Chicago and the World Say NO to a “NAFTA of the Pacific”

FAIR TRADE OR FREE TRADE?

Which Way Forward on Trans-Pacific Trade

Panel Discussion and Reception
Thursday, September 8 * 6:00 pm

Roosevelt University’s Congress Lounge
430 S. Michigan Ave * Chicago, IL

As trade negotiators from throughout the Pacific Rim gather in Chicago this month to hammer out the details in a massive new trade deal, it is worth exploring what trade policy has meant and could mean in the future to the economy, the environment and democracy itself.

The Trans-Pacific Free Trade Agreement (FTA) is on the road to becoming the largest regional trade deal of its type.  It is quite likely to influence the the types of jobs available in our communities; the wages and benefits that many jobs pay; tax revenues and public services; greenhouse gas emissions and the environment; access to medicine; consumer protections; financial regulations; the health of family farms; and global migration patterns.

Corporate lobbyists are advocating for a business-as-usual vision for international trade — but veteran “fair trade” campaigners from around the country and around the world are offering alternative visions on what trade policy could mean to communities at home and abroad.

Please join us for this public teach-in on the Trans-Pacific Free Trade Agreement.  Confirmed panelists include:

• Celeste Drake, AFL-CIO, on international labor rights
• Jane Kelsey, University of Auckland, on banking and financial service regulations
• Patricia Ranald, Australian Fair Trade and Investment Network, on investment and public health
• Sanya Reid Smith, Third World Network, on global access to medicine

The approximately one-hour panel will be followed by a short Q&A and a reception featuring these and other fair trade advocates from around the world in town for the Trans-Pacific FTA negotiations.

Sponsored by Roosevelt University’s Joseph Loundy Human Rights Project, the Chicago Committee for Working-Class Studies, and Citizens Trade Campaign.  For more information, contact Erik Gellman in the Department of History (egellman@roosevelt.edu)