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A Good
Neighbor Policy
Just
the facts: About fair trade,
civic-engagement,
jobs, justice,
and economic reform.
"According to the Pew Hispanic Center, the number of immigrants to the
United States from Mexico actually decreased by 18 percent in the three
years before NAFTA's implementation. But in the first eight years of
NAFTA, the annual number of immigrants from Mexico increased by more
than 61 percent. The cause was twofold. First, NAFTA's agricultural
provisions resulted in a flood of subsidized corn being imported into
Mexico from the United States. The effect in rural areas was that some
1.5 million rural families -- and some researchers claim twice that --
were driven out of business. Their only options were to move to the
cities and seek whatever work, at whatever wage, could be found, or to
cross the border. A very large number chose the second option."
http://www.citizenstrade.org/pdf/startribune_immigrantsurgetiedtonafta_04212006.pdf
"A 2004 report by the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace found
that at least 1.3 million Mexican agricultural jobs have been lost,
while well-paying jobs in domestic manufacturing have disappeared.
Overall, Mexico’s growth rate under NAFTA has been just half of what is
needed to generate enough jobs for its growing labor force, according to
the Economic Policy Institute. Real wages are lower today in Mexico than
when NAFTA began, and the percentage of Mexicans living in poverty is
higher than it was in the late 1970s. ... When NAFTA came into effect,
tens of thousands of Mexican businesses were simply unable to compete
with U.S. companies and collapsed. Similarly, small farmers in Mexico
were severely undercut by cheap, highly subsidized grain imports from
the United States."
http://ncronline.org/NCR_Online/archives2/2006c/092206/092206w.php
"Today, after 13 years of "free trade" under NAFTA, real wages in
Mexico's manufacturing sector are lower than before the agreement and
more than a third of Mexico's farm jobs have disappeared, sending
millions of rural laborers and bankrupt small-scale farmers into
Mexico's cities and across the border into the United States."
NAFTA: Winners and Losers Pittsburgh Tribune Review, January 29, 2007
"Fact: A decade after NAFTA's passage, America is still hemorrhaging the
good-paying jobs that NAFTA was supposed to create. As for Mexico, the
Washington Post's report on the 10-
year anniversary of NAFTA told the story: 19 million more Mexicans now
live in poverty than before the pact was signed. Similarly, former U.S.
Labor Secretary Robert Reich points out,
"Mexico's real wages are lower than they were before ." And because
NAFTA included no provisions to force companies to improve Mexican
working conditions, jobs that were created
in Mexico still pay near-slave wages For instance, the Associated Press
noted this week that "Many young [Mexicans] have manual jobs on minimum
wage of $5 a day."
http://www.citizenstrade.org/pdf/sfchron_supplyanddemand_04092006.pdf
The facts remain:
NAFTA is an abject failure. It has decimated the Mexican economy and
destroyed jobs and lowered wages in Mexico and the United States. The
Mexican people have lost, the American people have lost, and both
nations economies have suffered.
The only winners are the transnational corporations who profit from this
human tragedy and economic exploitation.
It is time to withdraw from NAFTA, promote immigration reform, and
insist on corporate accountability. Instead of building walls to divide
nations and people, it is time to build bridges of economic opportunity
and human compassion between nations. We must insist on fair and
principled trade and impost economic sanctions on those who violate this
compact. Fair and equitable working conditions in Mexico can be realized
when predatory deep-pocket corporations are no longer permitted to abuse
their workers abroad while destroying jobs in America. With mutually
beneficial international partnerships between industry and labor
defining a new trade relationship, the excess immigration fueled by
NAFTA will become history.
There are solutions. We can only find them when we face the facts,
examine the options, and then do the right thing. Eliminate NAFTA.
demand corporate accountability, enforce fair trade, and invest in
opportunities for working people on both sides of the border. We can
learn to get along, and improve the quality of life for ourselves and
our neighbors. Jobs with justice on both sides of the border can
establish partnerships which encourage civic commitment and social
responsibility. Together we can make a difference.
see
Jobs with Justice
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