Senator Urged to Change Trade Policies that Offshore Oregon Jobs

Posted on February 28, 2010 by CTC

For Immediate Release
February 18, 2010

Labor Advocates and the Unemployed Urge Senator to Change Trade Policies that Cost Oregon Jobs
Senator Ron Wyden Chairs the Subcommittee in Charge of U.S. Trade Policy

PORTLAND, OR — Labor advocates and the unemployed gathered outside the Portland, Eugene and Medford offices of U.S. Senator Ron Wyden today urging the Senator to support trade policy reforms designed to protect and create jobs. hey spoke out about changes they want made to international trade agreements and delivered 750 hand-written letters and signatures — each one representing 100 Oregon families put out of work under existing trade policies.

“Existing trade policies are responsible for sending tens of thousands of Oregon jobs overseas. We simply can’t afford to lose jobs to any more business-as-usual trade agreements,” said Bob Tackett, Executive Secretary Treasurer of the Northwest Oregon Labor Council. “As chairman of the Senate Subcommittee on International Trade, Senator Wyden could play an important role in re-writing the nation’s trade policies in order to protect and create Oregon jobs.”

Oregon has lost approximately 75,000 jobs under existing trade policies between 1995 and 2008 as a result of both direct offshoring and displacement by imports, according to an analysis of U.S. Department of Labor data conducted by the Oregon Fair Trade Campaign.

“Current trade agreements force local employers to compete with businesses that exploit sweatshop labor and lax environmental standards abroad. hat’s a losing situation for working people everywhere,” said Arthur Stamoulis, director of the Oregon Fair Trade Campaign. “The hundreds of letters we’ve collected urge Senator Wyden to support legislation that would level the playing field by setting much stronger labor, environmental and consumer safety standards.”

Many of the letters specifically encourage Senator Wyden to cosponsor a bill called the Trade Reform, Accountability, Development and Employment Act — or TRADE Act, for short (HR.3012/S.2821). he TRADE Act sets strong new standards for future trade agreements, and establishes a process for renegotiating existing ones.

The TRADE Act is supported by labor, environmental, family farm and human rights organizations throughout the country. he bill is currently cosponsored by 136 members of the House and additional members of the Senate. Oregon Congressmen Peter DeFazio and David Wu, as well as freshman Senator Jeff Merkley, have signed on as cosponsors.

“Politicians used to argue that NAFTA would create jobs, when in fact the opposite is true. I’m one of millions of people across the United States who has lost a job as a result of the nation’s broken trade policies,” said Victor Pierce, a former employee of the Freightliner Truck Plant in Portland, who lost his job as a result of offshoring in early 2009, still hasn’t received severance and still remains unemployed. “I want Senator Wyden to use his committee chair to enact positive changes so that what happened to me stops happening to other hard-working Oregonians.”

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Oregonians Demonstrate Against the WTO Again

Posted on December 5, 2009 by CTC

For Immediate Release
December 5, 2009

BUSINESS, LABOR, ENVIRONMENT:
Oregonians Demonstrate Against the WTO Again, 10 Years After the Historic “Battle in Seattle”
March and Rally in Portland Voice Opposition to Proposed WTO Expansion; One of Many Demonstrations around the Globe

PORTLAND, OR — A coalition of more than 75 labor, environmental, human rights and social justice organizations across Oregon held a large march and rally in downtown Portland today, with thousands voicing opposition to new attempts to expand the World Trade Organization (WTO), an international body that negotiates and enforces global economic agreements. The demonstration was one of hundreds around the globe, and comes on the 10-year anniversary of the historic “Battle in Seattle” WTO protests.

“What’s needed in response to the economic crisis are good-paying jobs, comprehensive banking regulations and a social safety net that Americans can count on when times get hard. WTO policies continue to pose a serious threat to all those things,” said Tom Chamberlain, president of the Oregon AFL-CIO. “We said it ten years ago, and we’ll keep on saying it until the message is heard: we need to end the WTO’s failed policies. Business-as-usual trade agreements are no longer acceptable.”

