Machinists Union International President Bob Martinez issued a statement regarding discussions this week between President Trump and Japanese Prime Minister Abe.
“When President Trump meets with Japan’s Prime Minister Abe this week in Florida, we urge him to refrain from making overtures about rejoining the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPP). TPP is built on the continued failure of past trade agreements like NAFTA that have gutted our nation’s manufacturing sector. When the President withdrew from TPP negotiations several months ago, making good on his campaign promises, he withdrew from an agreement that would have once again left U.S. workers out in the cold. TPP would have opened the dam for the outsourcing of hundreds of thousands of jobs from our shores to countries like Vietnam, Malaysia and Brunei, which have yet to recognize fundamental human rights, like the right to join a union, engage in collective bargaining and be from discrimination, child labor and forced labor. Reentering TPP would be a colossal mistake. We urge the President to refrain from re-entering into this disastrous trade agreement.”
The International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers represents 600,000 active and retired members in the North American aerospace, defense, airline, manufacturing, transportation, woodworking, the federal sector and other industries. Machinists Union members work at Boeing, Lockheed-Martin, General Electric, United Airlines, Harley-Davidson and more. Visit goIAM.org for more information.