By William Wallace
A bill is working its way through Congress that would give the President “fast track” authority to push through the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade agreement without the public or our elected officials having any knowledge of its content and without any public debate. If “fast track” is approved, there can be no amendments offered to the TPP trade agreement—it must be voted up or down as is. The U.S. Senate approved fast track authority on May 22. The measure is now being considered by the U.S. House.
What exactly is the Trans-Pacific Partnership? It is a trade agreement being negotiated between 12 nations (Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, the United States, and Vietnam). Because of the secrecy surrounding it, we don’t really know what it contains. However, what we do know from Wikileaks is that the TPP will effectively dismantle labor, environmental, health, food safety and financial laws. It will allow corporations to challenge our laws in international tribunals rather than our own court system.
Fast Track, is a mechanism that President Nixon initiated in the ’70s where Congress delegates away its constitutional authorities. Under Fast Track, Congress basically would give away all of its ability to control the content of a trade agreement. If Congress authorizes Fast Track for TPP, President Obama could sign the agreement before Congress votes on it, regardless of what the contents are.
The TPP appears to be a disastrous trade agreement designed to protect the interests of the largest multi-national corporations at the expense of workers, consumers, the environment and the foundations of American democracy. It will also negatively impact some of the poorest people in the world.
Incredibly, while Wall Street, the pharmaceutical industry and major media companies have full knowledge as to what is in this treaty, the American people and members of Congress do not. We and our elected representatives have been locked out of the process.
How the TPP will eventually affect wages and benefits in the long term are unknown, because we don’t know exactly what is in the Treaty. However, the history of trade agreements can provide some insight into its future effect on our economy.
It has been 20 years since NAFTA (North American Free Trade agreement) went into effect with the promise of more equality, more jobs, and a better, more prosperous and peaceful world for all of us. But what happened was just the opposite. Hundreds of thousands of jobs were lost, the middle class dipped down into the poverty level and the Mexican economy was destroyed. During this same period that the middle class became poorer, the wealthy became immensely richer. With this increased wealth, the attacks against the middle class became stronger. Right to work laws were successfully passed and public pensions came under greater attack.
The TPP appears to be designed to give unchallenged power to corporations and will effectively step-up corporations from personhood to the status of an untouchable. If the Trans-Pacific Partnership is such a great deal for America, the administration should have the courage to show the American people exactly what is in this agreement, instead of keeping the contents a secret.
Regardless of where you stand politically, it should bother you that negotiations are being done behind closed doors. There are no published plans for you or me to be able to read the language of this agreement. Our representatives in Congress also have not been given access to the agreement. This is an affront to the concept of democracy. All Americans, regardless of political ideology, should be opposed to the “Fast Track” process which would deny Congress the right to represent their constituents’ interests.
Congress has to actively give away this authority and it doesn’t appear to be a slam dunk. So, if fast track does not sound like a good idea to you and if you don’t like the negative affects fast track NAFTA has had on our economy, please lift up your voice and make sure your member of the House of Representative knows your feelings on this issue.
William Wallace is a former member of the IBEW 1245 Advisory Council and is now active in the union’s Retiree Club.