Lobbyists for free trade, fair labor spar over trade agreements

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0507/3784.html

Lobbyists for free trade, fair labor spar over trade agreements

By: Chris Frates
May 1, 2007 05:38 PM EST

While congressional Democrats and the Bush administration wrangle over pending trade agreements, the labor and business lobbies are quietly warming up their influence wrestlers for what comes next -- a veritable cage match that determines the president's authority to broker future trade deals.

And few states would feel the outcome's impact more than California, which weighs in with a $1.6 trillion economy -- the world's eighth largest in 2005 -- and $127.7 billion in exports last year. With much at stake, California officials at home and in Washington are watching closely.

On June 30, President Bush's ability to ask Congress for a simple yes or no vote on trade packages is set to expire. Congress gave him trade promotion authority (TPA) in 2002 to fast-track trade deals negotiated by his administration. And now Democrats control whether and how that power would be reauthorized.

Business and labor are closely following the trade deal negotiations as they prepare for a clash on Capitol Hill over TPA. Democrats are pushing the White House for tougher enforcement of labor and environmental standards on four pending deals between the United States and Panama, Peru, Colombia and South Korea. The outcome, observers say, could shape the coming debate over renewing the president's authority.

With the country's trade agenda in play, both sides have begun mobilizing what is likely to be a multimillion-dollar lobbying effort. The early stages of the campaign -- visits to key committee members and staff, coalition building and "education" efforts -- have already begun.

"The stakes could not be higher," said Rob Nichols, president of the Financial Services Forum, a collection of 20 CEOs from the largest financial services institutions.


FULL story at link.

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"When you're thwarted from developing innovative ideas on the state and local level because of a global trade agreement," she (Lisa Hoyos, a senior field representative in California for the AFL-CIO) said, "you kill the possibility of good social policy."

What we have is a diluted labor pool, and a dangerously unrestricted market(poison wheat and rice gluten, lead in children's lunch boxes and bibs). When unrestricted trade with communist and dictatorial countries is allowed, you simply dilute the US labor pool. US workers must compete with slavery, prison labor, child labor, indentured servitude and substance labor. The price of labor falls (After accounting for real inflation, wages have actually dropped in the US in the last five years.) Wages will continue to fall to their lowest level (slavery?). It is simply supply and demand.

The wealthy can take advantage of this cheap labor and get richer. Middle class and poor people have to join this undiluted labor pool and get poorer. Unless slavery, prison labor and child labor are regulated out of the labor pool, wages will continue down.