On November 30, 1999, tens of thousands of people from throughout the Pacific Northwest and beyond converged in Seattle to demonstrate against a meeting of the WTO. The massive protests made headlines around the world for shutting down the opening of the WTO’s conference and helping to derail its internal negotiations. Last year, the protests were even made the subject of a Hollywood movie.

Ten years later, the WTO is trying to jumpstart its stalled expansion plans once again. Earlier this week in Geneva, Switzerland, the WTO held its biggest meeting in many years. In response, global justice activists held large demonstrations in multiple cities and towns throughout the world. The Portland march was the largest such demonstration in the United States, and attracted demonstrators from throughout the region.

“The Seattle protests represented a ‘movement of movements,’ with environmentalists, trade unionists, family farmers and others demanding that decisions that affect the economic and ecological well-being of our communities be made in the interests of people over profits,” said Wes Kempfer, interim Trade Justice Coordinator for the Oregon Sierra Club. “The notion that ‘increased trade volumes trump everything else’ is perverse, and should be eliminated for a wide range of reasons.”

Event organizers say that the WTO’s proposed “Doha Round” expansion would:

  • Cause further offshoring of Oregon jobs;
  • Prohibit new banking regulations designed to prevent the next financial crisis;
  • Force future climate change policies to conform with restrictive commercial agreements;
  • Expand agricultural practices that push small farmers off their land and force migration; and
  • Require countries to accept imported foods and consumer items that fail to meet local safety standards.

“With Oregon Senator Ron Wyden now chair of the Subcommittee on International Trade, it’s especially important that Oregonians make their voices heard. The Senator is uniquely positioned to change the course of future trade policies,” said Andrea Townsend, organizer with the Oregon Fair Trade Campaign. “We want Senator Wyden to oppose expansion of the World Trade Organization and support comprehensive trade reform legislation like the TRADE Act.”

The TRADE Act, a bill currently supported by nearly half of the Democratic Caucus in the House and additional members in the Senate, would require review and renegotiation of the WTO and a range of other free trade agreements. The legislation’s cosponsors include Senator Jeff Merkley, Congressman David Wu and Congressman Peter DeFazio of Oregon.
Participants in the anti-WTO demonstration began gathering at noon along the waterfront in downtown Portland under the Hawthorne Bridge, then marched with colorful banners and large puppets through downtown. They were led by a contingent of “Teamsters and Turtles,” and passed street theater performed at the World Trade Center, Federal Building and Wells Fargo Center. The march was followed by an indoor rally and concert at Portland State University.

For more information, visit www.December5.org.

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Displaced Workers Urge President to Remember Trade Promises During G-20

Posted on September 16, 2009 by CTC

For Immediate Release
September 16, 2009

Displaced Workers from Oregon and Beyond Urge President Obama to Remember Promises on Trade Reform During the G-20 Summit
Communities that Have Been Hit by Trade-Related Job Loss Are Featured in New Report Recounting the President’s Campaign Pledges

PITTSBURGH, PA — As the United States prepares to host the G-20 meeting in Pittsburgh next week, displaced workers from across the country called on President Barack Obama to use the summit as an opportunity to put his promises for trade policy reform into action.

In a briefing for reporters earlier today, they shared their stories of trade-related job loss and explained why the President’s campaign promises regarding trade are still important.

“On the campaign trail, President Obama repeatedly spoke out about the need to fix failed trade policies like NAFTA and the WTO. Since he’s been in office, the United States has continued to lose middle-class jobs as a result of these policies,” said Victor Pierce, a former machinist whose job at the Freightliner Truck Plant in Portland, Ore., was offshored to Mexico earlier this year. “As the President meets with other world leaders, I hope he’ll remember people like me — people who couldn’t afford to buy our kids new school clothes this fall because free trade agreements have cost us our jobs.”

On multiple occasions during his race for the White House, President Obama said one of his first acts if elected would be to renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA).

