IAM members 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 seven Central American countries.

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.  CAFTA is the first bilateral or regional agreement the Bush Administration pushed since fierce opposition from workers in North and South America and their community allies stymied trade ministers from consolidating FTAA, which would eliminate tariffs from 34 countries with a population of more than 800 million.

"The Bush Administration 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 farms, the environment, and communities more vulnerable, while enriching and empowering corporate elites."

If approved, CAFTA would eliminate tariffs from the United States, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua.  It would extend to Central America the disastrous job loss and environmental damage caused by 10 years of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA).  U.S. workers lost 879,280 jobs and real wages in Mexico have fallen as a result of NAFTA in the past 10 years, according to the nonprofit Economic Policy Institute.

Recent reports by Human Rights Watch and the National Labor Committee have highlighted how workers in Central America are often denied such basic rights as the right to organize and bargain collectively.  Yet, the Bush Administration refused to include workers' rights.