PITTSBURGH, Dec. 10, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Leo W. Gerard, International President of the United Steelworkers (USW), today issued the following statement on the lack of transparency and other outcomes being negotiated in the current proposed trade deal with 11 Asian nations known as Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP). Gerard participated in a media call with Members of Congress and a labor-environmental trade coalition earlier today.
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"Workers want a new trade policy that will create jobs, promote rising wages and reduce our trade deficit, but our TPP negotiators are headed in the wrong direction.
"An effective agreement cannot just merely reduce tariffs - it must open markets to our exports, prohibit state-owned enterprises from engaging in non-commercial transactions, eliminate currency manipulation -and most important, ensure that workers actually benefit from their hard work rather than seeing their jobs offshored and outsourced.
"The TPP is far from achieving these goals and negotiators should stop setting arbitrary deadlines. Success should only be measured by the number of domestic jobs that are created and the increase in average workers' living standards.
"We will oppose the TPP as it stands. If the $8 trillion accumulated U.S. trade deficit is a good thing, then why do China and other countries not want to run trade deficits as well?"
U.S Representatives Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.) and Louise Slaughter (D-NY) led the media call and cited growing congressional opposition to the lack of transparency and leaked outcomes in the just concluded Singapore talks.
The labor-environmental trade coalition media call audio recording is available at the following link: http://www.conferenceplayback.com/stream/98120468/48264901.mp3
Contact: Gary Hubbard, 202-256-8125; ghubbard@usw.org
SOURCE United Steelworkers (USW)