In 2007 and 2008, he made numerous other concrete campaign pledges regarding trade policy. Many of these promises are recounted in the new report “Trade Matters: First-Hand Accounts of Why President Obama and Members of Congress Should Keep Their Promises on Trade Policy Reform.”

The report also features the stories of displaced workers from Maine to Washington, and places in between, as evidence of why trade reform is important. A free PDF is available online . During the press briefing, several people featured in the report discussed why they want the President to follow through on his campaign promises.

“Current international trade policy can open our markets to imported food ingredients that would not meet U.S. standards for health and safety if they were produced here. Such policies put consumers at risk and disadvantage domestic farmers,” said Joe Logan, a fifth generation dairy farmer from northeastern Ohio.

“Just as in manufacturing, jobs in the high tech industry are not immune to the current anti-worker trade policies,” said Rennie Sawade, a software engineer from Seattle, Wash., who has seen past jobs shipped overseas. “High tech jobs are now treated as a commodity where jobs are constantly being shifted to the cheapest markets. Broken are the promises made two decades ago that the new high tech jobs were going to be stable jobs that could not be outsourced.”

Speakers on the call do not oppose international trade. Rather, they want changes to international trade policies that would better protect working people in the United States and abroad. As of today, 120 Members of Congress have signed on as cosponsors of the Trade Reform, Accountability, Development and Employment (TRADE) Act, comprehensive trade reform legislation that addresses public demand for change and would uphold the trade reform promises made by President Obama and others during the 2008 elections.

“Americans need major change in trade policy to bring back our manufacturing and farming jobs to the United States,” said Gayleen Spooner, a former employee of the Pinkham Lumber sawmill in Ashland, Maine whose job was displaced by imports. “Companies move their factories to other countries to make bigger profits, but it is the working American that pays the price. I hope President Obama will support the TRADE Act so we can get our economy back on track.”

###

One of the First Things
“One of the first things I’ll do as President will be to call the Prime Minister of Canada and the President of Mexico and work with them to fix NAFTA. We’ll add binding obligations to protect the right to collective bargaining and other core labor standards recognized by the International Labor Organization. And I will add enforceable measures to NAFTA, the World Trade Organization, CAFTA and other Free Trade Agreements currently in effect.

Similarly, we should add binding environmental standards so that companies from one country cannot gain an economic advantage by destroying the environment. And we should amend NAFTA to make clear that fair laws and regulations written to protect citizens in any of the three countries cannot be overridden simply at the request of foreign investors.”

— Barack Obama, during the Iowa Caucus

Candidate Obama’s Statements on Trade

NAFTA and CAFTA:
The President repeatedly said he supported renegotiating these and other free trade agreements.

Panama, Colombia and South Korea FTAs:
The President said he opposed these pending free trade agreements negotiated by the Bush administration.

Labor Rights:
The President said he will require new trade agreements to include labor standards based on the core ILO Conventions.

Environmental Protection:
The President said he will require new trade agreements to include enforceable environmental standards.
The President said he will require new trade agreements ensure that imported products, including food and toys, meet U.S. safety standards.

Procurement:
The President said he supported renegotiating trade agreements to allow for “Buy America” procurement policies.
The President said he supported the right of developing countries to protect small farmers from agricultural dumping.
The President said he supported eliminating trade provisions that grant foreign investors greater rights than U.S. residents.

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Portland Has Ties to Massacre in the Amazon

Posted on July 22, 2009 by CTC

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 22, 2009

Area College Student’s Relatives Shot for Opposing Free Trade Agreement
Relatives of Local Student Killed in Massacre of Indigenous Protesters in Peru’s Amazon; Portland Congressman Asked to Intervene to Help Prevent Further Bloodshed

PORTLAND — Two Peruvian exchange students who lost family and community members in a massacre of indigenous protesters resisting implementation of the U.S.-Peru Free Trade Agreement in the Amazon last month today called on Portland Congressman Earl Blumenauer to publicly renounce violence conducted in the name of free trade.

