Unions Launch Multiyear Campaign to Make Global Economy Respect People, Not Just Profits February 16, 2000 Help | Search:

New Peter Hart Research Polling Shows Voters Strongly Disapprove of Giving China Permanent Normal Trade Relations

China Permanent NTR is First Fierce Fight

New Orleans, LA—Today, the AFL-CIO announced a major new multiyear campaign to make the global economy respect people, not just profits.

"It is insane that under the rules governing worldwide trade today you can take action against a company for pirating a Madonna videotape, but you can take no action against a company for employing children, or using forced labor, or violating workers' fundamental rights, or poisoning the environment," said AFL-CIO President John Sweeney.

The campaign will consist of four key components: educating union members and the general public about the global economy, fighting for workers' rights in the global economy, building global solidarity among working families from Maine to Malaysia and holding multinational corporations accountable for their role in speeding up the race to the bottom.

The first fierce fight in the campaign is the upcoming vote over whether to discard the system of annual reviews of China's human rights record and instead grant China permanent normal trade relations.

The AFL-CIO released a new national survey of registered voters conducted by Peter Hart Research Associates which shows that although support for free trade policies has increased since 1997, Americans feel strongly that U.S. trade agreements should prevent the loss of jobs in the U.S., protect the environment, and stop unfair competition from countries who violate workers' rights.

The AFL-CIO will launch a wave of television and radio ads to mobilize working families around the congressional vote on permanent normal trade relations for China. The ads will run in Congressional districts across the country and will ask working families to call their member of Congress to tell them, "No Blank Check for China."

"China is one of the worst offenders of human rights in the world. It is a country that does not tolerate political dissent or free speech. China uses executions and torture to maintain order, persecutes religious minorities, and violates workers' rights," said Sweeney.

"China—which has not yet ratified the two United Nations covenants on human rights it agreed to sign before President Clinton's trip to China in 1998—has broken every trade agreement it has signed with the United States over the past 10 years. Chinese government officials already are saying they have no intention of complying with the agreement they signed with the U.S. only three months ago," he continued.

"Public opinion is strongly opposed to ending the system of annual reviews for China. And that's before our campaign has even begun," said Sweeney.

According to the Hart Research Survey, the majority of voters (65 percent) oppose giving China permanent trade access without allowing Congress to annually review its record. Sixty-three percent of Democrats and 75 percent of Republicans oppose permanent normal trade relations for China. The public is particularly critical of China's trade policies: 61 percent say China has unfair policies, up from 48 percent in 1994, and higher than Japan (51 percent) and Mexico (35 percent). Seventy-two percent say that China ranks below average in terms of labor conditions, and 81 percent say it ranks below average in respecting human rights.

Seven in ten voters reject the argument frequently made by supporters of permanent free trade with China that "the best way to improve human rights in China is not to restrict trade, but to engage China and include it in important international bodies, such as the World Trade Organization." They also reject the argument that the agreement will "expand our exports and create good jobs in America" and that "American business will be hurt if other countries have access to the Chinese market and we don't."

By a 4-to-1 ratio, voters say they would be less likely to support their member of Congress if he or she votes in favor of permanent free trade with China—including 49 percent of Democrats and 53 percent of Republicans. Only 12 percent say they would be more likely to support a member of Congress who votes for China permanent normal trade relations.

"Over the coming weeks, we are going to work hard to mobilize working families to make their voices heard in the halls of Congress. We'll be calling and visiting members of Congress in their home districts and on Capitol Hill, and we'll hold teach-ins, town hall meetings and rallies," said AFL-CIO Executive Vice President Linda Chavez-Thompson.

The AFL-CIO will mobilize working families to join people of faith in the Jubilee 2000 rally which will be held on April 9 in Washington, D.C. to call for debt relief for developing countries. Many developing country governments' ability to meet their citizens' basic needs and fund the building blocks of strong development—education, health care and infrastructure—have been crippled by an enormous debt burden.

For Information:
Naomi Walker (504) 299-9959