IAM, Labor Issue Scathing Report on TPP

U.S. Rep. Peter DeFazio (D-OR) appears with “Roxy the TPP Tracking Bloodhound” at a news conference on Capitol Hill.

The Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) fails to deliver on all but one of 15 key objectives for working people, say top U.S. labor leaders in a newly-released report.

The Labor Advisory Committee (LAC), chaired by IAM International President Tom Buffenbarger, issued objectives for TPP negotiators while secret talks were ongoing – such as including enforceable current rules, ensuring access to independent labor unions and addressing climate change. The TPP, as currently negotiated, does not meet any of those outlined goals. It only “partially meets” labor’s demands on intellectual property rules and drug pricing transparency.

Buffenbarger called the report “the most comprehensive public review of the TPP released by any group outside the government.”

“As clearly indicated throughout the report, it is the conclusion of the members of the LAC that the TPP is not in the interest of the U.S. economy, its workers, or the communities in which they reside,” said Buffenbarger. “The TPP is unbalanced in its provisions, skewing benefits to economic elites while leaving workers to bear the brunt of the TPP’s downside. The TPP is likely to harm the U.S. economy, cost jobs and lower wages.”

Provisions in the TPP on the investor-to-state dispute mechanism, rules of origin, government procurement, state-owned enterprises “will weaken workers’ rights by threatening wages and undermining international labor standards,” says Buffenbarger.

“The LAC urges the President in the strongest possible terms to reverse course now,” said Buffenbarger. “Do not send this TPP to Congress.”

“If TPP is sent to Congress, we urge Congress to quickly reject it.”

TAKE ACTION: Tell Congress to Save U.S. Jobs, Vote No on the TPP

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