Mount Hood Community College student Ronal Huaje Wampuch delivered a letter to Blumenauer’s office on behalf of his community and his classmate Wilmer Dalmace Timias Chup, who lost his father and uncle in the attack. The letter urged the Congressman to ask the Obama Administration to contact the Peruvian government to put an end to the killing.

“For indigenous people, our natural resources are everything. If they take away our natural resources, they will kill our people and our communities,” said Huaje Wampuch. “I hope that Mr. Blumenauer will acknowledge the widespread damage caused by the trade agreement, and that he will ask the Obama Administration to contact the Peruvian government and urge them to stop the killing — and stop this form of economic development that is killing my people.”

Wilmer Dalmace Timias Chup’s father and uncle were two of approximately 2,000 Wampi and Aguaruna indigenous people who had been peacefully blockading a road for weeks near the town of Bagua, Peru to protest controversial decrees by Peruvian President Alan Garcia that would have implemented the U.S.-Peru Free Trade Agreement by opening 45 million hectares of Amazon rainforest to new foreign development.

The Peruvian government attacked the demonstration with tear gas and gunfire in the predawn hours of June 5th, killing over 50 demonstrators. Indigenous groups accuse the police of dumping bodies in a river to hide the true number dead, and say that hundreds of demonstrators are still missing.

“While the violence in Peru seems to have subsided for the moment, the issues behind that violence have not. The Obama administration needs to communicate to the Peruvian government that killing in the name of increased trade will not be tolerated,” said Shizuko Hashimoto, coordinator of the Portland Central America Solidarity Committee, whose members signed the letter that Huaje Wampuch delivered. “One lesson that should be taken from this tragedy is that the Peru trade deal is an inappropriate and insufficient model for future trade agreements.”

Blumenauer was one of the architects of a deal that allowed the Bush-negotiated Peru Free Trade Agreement to pass a Democratically-controlled Congress in late 2007.

In exchange for adding some basic labor and environmental provisions to the pact, Blumenauer and a minority of other House Democrats joined with the Republicans to approve the trade agreement over the objections of many in the Democratic Caucus. At the time, Blumenauer said, “The U.S.-Peru FTA marks a new threshold for international labor and environmental standards, setting the standard for all future trade deals.”

“‘Free trade’ in Peru has meant nothing but rip-and-ship resource extraction that runs roughshod over communities, democracy and the environment. Congressman Blumenauer is known as a champion of sustainable development, but in supporting the Peru Free Trade Agreement and trade deals like it, he is promoting a type of development that is destroying some of the most biodiverse and ecologically-critical places left on Earth,” said Arthur Stamoulis, director of the Oregon Fair Trade Campaign. “I hope the Congressman will recognize that you can support increased trade without advocating for the failed trade model of the past.”

Jose Angel Pena Nivia, as representative of Colombia’s General Confederation of Work (Confederation General del Trabajo – CGT) and president of SINTRAUNIONBRA Bogota, joined Huaje Wampuch in delivering the letter to Blumenauer. Pena is currently visiting Portland as part of a program designed to educate American union members about the violence being committee against Colombian labor leaders and the reasons why human rights advocates oppose the Colombia Free Trade Agreement.

“I am glad that Mr. Blumenauer has opposed the pending U.S.-Colombia Free Trade Agreement on human rights grounds — especially in Colombia, where there is a high number of labor leaders assassinated, and what is worst, the destruction of the union organizations,” said Pena. “What the Congressman and others need to understand is that the basic model of trade represented in these free trade deals violates workers’ rights everywhere.”

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Oregon Congressmen Join Charge for Real Trade Reform

Posted on June 25, 2009 by CTC

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 25, 2009

Oregon Congressmen Join Charge for Real Change Reform
Reps. DeFazio and Wu Among 108 Cosponsors of “The TRADE Act”

PORTLAND, OR — Oregon Congressmen Peter DeFazio (D-4th) and David Wu (D-1st) are among 108 cosponsors of trade reform legislation introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives yesterday with the support of the many of the nation’s leading labor, environmental, family farm and consumer organizations. The Trade Reform, Accountability, Development and Employment Act — or TRADE Act, for short — was introduced just weeks before President Obama is expected to give a major address outlining his new approach to international trade policy.

