CWAers, Activists Gather in Miami to Oppose TTIP and other Secret Trade Deals

CWAers and other activists are in Miami this week to shine a spotlight on the Trans-Atlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) and other secretive trade deals during the 11th round of TTIP trade talks going on at the Hyatt Regency Miami.

They are demanding transparency in trade negotiations affecting jobs, the environment, public health and more. They are saying, "No More Secret Trade Deals: Good-Paying Jobs, the Environment & Public Health Are at Stake."

"Massive trade agreements that will have a real effect on jobs, wages, the environment and public health in our communities should not be negotiated in the shadows," CWA Campaign Lead Fred Frost said at a news conference Wednesday morning. "The American people deserve to know what U.S. negotiators have been proposing in our names, and that's what we're here to demand."

Frost later testified before a panel of trade negotiators. Officers and members of CWA Local 3122 and local elected and community leaders attended the news conference. Opponents protesting the TTIP talks include faith leaders, consumer groups, environmental organizations and community activists. Speakers called for an end to secret trade pacts like the just concluded Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) and other trade deals that affect south Florida's economy, environment and public health.

Just last week, the City of Miami Commissioners unanimously passed a resolution that calls on President Obama and Congress to "provide transparent, public participation and collaboration" on both TTIP and the TPP. Similar resolutions have also been passed in the City of South Miami, City of Hialeah Gardens, and the City of Hallandale Beach.

Unlike European negotiators, who have made their TTIP proposals public, U.S. negotiators have flatly refused to make their proposals available for public scrutiny. Meanwhile, they have given hundreds of corporate lobbyist's special "cleared advisor" status that provides them with access to the texts.

AFA-CWA Government Affairs Director Stephen Schembs is closely monitoring several important elements of the negotiations, including a European Union proposal to loosen rules governing how much of a U.S.-flagged carrier can be owned by a foreign entity. Other points of concern include the potential that overseas-based airlines could be allowed to operate under Flags of Convenience – much like the maritime shipping industry – which led to the elimination of virtually the entire U.S.-based commercial fleet and the work and safety rules governing it.

AFA is also concerned TTIP negotiators may tinker with the current U.S.-Europe Open Skies Agreement that governs how and when foreign carriers can serve the United States and vice-versa for U.S. flagged carriers.