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| AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka sat down with the Machinists News Network to discuss the latest on Fast Track for the Trans-Pacific Partnership. “Remember, this is a vote that is going to determine the future of our economy,” said Trumka. |
AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka sat down with the Machinists News Network to talk about the importance of stopping President Obama’s push for “Fast Track” authority for the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) deal.
Fast Track authority for the secretly-negotiated 12-country pact, currently under consideration in the House of Representatives, would limit Congress to only an up-or-down vote with limited debate and no opportunity to offer amendments.
WATCH: ViewPoint with AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka
The AFL-CIO and the IAM engaged the Obama administration five years ago to offer suggestions for how the deal could work for America’s workers.
“We gave them a couple hundred suggested changes from the last text that they had,” said Trumka. “Unfortunately, they’ve ignored all but a very small number of them that are insignificant. Now we have an agreement that can be characterized best as NAFTA on steroids.”
TAKE ACTION: Tell your member of Congress to vote “no” on Fast Track for the TPP. Call your member of Congress at 202-224-3121.
When asked what we can do to stop TPP, Trumka was adamant in his call to action.
“The first thing you can do is contact your Senators and your congressman immediately and have them vote against Fast Track and then vote against TPP, because in its current form it will be destructive to the American economy and the American worker,” said Trumka. “Remember, this is a vote that is going to determine the future of our economy.”
Regarding the past agreements that other administrations touted as good for America, “None of them lived up to the promises…None of them increased our trade. We still have record deficits,” said Trumka. “And now they come to us yet another time with this gigantic agreement that covers 40 percent of the world’s GDP and they say ‘trust us, it’s going to be good.’”
Learn more about Fast Track and the TPP at StopFastTrack.com.
