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Machinists Union Launches Fair Trade Campaign on Facebook

Dépèche transmise le 8 juin 2011 par Business Wire

WASHINGTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Countering GOP demands for the passage of three seriously-flawed trade deals with South Korea, Colombia and Panama, the International Association of Machinists & Aerospace Workers (IAM) today launched a targeted, informational ad campaign on Facebook.

“NAFTA created the trend of corporations shifting production to countries where wages are low, worker rights nearly nonexistent and little regard is given to the environment”

The campaign’s focus is to educate the public on the substantial shortcomings of the pending free trade agreements (FTAs) and the damage they each stand to deliver on the U.S.

“We’re still reeling from the painful mess created by the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA),” said IAM International President Tom Buffenbarger. “The last thing the U.S. economy needs is another flawed FTA.”

A new IAM infographic details NAFTA’s failed trade policies. The 1994 law is the blueprint for the pending FTAs.

“NAFTA created the trend of corporations shifting production to countries where wages are low, worker rights nearly nonexistent and little regard is given to the environment,” said Buffenbarger. “Like their predecessor, the three pending FTAs with South Korea, Colombia and Panama threaten to create the same kind of damage – only more.

“These pending trade deals are anything but free. Passage will most certainly come at a price – a high price – as we have seen over the last decade. Congress must take the lead in reforming the United States’ failed trade policies before moving forward with any new free trade agreements.”

See the IAM’s new ad campaign on Facebook.

The IAM is among the nation’s largest industrial trade unions, representing nearly 700,000 active and retired members under more than 5,000 contracts in aerospace, manufacturing, transportation, shipbuilding and defense-related industries. For more information, visit www.goiam.org.