By Doug Cunningham

The AFL-CIO Thursday formally filed a petition charged China with violating trade laws by “unconscionable” abuse of its workers, a practice the labor federation says results in an unfair trade advantage that has cost American workers a million jobs. Thea Lee, Policy Director of the AFL-CIO, says the Bush administration should enforce our trade laws by imposing sanctions on China for its worker abuse.

[Thea Lee 1]: “It’s not only hurting Chinese workers, but it’s also having an adverse economic impact on American workers and on American businesses. What we’re asking is for the president to use all the tools at his disposal, including trade tools, to pressure the Chinese government to come into compliance with its own international obligations and even to enforce its own labor laws.”

Lee says U.S. workers can’t be fully protected if China is allowed to abuse its workers while flooding the U.S. with goods produced by those exploited workers.

[Lee 2]: “This is a really important measure that’s urgently needed, both to stop the loss of American jobs and then also to protect the rights of Chinese workers, who are really in a desperate situation in many cases.”

Lee says the AFL-CIO is encouraging the American people to support its efforts to get the Bush administration to sanction China.