“The general public has long understood that trade agreements like NAFTA have done more to hurt than to help the U.S. economy,” said Arthur Stamoulis, director of the Oregon Fair Trade Campaign. “The TRADE Act would go a long way towards ensuring that future trade deals actually benefit ordinary Americans and strengthen our economy. Congressmen DeFazio and Wu deserve praise for their leadership on this issue. Hopefully, the Obama administration will hear the Democratic Caucus’ call for real change when it comes to trade policy.”

The 2009 TRADE Act establishes a process for reviewing and renegotiating existing trade agreements; sets criteria for what must be included in future trade agreements; and reasserts Congressional authority in the trade policymaking process. Issues covered by the legislation include labor rights, the environment, food safety, human rights, financial regulation, national security and more.

The list of cosponsors spans 33 states, and includes 8 prominent committee chairs, 45 subcommittee chairs, 19 members of the Congressional Black Caucus, 17 members of the Blue Dog Caucus and 13 “New Democrats.”

“The IAM applauds these one hundred and six members of congress for keeping their promise to reform our nation’s trade laws,” said R. Thomas Buffenbarger, President of the International Association of Machinists & Aerospace Workers (IAMAW). “They understand that the status quo is unacceptable as millions of manufacturing jobs are lost and as our trade deficit continues to soar. We know that trade is important and the TRADE Act is a serious effort to make trade laws work for U.S. workers.”

“This bill maps out a fair path forward, detailing what we support in a good agreement,” said Katy Ziegler Thomas, Vice President of Government Relations for the National Farmers Union. “It breaks ground on ensuring America’s farmers and ranchers will have a level playing field when it comes to global trade.”

Brett Blackwelder, President Friends of the Earth U.S., added his accolades, noting “Trade agreements should support, rather than undermine, environmental protection. The TRADE Act encourages responsible behavior from trading partners, providing a blueprint for a more sustainable way to move goods and services across borders.”

For more information on the TRADE Act, visit: www.citizenstrade.org/ctc/oregon/.

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Rep. Wu’s Trade Reform Proposal a Major Step for Human Rights

Posted on June 24, 2009 by CTC

For Immediate Release
June 24, 2009

Rep. David Wu Praised for Leadership on Trade Reform
New Human Rights Language in Trade Reform Bill Called “A Milestone”

PORTLAND, OR — Comprehensive trade reform legislation introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives earlier today includes new human rights standards that, for the first time, would put human rights in trade agreements on par with issues like copyright enforcement and patent protections. The human rights language was championed by Oregon Congressman David Wu (D-1st), who was praised by the Oregon Fair Trade Campaign and others for his leadership in connecting trade policy to human rights advances.

“The fact that this legislation now includes strong, enforceable human rights language is a major milestone. The TRADE Act is widely recognized as a new model for international trade policy—one that advances the reform promises made by President Obama and the wider Democratic Party,” said Arthur Stamoulis, director of the Oregon Fair Trade Campaign. “With the TRADE Act’s new provisions, future trade deals can be used as tool to prevent human rights violations. It’s hard to overstate how important a shift that is in our approach to international commerce. No one in Congress has done as much to highlight the connections between trade policy and human rights as Congressman Wu.”

The Trade Reform, Accountability, Development and Employment Act—or the 2009 TRADE Act, for short—has 105 original House cosponsors and is supported by the AFL-CIO, Sierra Club, National Family Farm Coalition, Public Citizen and dozens of other national organizations. The original TRADE Act was first introduced in 2008, but did not previously include explicit human rights language. The new language was advocated for and developed by Congressman Wu.

The TRADE Act establishes a process for reviewing and renegotiating existing trade agreements; sets criteria for what must be included in future trade agreements; and reasserts Congressional authority in the trade policymaking process. Issues covered by the legislation include labor rights, the environment, food safety, national security and more, including for the first time, human rights.

