Democratic Congressman Gregory Meeks has come under fire for crossing party lines to vote in favor of CAFTA. Critics say the agreement will cost US workers jobs. WIN correspondent Abraham Riesman met with Meeks late last week:

MEEKS: I’m there to create jobs; I’m not a labor organizer. But I decided that it’s my job to create jobs so people can go to work.

He remained undecided until the day of the vote, but eventually concluded that CAFTA will leave municipal and service jobs unharmed, while increasing shipping jobs.

MEEKS ON THAT: And when you export in New York, a large par

By Doug Cunningham

As Wednesday’s session of the AFL-CIO Chicago convention drew to a close the delegates were told that there was a bulletin from Capitol Hill on CAFTA. The Republican leadership in the House was pushing for a vote Wednesday night on the Central American Free Trade agreement. In a defeat for workers the U.S. House approved CAFTA by a 217-215 vote just after midnight Wednesday. That was despite a huge effort by labor and allied progressive groups to stop it.

By Doug Cunningham

Democrats who vote for CAFTA risk not only the wrath of organized labor but the loss of labor political money and support. That’s the message delivered by AFL-CIO leaders and reiterated here in Chicago by AFL-CIO Secretary Treasurer Rich Trumka.

[Trumka] : “It’s even a step backwards from NAFTA because of the poor workers rights provisions it contains. That’s why workers here in Central America and here are protesting. We will look at very, very very seriously anybody who vote’s against it. Right now, I can’t tell you that we wouldn’t.
But I can’t imagine us being willing to support anybody that votes against us, because it’s so bad. If you vote for CAFTA, then you’ll vote for anything that ever came up because , this, there are no workers rights, no environmental rights and no human rights protections.”

By Jesse Russell

[James Hoffa]: We have voted to disaffiliate from the AF of L-CIO.

That was Teamsters President James P. Hoffa speaking at a joint press
conference with the Service Employees International Union earlier
today. At the conference both unions announced their intention to
leave the AFL. Stern says the move is a recognition that the country
is in the midst of one of the most significant economic revolutions in
history.

[Andy Stern]: And the results for the American workers have been less
healthcare, less time to spend with their families, less secure pensions in
their retirement - and more debt and more insecurity about the future.
The American Dream has slipped out of reach for too many American
workers.

On Sunday the SEIU and Teamsters joined with the UFCW and
UNITE-Here to announce their intent to boycott their convention and
not run any members for the AFL executive council. Six unions make
up a new labor organization called the Change to Win Coalition.
Although the Laborers and Farm Workers are not running anyone for
the council they are participating in the convention.

During a rally intended to show support for AFL-CIO President John
Sweeney yesterday, various labor organizations outlined what the
federation is focused on in the near future with the Central American
Free Trade Agreement being at the top of the list.

[mcentee]: We've got a chance to look at the records in the terms of
CAFTA and every democrat that is on the wrong side of the roll call,
should not receive any of our support.

Gerald McEntee is President of the American Federation of State
County and Municipal Employees. He said at the rally that even if the
other unions leave; the AFL will stand in solidarity.

[mcentee2]: We are here today to say that we will be here Monday, we
will be here Wednesday, we will be here Thursday, and maybe some
others will be gone but by Thursday we will be united in solidarity.

Dennis Serrette, President of the United Association of Labor
Education and a founder of the coalition of black trade unionists says organized labor is now experiencing the repercussions of not taking on trade issues when jobs began to move south years ago.

He also says a greater emphasis needs to be placed on organizing, but it
is going to be an up hill battle:

[Serette1]: This is like a closing the door after the horse is out situation.
We are going out to organize with one leg and one arm tied behind us,
which is an impossible situation when you are in crisis.

Serette added that he felt much of the rift at the top of the AFL was
due to ego and could be resolved with a cooling off period.

[Serette2]: If it goes too long, if it happens, we may not ever see labor,
you know, the way we see it today.

By Doug Cunningham

The Sierra Club is in the fight against CAFTA and with the U.S. House expected to act soon on CAFTA Sierra Club chapters nationwide are actively lobbying against the Central American Free Trade Agreement. Brett Hulsey is with a Midwestern chapter of the Sierra Club. Hulsey believes a turning point is being reached on trade issues.

[Brett Hulsey ] : "Even Republicans are starting to realize that these trade agreements ship our jobs overseas, they lower our environmental standards and they threaten our health and safety."

Hulsey says that CAFTA could be used to attack U.S.

By Doug Cunningham

As incredible as it seems trade agreements like the Central American Free Trade Agreement, or CAFTA, currently in the U.S. House are not only helping outsource U.S. jobs, but U.S. farmers, too. Sue Beitlich is President of the Wisconsin Farmers Union. The Farmers Union nationally opposes CAFTA.

