Ah, Democracy...

Unbelievable.

As part of the negotiations for CAFTA (the Central American Free Trade Agreement), the U.S. Labor Department commissioned the International Labor Rights Fund to evaluate the situation of workers in Central America.

Which is a good thing.

Not surprisingly, the ILRF study discovered that labor standards in CAFTA nations are NOT up to international standards, citing examples of workplace discrimination and systematically quashed worker organization.

So the Bush administration tried to bury the report.

Rep. Sander Levin, a Democrat from Michigan, requested a copy of the study, but was rebuffed by the Labor Department for more than a year. Finally, he threatened congressional action to force the documents into the public domain.

The Bush administration then said the study was not suppressed; it was not released to the public because it had "serious flaws." ("Serious flaws", in Bushspeak, means: "the facts don't match our preconceived opinions.")

This seems to be recurring theme in the Bush regime: commissioning studies and then rejecting their findings. Perhaps the most recent example is a Harvard investigation (EPA-financed, co-authored, and peer-reviewed) which emphasized the urgent need to limit mercury emissions from U.S. power plants. The study was then dismissed by an EPA administrator as, guess what: "flawed"!

But back to CAFTA....

The trade agreement, if approved by Congress, would provide more money for enforcement, but would not require any changes in current labor laws.

"Essentially, what CAFTA says to Central American countries is, 'Your laws fall so short of international standards - just enforce your own laws,'" Levin said. "That means, of course, the laws can become even worse."

Chris Padilla, assistant U.S. trade representative, responded: "We prefer to listen to the ... voices of those in Central America who know the most, not to a Washington advocacy group whose work has been repudiated by the Department of Labor".

Well, Chris, listen to this:

CAFTA is more commonly referred to as the TLC, Tratado de Libre Comercio (Free Trade Agreement).

With the TLC: unemployment, violence, poverty, hunger and misery.

The U.S. as Grim Reaper with the TLC.

Children who are aware, will not be fooled. We want our ABCs and not the TLC!

The United Franciscan Family salutes the working class on Labor Day... No to the TLC.

Anti-elitist, anti-capitalist... no to the TLC.

No to the TLC!

Chris, those are the "voices of those in Central America who know the most". So what part of "NO" don't you understand?

Posted by elcanche at May 3, 2005 09:45 PM