“One of the primary reasons that I ran for public office was to promote human rights both at home and abroad, and I believe that trade agreements are one of the key levers to do this,” said Congressman Wu. “I am thankful for the opportunity to put human rights on an equal footing with labor and environmental protections in a bill that carves a new path for trade policy. Democracy, human rights, and the rule of law are critical to peaceful relations between nations and the long-term stability of societies.”

The TRADE Act’s new human rights provisions require trading partner nations to recognize the United Nation’s Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and they provide that any violations be subject to enforcement mechanisms and penalties at least as severe as those for violations of the commercial provisions of the trade agreement.

“Trade isn’t ‘free’ when workers in one country are persecuted for exercising their rights to free speech and assembly. The new human rights provisions in the TRADE Act acknowledge this,” said Beth Poteet, director of Witness for Peace Northwest. “Representative Wu’s commonsense new language requires U.S. trade negotiators to abide by standards which prevent countries that exploit their workers and crush democratic participation from gaining special access to U.S. markets until they clean up their acts.”

For more information on the TRADE Act, visit: https://www.citizenstrade.org/ctc/oregon/

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Senator Merkley Recognized for Supporting Strong Oregon Jobs

Posted on February 18, 2009 by CTC

February 18, 2009

Senator Merkley Recognized for Leadership in Support of Strong Oregon Jobs
Award Presentation by Community Organizations Highlights Senator’s Efforts to Prevent Outsourcing, Protect Job Security and Improve Wages

PORTLAND, ORE. — Community and labor organizations recognized U.S. Senator Jeff Merkley today for his leadership in support of policies that promote family-wage jobs in Oregon.

During an award presentation in the Senator’s Portland office attended by approximately twenty leaders from Oregon’s faith, labor, environmental and fair trade organizations, Senator Merkley was lauded for his efforts to defend the state’s working families during hard economic times.

“From day one, Senator Jeff Merkley has worked for policy changes that will keep jobs in Oregon, give hard-working Americans a greater voice on the job, and raise the standard of living for Oregon’s families. This is exactly what we need to improve our economy and help out hard-working Americans who are struggling to make ends meet and worried about losing their job,” said Tom Chamberlain, President of the Oregon AFL-CIO.“We applaud Senator Merkley’s continued commitment to Oregon’s working families.”

During the event, the Oregon Fair Trade Campaign presented Senator Merkley with the organization’s “Fair Trade Champion” award, thanking him for making trade policy and Oregon jobs a centerpiece of his 2008 election campaign. The Senator has been outspoken about the need to reform trade agreements in order to protect Oregon jobs and improve the state’s economy, and has voiced support for proactive, fair trade legislation like the Trade Reform, Accountability, Development and Employment Act.

“You can’t fix the nation’s economy without fixing its failed trade policy,” said Arthur Stamoulis, director of the Oregon Fair Trade Campaign. “Few people have advocated for trade reform as strongly as Senator Merkley. With his leadership, we have the potential to bring job security back to Oregon and turn the economy around for working people everywhere.”

“For far too long, American workers have been getting the short end of the stick,” said Oregon’s Senator Jeff Merkley.  “We need an economy that starts measuring its success on the opportunities it affords working Americans.  I’m proud to receive this award today and will continue to fight to make sure Washington is working for working Americans.”

Portland Jobs with Justice also presented Senator Merkley with a two-and-a-half-feet-tall Valentine’s Day Card signed by over 1,000 people, expressing their members’ gratitude for the Senator’s support of the Employee Free Choice Act. The Employee Free Choice Act is pending legislation that, among other things, strengthens penalties for companies that coerce or intimidate employees trying to form a union and bargain collectively to improve their working conditions.

“Senator Merkley faced some vicious attacks during the last election when he stood up to protect workers’ freedom to choose a union free from management intimidation,” said Rev. Dr. Marilyn Sewell of the First Unitarian Church of Portland. “By supporting the Employee Free Choice Act in the face of adversity, Senator Merkley showed that he is squarely on the side of Oregon’s working families. He has demonstrated the strength and the leadership that Oregonians deserve from all their elected officials.”

