UAW Hails 'Fast Track' Defeat
10 November 1997
UAW Hails 'Fast Track' Defeat
DETROIT, Nov. 10 -- UAW President Stephen P. Yokich hailed
the derailment of "Fast Track" trade authorization in the U.S. House of
Representatives today declaring, "This is a big step toward getting trade
deals that don't just focus on corporate concerns.
"Unbalanaced trade agreements that include enforceable protections for
corporations but not for worker rights or the environment are economically
shortsighted and we are encouraged that a bi-partisan majority in the House of
Representatives are willing to hold out for good trade deals instead of bad
ones," Yokich continued.
"There is much to be learned from this development," Yokich said. "First
and foremost, contrary to the distortions of many Republicans and the
corporate media, this was never a fight about being for or against trade. The
issue was how to conduct trade so that jobs, food supplies and air and water
quality are protected, instead of putting them at risk and the American people
clearly understood that.
"That's why," Yokich continued, "the efforts of fast-track's congressional
supporters to change the subject, to suggest that responsible members of
Congress weren't focused on the merits of the issues and other diversionary
tactics didn't succeed.
"Put simply," Yokich continued, "the adverse affects of NAFTA on living
standards of Mexican and U.S. workers as well as drug trafficking, highway
safety and the environment offered concrete proof of the consequences of bad
'fast track' trade agreements.
"Finally, this significant result is a testament to the grass roots effort
of UAW members and others in the labor movement, and our allies in thousands
of communities across the nation, and I congratulate them for their hard
work," Yokich added.
"It's a very positive step toward a healthy debate about how to build a
sustainable global economy that gives workers and citizens a seat at the
decision making table," Yokich concluded.
SOURCE United Auto Workers