[Sue Beitlich 1] : "The true beneficiaries of these types of trade agreements are the international commodity marketing firms. By opening up these new markets it's very profitable for them, but it's not profitable for farmers around the globe."

For the first time, Beitlich says, the U.S. has become a net importer of food. And you and I can't even read food labels to see the country of origin of our food because Congress so far is refusing to require country of origin food labeling. Farmers, Beitlich says, won't be helped by CAFTA.

By Doug Cunningham

Wisconsin AFL-CIO President David Newby says though the fight against the Central American Free Trade Agreement isn't over, a powerful coalition of labor, progressive and faith groups is finally getting many in Congress to realize that trade agreements like CAFTA aren't good for the U.S. economy.

[David Newby 1] : "Legislators, more members of Congress, are becoming aware that the NAFTA/WTO model simply doesn’t work and it's failed the American economy and American workers."

The vote on CAFTA is Congress is expected within a couple of weeks and while organized labor has taken a prominent public position against CAFTA, Newby says this is really an issue that all working families in America should unite around.

By Doug Cunningham

Labor and progressive groups are battling to stop CAFTA - the Central American Free Trade Agreement - in Congress. On this one labor has a fighting chance to stop CAFTA. Douglas Drake with the Steelworkers union District 2 in Wisconsin says working families on both sides of the border are hurt by these trade agreements because they're structured to enrich corporations at the expense of workers.

[Douglas Drake 1] : "Real wages in Mexico are less than they were at the time that NAFTA was instituted, so it has not achieved its goals of helping to increase and develop those economies to the point where they would start consuming more goods from the U.S. So both from the standpoint of workers here in the U.S. and workers in Mexico for instance these trade policies have not resulted in greater prosperity for working people in either case."

Last week the Senate passed the Central American Free Trade Agreement onto the House by a slim margin. The deal, if passed, would slash tariffs and streamline business laws. There has been concerned that the labor laws in some of the Central American countries aren't up to United States standards and the passage of CAFTA would only make life for workers in those counties worse. A contractor hired to conduct studies on the working conditions in those countries is now accusing the Labor Department of covering up its findings. The Labor Rights Fund was originally contracted to study the region for CAFTA and claims that the department blocked releases; ordered reports removed from the contractor’s website and told the organization not to discuss findings with outsiders.

Workers came to Capitol Hill Tuesday to tell members of Congress not to support CAFTA - the Central American Free Trade Agreement - because it will hurt working families and their communities much like NAFTA has. Shon (SHAWN) Jones is a Steelworkers union member from Texas who works at Bridgestone Firestone. He came to tell the story of his friend John who was laid off when his company moved to Mexico. John died of a heart attack at 42 while struggling to make ends meet, leaving a widow and son with no benefits. Shon's union local donated several hundred dollars to John's family.

[Shon Jones] : "I came all the way from Texas to tell this story and to ask Congress to please vote against CAFTA. I work for a Firestone plant that's just down the road from A. Schulman plant and I worry every day if they're going to pull up the stakes and move to Mexico. CAFTA is just like NAFTA. It's hurt my community and it's hurt my friends."

Unions representing high tech workers, engineers and inventors have united to oppose the Central American Free Trade Agreement. In a report released yesterday, the unions said CAFTA would not increase U.S. high tech exports and jobs, as lobbyists such as Microsoft claim. CAFTA has been described as "the brother of NAFTA," and seeks to expand free trade to central american countries. Critics say NAFTA has contributed to massive outsourcing of U.S. jobs, including the high-tech industry, decreased wages, and led to piracy of Intellectual Property. The report says CAFTA would expand that trend and give nothing to the U.S. in return. The report was released by the Washington Alliance of Technology Workers, Society of Professional Engineering Employees in Aerospace, and the American Ingenuity Alliance.

Hearings are scheduled for April 7th in the U.S. House Ways and Means committee on CAFTA – the Central American Free Trade Agreement. A coalition to stop CAFTA is calling on all working families to contact Congress and express opposition to the biggest free trade agreement in ten years. Labor unions oppose CAFTA because it will mean another round of NAFTA-like destructive jobs loss. CAFTA does not include protections for worker’s rights. The AFL-CIO says the agreement will utterly fail to create good jobs and sustainable development for Central American countries. CAFTA, the AFL-CIO says, will leave working families, farmers and the environment vulnerable while further enriching and empowering the corporate elites. Ten years of NAFTA wiped out more than 879,000 jobs while real wages in Mexico have actually fallen, according to the Economic Policy Institute. Human Rights Watch says workers in Central America are denied basic rights like the right to organize and collectively bargain. April 10th through the 16th will be a global week of action against CAFTA. Organizers are urging workers everywhere to join the fight.