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| IAM members meet with U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) on Stop Fast Track Lobby Day in Washington, DC. Warren has been outspoken in her opposition to the administration’s plan to rush through the Trans-Pacific Partnership with only an up-or-down vote. |
IAM members joined a blitz of union activists in Washington, DC to lobby against a dangerous proposal to “Fast Track” the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), a massive free trade deal that will allow more of the same trade policies that have hurt working families for the last 20 years.
Watch “Stop Fast Track Lobby Day” on the Machinists News Network.
See photos from Stop Fast Track Lobby Day on the IAM’s Facebook page.
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| IAM Local 1998 member Roxan Bradley-Taylor meets with U.S. Rep. Mark Takai (D-HI) on Stop Fast Track Lobby Day in Washington, DC. Bradley-Taylor’s mother lost her job at General Electric in the 1970s when it was offshored to Mexico. |
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| St. Louis IAM District 837 members meet with U.S. Rep. Lacy Clay (D-MO), third from right, on Stop Fast Track Lobby Day in Washington, DC. |
Fast Track authority would limit Congress to an up-or-down vote on the TPP with no opportunity to offer amendments.
“The President won’t even tell your Senator or your Congressman what the details are, but he wants Fast Track Authority to present this and rush it through,” IAM International President told members before they fanned out around the Capitol.
Over one hundred IAM members were out in full force with members of other AFL-CIO-affiliated unions, hustling from office to office to tell members of Congress that the TPP is shaping up to be a disaster for working families.
“I’m here to say that we’re here to make a difference,” said Kirby Boyce, Vice President of IAM Local 1746 in Connecticut. “We have to keep the jobs in America and we do not want them to go, they went in NAFTA already and we don’t want them to go again.”
Hawaii IAM Local 1998 member Roxan Bradley-Taylor said her mother’s job at General Electric Vacuum Cleaner in East Cleveland, OH was offshored to Mexico in the 1970s. Her mother suffered a stroke after she was laid off and died at the age of 43.
She scheduled a meeting with Rep. Mark Takai (D-HI), who has signed a letter opposing Fast Track.
“I hope he can convince his colleagues to vote no too,” said Bradley-Taylor.
The TPP is being negotiated behind closed doors between the U.S. and 11 Pacific-Rim countries, including notorious human and labor rights violators Vietnam, Brunei and Mexico. It dramatically expands corporate control over the U.S. economy and reduces the ability of the U.S. to promote health, safety and environmental regulations with our trading partners.
Call 1-855-712-8441 now to add your voice to the stop Fast Track campaign or email your message: Tell Congress to vote ‘No’ on Fast Track for the TPP.
For more information on the TPP and Fast Track, visit the IAM’s Trans-Pacific Partnership page.
