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Learn How to Stop Gobblelization!

North Texas has a number of excellent public speakers and audio/visual aids to clarify the menace of "free trade" agreements such as NAFTA, CAFTA, and the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA) that looms on our horizon.

Let us help you get these resources for your organization or social gathering:

Videos:

"Another World is Possible. North American Voices at the World Social Forum." 22 minutes of interviews with participants at the world meeting in Brazil

"Breaking the Bank" Two 30-minute segments on the 1999 demonstrations in Seattle

"Colombia. State of the Union" 12 minutes on murder and union busting at a bottling plant in Colombia

"Danger Ahead" explanation of the true effects of gobblelization. 15 minutes

"Global Village or Global Pillage? How people around the world are challenging corporate globalization" 27 minutes

"Trade Secrets. The hidden Costs of the FTAA" 12 minutes

North Texas Speakers:

Margarita Alvarez fought against transnational corporate greed in her native Guatemala and continues to fight it in the United States

Juan Gomez, President of United Voices for Immigrants, can show that corporate greed is only making immigration problems worse throughout the industrialized world

Dr. Joerg Rieger is a Professor of Systematic Theology at Southern Methodist University. His comments on the ethics of gobblelization are an important part of the discussion

Dr. Ron Wilhelm organized the Interfaith Communities for Economic Justice after being convinced by Central Americans that all of us need to join together to stand against gobblelization. Dr. Wilhelm is fluent in English and Spanish.

We can also get experts on environmental and labor issues. Contact us about these resources, please!

North Texans Study FTAA

We need to understand the FTAA - "Free Trade Area of the Americas" - so we can stop it before it does ten times the damage that NAFTA has already done to our jobs, environment, and living standards. North Texas Jobs with Justice sponsored an educational event on FTAA on November 1 at UAW 848's hall in Grand Prairie. Thirty-one activists had close-up talks with experts in labor, environment, and international studies.

Chris Taylor, organizer and political adviser from Teamsters' Local 745 welcomed everybody and told them how important these "trade" issues are to labor. He said that thousands of good Texas jobs have already been lost, and safety standards are being lowered due to NAFTA.

Lesley Ramsey of Fair Trade Watch came from Austin to give a political and legal overview of how FTAA will work if it is approved. She said that it will constitute a new world government run by giant transnational corporations in their own interests. The worst aspect of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) is that its own secret tribunal was set up to overrule local, state, and federal laws, thus canceling out whatever democratic principles exist. If a corporation feels that its "right" to make big profits is threatened by environmental or workplace safety laws, for example, it can sue and win in the secret tribunal set up under Chapter 11 of the NAFTA. Ramsey gave cases where this has already happened, and taxpayers are paying "damages" to corporations!

Ramsey also explained that a fundamental part of "gobble-lization" is privatizing of public jobs such as teaching. The first blows of gobble-lization were felt in manufacturing, but all services jobs will also be subject to the corporate greed under FTAA, Ramsey said.

FTAA would work the same way NAFTA works, but it would cover 34 nations instead of the three countries presently suffering from NAFTA.

We Have Allies
People who first begin to study "free trade" agreements are sometimes surprised to learn that workers in other countries hate them as much, or more, than we do. Latin America experts Dr. Ron Wilhelm, Gail Smith, and Paul F Vander Linden taught about their firsthand experiences in visits in southern countries. They said that Central Americans told them specifically that they should come back to the United States and fight against the rapacious corporations.

Sister Patricia Ridgley of Dallas Maryknoll Ministries revealed that faith-based organizations of all major religions have condemned the corporate "free trade" schemes on moral grounds. She brought "An Interfaith Statement on International Trade and Investment." In part, it said, "In the midst of growing disparities and injustices between and within countries, governments and international economic institutions have increasingly sought market-driven policies, particularly the expansion of international trade and investment. This limited approach has too often served to aggravate the problem."

Environmental activist Molly Rooke explained the damage already caused by NAFTA and the even greater potential damage that would come from FTAA. Texas Jobs with Justice organizer Rudy Anderson gave a firsthand account of the devastation caused to over 2,500 Mesquite workers when the Tyco company sent all of their jobs to Mexico.

We're Available
As the discussions closed, activists remained to review several of our many videos and computerized presentations. A number of us resolved to be available to talk to other unions and groups about this important issue. We will keep information posted on our web site, www.jwj.8k.com. We will work on publicity with the two North Texans already committed to going to the international protests in Miami November 17-22. We will speak anywhere and everywhere against the FTAA.

Some references on gobblelization:

United Students Association: organize@usasnet.org or call 202-NO-SWEAT

Public Citizen: www.citizen.org http://www.citizenstrade.org/miamicalendar.php

Miami coalition: http://www.stopftaa.org

Alliance for Sustainable Jobs and the Environment: www.asje.org

Peace coalitions: http://www.witnessforpeace.org www.ifconews.org www.lasolidarity.org

Texas Trade Watch: www.tradewatch.org

Here's a very relevant note about current legislation:

Kristy Tanguay [mailto:labor2003@aflcio.org]
September 29, 2003:
Manufacturing Jobs are at stake.

This fall Congress will decide to protect U.S. job or to send them overseas. Congress will vote on two different issues that will drastically have an impact on manufacturing jobs. One issue will be to give tax credits to companies that keep U.S. production in the U.S. or to give tax credits to companies that move production offshore. The other issue that Congress needs to vote on is to allow defense manufacturing to be sent overseas or to continue to require that all defense manufacturing be kept in the U.S.

Please click on www.workingfamiliestoolkit.com, register or login to customize a flier for you to use to educate your fellow union members about these votes and how they can act to protect manufacturing jobs.