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Trade a Winning Election Issue in Oregon

Posted on November 6, 2008 by CTC

For Immediate Release
November 6, 2008

Fair Trade a Winning Election Issue in Oregon — and Across the Nation
Merkley Made Trade Policy a Key Issue in His Campaign for the Senate; Trade Unexpectedly Referenced in Other Oregon Races

Portland, OR — Trade policy and the offshoring of jobs was a major focus of Jeff Merkley’s winning campaign for the U.S. Senate, according to an analysis released today by the Oregon Fair Trade Campaign. Trade was referenced in more than a dozen paid television ads within Oregon’s U.S. Senate race and other successful races in the state. The issue also played a role in more than three dozen other successful Congressional bids throughout the nation.

“Merkley’s campaign was outspent by a three-to-one margin. Trade was an issue that allowed Merkley to connect with voters across the state on a matter of utmost importance to many Oregon families — namely, jobs,” said Arthur Stamoulis, director of the Oregon Fair Trade Campaign. “Trade is something that resonates with people across party lines, and can be used to both mobilize one’s base and attract swing voters at the same time. Not many issues do that.”

According to the Oregon Fair Trade Campaign:

  • The majority of the Merkley campaign’s major television ads featured trade in some way, as did additional ads in the Senate race produced by the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee and others.
  • Trade messages were included in eight of the fifteen television ads archived on the Merkley campaign website. No other single issue received as much attention. By comparison, middle-class tax cuts were mentioned in five ads. Other issues, such as the war in Iraq and health care, were mentioned with less frequency.
  • President-elect Barack Obama also aired television advertisements in Oregon focused on the offshoring of jobs.
  • The offshoring of jobs was even the centerpiece of a winning television ad in the State Treasurer race, an office that has relatively little to do with international trade policy.
  • Nationwide, at least 37 newly-elected U.S. Senators and Representatives besides Merkley ran on “fair trade” platforms, and at least 133 paid campaign ads referenced trade-related messages. Visit: http://www.citizen.org/trade/

“Merkley’s printed campaign materials drew a connection between unfair trade policies and local job loss early on in the primary, but during the general election trade really heated up as the major focus of his television ads,” said Stamoulis.

Merkley’s “Places” ad featured narration promising, “As U.S. Senator, Merkley will fight to end trade deals that ship our jobs overseas.” His “Tax and Trade” ad claimed, “Washington has been giving tax breaks to corporations that ship our jobs overseas… Spending your tax dollars to export Oregon jobs and subsidize companies building factories in China and Mexico.” Merkley’s “Call It” ad featured the candidate saying, “They call it ‘free’ trade. Problem is, there’s nothing ‘free’ about it. And Oregon’s paid a very heavy price with nearly 70,000 jobs shipped overseas. Families with no savings, no health care, and no security. How could Washington allow American jobs to become one of our country’s biggest exports?”

The offshoring of jobs was a theme also referenced in Merkley’s “A Decade,” “Breaks,” “Trailer” and “Stories” ads. Even the campaign’s “Important Message from Barack Obama” ad featured Obama saying, “Jeff will put fairness back in the system and strengthen our economy by cutting taxes for the middle class, not corporations who ship our jobs overseas.”

Indicative of just how important trade was this election cycle was an ad attacking State Treasurer candidate Allen Alley, which highlighted that, “[Alley] says he created jobs in Oregon, but really he outsourced jobs to China while paying himself millions of dollars.” The visual featured a cartoon depiction of Alley with a stack of money standing next to a factory in China. Alley lost to Ben Westlund.

An ad by Congressman-elect Kurt Schrader, who did not make trade policy a central part of his campaign, still made reference to an economic recovery plan that includes “job training for renewable energy jobs that can never be outsourced.” The words included on screen were not about protecting the environment, reducing energy costs or even improving the economy generally. Instead, they very specifically read “Kurt Schrader: Jobs That Can Never Be Outsourced.”

