From the Working Families e-Activist Network, AFL-CIO:
With the U.S. economy in near free fall, President Bush has sent the U.S.-Colombia Free Trade Agreement (FTA) to Capitol Hill–Bush wants to force a vote before he leaves office next January.
The all-out, nationwide mobilization to let members of Congress know that working Americans oppose [has begun.]
As the fight gears up, we need to know whose side your members of Congress are on.
Call your senators and representative today to ask if they will side with workers and oppose the Colombia FTA. The call is toll free:
1-866-338-5720
We need you to report back to us–click here to let us know how your lawmakers will vote:
http://www.unionvoice.org/ct/d1qz8261cqPB/
The deal is wrong for workers in both countries.
Bush has made passing this agreement a priority, even though it will do next to nothing for the failing U.S. economy.
The Colombia FTA represents a continuation of the Bush administration’s failed trade policies, an agenda that has contributed to the loss of more than 3 million manufacturing jobs since 2000, skyrocketing trade deficits and shrinking paychecks.
Colombia remains the most dangerous country in the world for union members–39 trade unionists were murdered in 2007 and another 17 to date in 2008. Of the more than 2,500 murders of trade unionists since 1986, only some 70 cases–about 3 percent–have resulted in convictions.
Balanced trade agreements must guarantee the right to organize, lift the lives of workers in both countries and prevent exploitation. But this can’t happen in a country where workers who try to organize are killed.
Colombia’s government has thwarted workers’ right to organize and bargain collectively–by weakening labor protections, refusing to register legitimate unions and failing to enforce the law against anti-union discrimination.
Remember to call your representative and senators today. Tell them to oppose the Colombia FTA: 1-866-338-5720.
In solidarity . . .
