CWA Joins Allies at TPP Ministerial Meeting in Atlanta

CWA members from the Atlanta area, the Atlanta #StopTPP Coalition and many environmental, faith, senior citizen and LGBT activists protested today at the trade ministerial meeting in Atlanta, GA, where negotiators are pushing for a deal on the Trans-Pacific Partnership.

Outside the secret negotiations, protestors carried signs and banners calling TPP a bad deal for workers, communities and the environment.

Martin O'Hanlon, Director of CWA-SCA Canada, who spoke outside the negotiations, also addressed scores of protesters at a rally hosted by the Atlanta #StopTPP Coalition at the International Peace Fountain in Atlanta's Woodruff Park. With O’Hanlon was former Japanese Agricultural Minister Yamada Masahiko, who led a Japanese anti-TPP delegation to Atlanta.

Martin O'Hanlon, Director of CWA-SCA Canada, addressed scores of protesters at a rally hosted by the Atlanta #StopTPP Coalition.

"The corporations are here for profit, we're here for democracy!" O'Hanlon said. "The TPP is being negotiated in secret with input from multinational corporations, but nothing from labor leaders, environmentalists and other experts. Even our politicians don't know what’s in it...And 'We The People' won't even get to see the final text – it will remain secret for years. What kind of democracy is that?"

We are seeing more and more demonstrations and outrage in countries like Canada and Japan.

Big differences still remain among TPP negotiators on other issues too, auto parts and content requirements, allowable levels of dairy imports, and the ability of multinational corporations to challenge a country's laws or regulations, among others.