“Clearly politicians have found a way to capitalize on public anger over trade and the economy,” said Stamoulis. “What remains to be seen is what will change once they’re in office. I’m hopeful we’ll see some real shift in the nation’s trade policy over the coming year, but constituents can’t let up on reminding elected officials that they will be held accountable.”

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The Oregon Fair Trade Campaign is a statewide coalition of labor, environmental and human rights organizations working together on issues of international trade.

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Trade Pacts Cost Oregon Over 74,000 Jobs

Posted on October 28, 2008 by CTC

For Immediate Release
October 28, 2008

BUSINESS AND LABOR:
Trade Pacts Cost Oregon Over 74,000 Jobs
New Report Documents the Impact of Offshoring and Foreign Competition in Communities throughout the State; Estimates 74,500 Jobs Lost

Portland, OR — A new report about the statewide impacts of international trade policies released today by the Oregon Fair Trade Campaign (ORFTC) finds that an estimated 74,500 Oregonians have lost jobs as a result of direct offshoring by their employers or displacement due to imports. The report provides first-hand accounts of the negative effects that trade-related job loss has had on families and communities throughout the state, quoting from among over 150 interviews ORFTC conducted with displaced workers across Oregon.

“Trade-related job loss is a widespread, on-going problem that is hurting people in all corners of the state,” said ORFTC Director Arthur Stamoulis. “Those employed in manufacturing, agriculture and forest products have obviously been hit very hard by this trend, but increasingly, white-collar, salaried positions are also being shipped overseas. It’s part of the reason why the number of jobs lost from year-to-year has not tapered off over time.”

The report Livelihoods Traded Away draws on interviews with displaced workers from Colton, Dallas, Hermiston, Lake Oswego, Medford, Merlin, Monmouth, Myrtle Creek, Ontario, Portland, Roseburg, White City, Woodburn and other cities and towns throughout the state.  Trends highlighted in many interviews include:

  • The difficulty of competing directly for jobs against workers abroad who are paid just pennies on the dollar;
  • The loss of economic security that comes with trade-related job loss, which has forced many to either move to find work and/or make difficult decisions regarding home payments, health care, education and retirement;
  • The inadequacy of many job retraining programs, particularly in communities where there are few job opportunities available;
  • The norm that one must accept less in pay and benefits in order to find new work;
  • The increasing number of white-collar, service-sector jobs in Oregon that are being shipped to lower-paid workforces overseas; and
  • That many immigrants living and working in Oregon came here only after experiencing the negative impacts of free trade policies in their home countries.

The U.S. Department of Labor tracks trade-related plant closures and certifies certain categories of workers as eligible for its Trade Adjustment Assistance (TAA) program. Examining TAA records, ORFTC found approximately 35,000 Oregon jobs certified as lost due to trade. Many additional Oregonians have lost their jobs due to offshoring and foreign competition, but fall into categories of work not typically covered by the TAA program; this often includes truck drivers, service technicians, suppliers, consultants, small business owners, growers, ranchers, fishermen and others. The Department of Labor does not certify these additional trade-related job losses. ORFTC estimates that 74,500 Oregon jobs have been lost due to outsourcing and foreign competition since NAFTA took effect in 1994.

“Today’s trade policies enable jobs to be shipped around the world to wherever labor is the most exploited and environmental regulations are the weakest. That is a losing proposition for most Americans,” said Stamoulis. “It’s time for our elected to acknowledge that the economic theories that have governed our economy in recent decades have not worked well for ordinary Oregonians. We need a real change in the way this nation conducts international trade.”

The report recommends that policymakers:
Stop using existing trade pacts as a template for future trade agreements;
Start studying and addressing the problems in existing pacts; and
Improve opportunities for public participation and oversight in the policymaking process.

To download a copy of the report, and profiles of interviewees quoted within it, please visit: https://www.citizenstrade.org/ctc/oregon/files/2011/12

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