Promoting and Protecting Good Jobs

Over the past ten years since NAFTA Passed, U.S. workers lost 879,280 jobs -- and real wages in Mexico have fallen -- according to the nonprofit  Economic Policy Institute. 

You know our country is really in trouble when new words need to be invented to describe the problem. The Word Spy defines the new adjective “offshorable” (awf.SHOR.uh.bul) as "Capable of  being performed by a person in another country, especially at a lower wage or salary."   At ALICE, we keep it simple:  When we spend tax dollars, they should buy American-made goods and services. 

Workers and their allies are mobilizing for the next battle in the struggle for fair trade: to stop the Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA), signed May 28 by the United States and five Central American countries. The Bush administration plans to present the deal to Congress later this year, regardless of the outcome of the election.  CAFTA, which does not include protections for workers’ right to form a union or safe work conditions, is another step toward passage of the Free Trade Area of the Americas(FTAA) and future bilateral and regional agreements.

“The Bush administration has negotiated an agreement that will utterly fail to create good jobs at home or promote equitable and sustainable development in Central America,” AFL-CIO President John J. Sweeney said. “This agreement will leave workers, family farmers, the environment, and communities more vulnerable, while enriching and empowering corporate elites.”

Click on the boxes to the right for local ordinances to promote fair trade. 

There is a choice.   Start the journey.

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