Kingston Greens - Latest News - Friday, September 10, 2010 A Call for Global Fairness   (Thursday, August 07, 2003) Principles of Unity on Trade and Investment: A Call for Global Fairness Millions of people across this country and around the world have lost jobs, been poisoned, watched their farms foreclosed, and suffered other indignities from corporate globalization.  Today, they are rallying around campaigns for global fairness, for reining in the excessive political and economic power of global corporations, and for setting rules to ensure that trade and investment support sustainable human development, a clean environment, and dignified work.  As the nation debates proposals for "fast track" trade authority and the expansion of the North American Free Trade Agreement into a Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA), we unite behind the following five principles that should guide U.S. policy: 1. Democracy, Transparency, and Accountability: Broad-based citizen participation in trade negotiations must be ensured through genuinely democratic mechanisms ! of consultation and  participation.  The procedures under which Congress considers trade agreements must include opportunity for full debate and amendments.  Negotiating texts, including the full negotiating position of the U.S. government, should be made public at regular and timely intervals (not less than every six months), and trade agreements under negotiation must be subject to thorough environmental and social reviews, including a review of their impact on women, people of color, and indigenous communities.  Trade dispute resolution must be open to the public.  We will oppose any trade agreement that is not negotiated under such democratic mechanisms. 2. Workers‚ and Human Rights: Workers worldwide are disadvantaged by a global economic system that encourages countries and corporations to compete by violating workers‚ fundamental human rights. U.S. workers have lost high-paying jobs and have seen their wages and working conditions! eroded by trade policies that fail to address this problem. Worke rs in poorer countries have found it next to impossible to protect their rights and raise standards because corporations will shift their jobs to countries where rights and standards are lower. Agreements should recognize the primacy of the economic, environmental, social and political rights of all people, including women (who often bear a disproportionate burden from corporate-led globalization) and indigenous peoples.  Trade agreements must ensure that all workers can freely exercise their basic rights as laid out by the 1998 ILO Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work: the right to organize and bargain collectively, to refuse forced labor, to reject child labor, and to work free from discrimination. These rights must be included in trade agreements and covered by dispute resolution and enforcement mechanisms sited in the appropriate forums that are fair, reduce inequalities, encourage compliance and sanction violators directly. 3. The Environment and the Public Interest: Trade agreements must not undermine environmental standards.  In particular, trade rules must ensure that domestic environmental or other public interest laws and regulations cannot be challenged by private investors before international tribunals, and they must ensure the availability of strong and clear exceptions to trade and investment rules for laws and regulations that protect health, the environment, and other public interests.  Trade agreements should also encourage environmental progress by including initiatives to raise environmental performance, binding obligations to enforce environmental laws and not lower environmental standards, citizen review mechanisms, and obligations for investors to disclose basic information on environmental practices.  International trade and investment systems must safeguard the global and local commons and respect the rights of local communities to protect and sustainably develop their ! natural resources.  Trade agreements must not undermine publi c services, nor encourage privatization or deregulation as a condition of market access. Finally, trade agreements must not obstruct developing countries' right to address HIV/AIDS and other health crises through public access to essential medicines. 4. Agriculture: Agricultural policies must support sustainable livelihoods for family farmers and ranchers, and reduce the power of agribusiness to manipulate global food supplies and farm prices. Governments must retain the ability to provide economic safety net programs and other economic assistance to producers as compensation for the negative impact of unfair trade practices by others.  Consumers must be assured the right to know and choose food produced in a sustainable manner.  And countries must be ensured the right to protect family farmers and producers in rural communities and to produce a safe and affordable food supply to meet adequate nutrition levels domestically. 5. Debt and Development: Trade agreements have not focused on enabling countries to invest in the building blocks of sustainable development, and increased trade flows alone have not led to shared and stable growth or to significant poverty reduction in developing countries.  The debts claimed by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank from impoverished countries must be canceled and the proceeds used to meet social and environmental needs; cancellation must be delinked from "structural adjustment" conditions such as user fees for health care and education that disadvantage people who are impoverished, women, and working people.  International trade and investment systems must respect the legitimate role of government, in collaboration with civil society, to! set policies regarding the development and welfare of its people.   Governments should also have the right to regulate capital flows to shield their economies and people from the destabilizing impact of speculative capital. AFL-CIO Alliance for Sustainable Jobs and the Environment American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) American Federation of Teachers (AFT) American Lands Alliance Americans for Democratic Action (ADA) Campaign for America‚s Future Campaign for Labor Rights Center for International Environmental Law (CIEL) Citizens Trade Campaign Communications Workers of America (CWA) Consumer‚s Choice Council Defenders of  Wildlife Essential Information Fifty Years Is Enough Friends of the Earth Guatemala Human Rights Commission/USA Institute for Policy Studies/Global Economy Project Interhemispheric Resource Center International Brotherhood of Boilermakers International Brotherhood of Teamster International Labor Rights Fund International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) Jobs With Justice Jubilee USA Network Maryknoll Office for Global Concerns Mexico Solidarity Network National Family Farm Coalition National Farmers Union NETWORK: A National Catholic Social Justice Lobby Oxfam-America Paper, Allied-Industrial, Chemical & Energy Workers International Union (PACE) Public Citizen Service Employees International Union (SEIU) SHARE Foundation Transport Workers Union of America (TWU) Union of Needletrades, Industrial and Textile Employees (UNITE!) United Auto Workers (UAW) United Methodist Church, Board of Church and Society U.S./ Labor Education in the Americas Project (US/LEAP) United Steelworkers of America (USWA) Voices on the Border Witness for Peace Women‚s Environment and Development Organization Forwarded from: Mike Dolan Western Director, Global Trade Watch, Public Citizen.   August 2003 News Items Choose month: January February March April May June July August September October November December Choose year: 2010 2009 2008 2007 2006 2005 2004 2003 2002 2001 Hot summer sparks global food crisis   (Sunday, August 31, 2003)    By Geoffrey Lean, Environment Editor, The Independent This summer&#... more Not just warmer: it's the hottest for 2,000 years Widest study yet backs fears over carbon dioxide   (Sunday, August 31, 2003)    Ian Sample, science correspondent Monday September 1, 2003 The Guardian<... more Going natural from roof to cellar Energy-efficient house is a model of sustainable living Family taps into solar and wind power   (Saturday, August 30, 2003)    Toronto Star BRIAN DEXTER STAFF REPORTER MONO MILLS-When it co... more Green Party To Field Full Slate Of Candidates   (Wednesday, August 13, 2003)    Kathleen Hay Standard-Freeholder, August 13, 2003 BERWICK, ONT  more World to warm by 8C, says thinktank   (Thursday, August 07, 2003)    Latest predictions show that climate change is going to be far worse than earlier for... more A Call for Global Fairness   (Thursday, August 07, 2003)    Principles of Unity on Trade and Investment: A Call for Global Fairness  more Use the Search Page to search all of our past News articles, Green Light articles, and other archived content. 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