckh