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Welcome! 

Thanks for stopping by the Minnesota Fair Trade Coalition website. 

We encourage you to click through and learn more about our organization, get key information and the latest news on trade and the global economy, and take action to fight for fair trade policy and a stronger economy!

Check back often for recent fair trade news, upcoming events, and opportunities to get involved.

You Can Now Submit Your Donations to MNFTC Online! 

Now you can support MNFTC through donations online. Simply designate "Minnesota" as the State Fair Trade Coalition you would like to support. 

Latest News and Events:

Minnesota Leaders Respond to Meeting Between Obama and Colombia President Uribe on US-Colombia Trade Deal: Say “No Deals Until Human Rights are Addressed in Colombia” 

 

 

Community leaders gathered on Monday, June 29th while President Obama and Colombian President Alvaro Uribe met to discuss the Colombia Free Trade Agreement and Plan Colombia. Community members demanded that human rights violations, assasinations of union leaders, high rate of impunity  and displacement of Colombian indigenous and Afro-Colombians should be reversed before any deals are cut with the country. 

 

 

Click here to read  the full press release. 

 


Check out the video from the press conference below.    

 

 

MN Congressional Leaders Help Launch Trade Reform

The 2009 TRADE Act was launched today, Wednesday, June 25, 2009 with 106 Original Cosponsors in the House of Representatives! MNFTC applauds Minnesota Representatives Keith Ellison, Betty McCollum, Tim Walz, Jim Oberstar and Collin Peterson for being leaders in supporting this strong model for trade reform.

The TRADE Act is the leading story  on Workday Minnesota!

Reuters -- Many US House Dems Want Trade Policy Revamp

Read letters of support and other stories on the TRADE Act at CTC

GTW -- Double the Original Cosponsors, Double the Fun!

 

 

Photo courtesy of Public Citizen's Global Trade Watch Division. 

Minnesota Trade Stories Project Takes Off  

Offshoring and outsourcing are a real concern for many Minnesotans across the state. With the economic meltdown, staggering unemployment and job loss, it's become more critical now than ever to raise awareness about the impact of trade on jobs.  The rules of trade agreements like NAFTA are broken. Undemocratic investment and procurement provisions, unenforced or nonexistent  labor laws and environmental regulations all create conditions of unfair competition from cheap imports dumped into the market or strong incentives for US companies to move their operations overseas. 

Statistics and data are imperative, but the stories of people in Minnesota and across the US underscore the urgency of the situation -- lighting the match under the feet of our policy makers to support a new fair trade model which supports working families, good jobs, the environment, family farms and labor and human rights.  The Minnesota Trade Stories Project seeks to collect and share the stories of people in Minnesota who've experienced first hand the impacts of trade. 

Here are the highlights from our latest stories with TRW workers: 

Photo of Mary McCormickMary McCormick

Houston, Minnesota

 

Mary worked at the TRW Automotive Plant for three years, before being laid off in the summer of 2008 when her job moved to Reynosa, Mexico. A former member of UAW Local 958, Mary is now in a Trade Adjustment Assistance (TAA) retraining program, studying to become a medical assistant.

 

"We had a suspicion that we were going to get laid off… They kept telling us that this job [would be sent to Mexico] if we didn't keep doing it faster and faster and faster.

"They'd give us numbers to meet. Then when we'd meet the numbers, they'd take people away and they'd still want us to meet those numbers or even higher numbers. So, for instance, our job started out with 13 people. It got knocked down to 12 people. Then it was ten people. Then you're at eight people. Now it's six people. But they still wanted us to make the same numbers as when we were at 13.

"There was a point where it was everyday you heard, 'If you don't do this, it's going to Mexico.' What were we supposed to do? We just figured that was their excuse, but then they came in and said, in about two weeks, this will be your last day."

Sherry Klein

Winona, Minnesota

Sherry worked at the TRW Automotive Plant for three years, before being laid off in the summer of 2008 when her job moved to Reynosa, Mexico. A former member of UAW Local 958, Sherry is now looking for work through a temp agency.

 

"Why are these companies getting these tax breaks for taking our jobs out of the country? I mean, to me that's ridiculous. How can I buy the product that's going to be shipped back into this country if I don't have a damn job? They don't get this? You're not helping the economy by making the rich richer, by giving them a tax break."

Do you have a story to share? Was your job outsourced or offshored to another country. Did you lose your farm because you were unable to compete with cheap imported food dumped on the market? Share your story with our project! Contact Alicia at aranney@citizenstrade.org or (612) 578 - 8266. Interviews are a short 30 minutes and we come to you. 

MN Trade Stories Project works in collaboration with the National Trade Stories Project. Check out the websites and learn how trade is impacting people in other states. 

Fair Trade Wins Big in Elections!  

A total of 40 new fair-traders won seats in the House of Representatives and Senate, which represents a net gain of 32 seats, which were previously "free"-trade seats. In addition, 15 fair trade incumbents maintained their seats through tight races. Both Republicans and Democrats were competing on fair trade platforms; in some races, the candidates from both parties were anti-NAFTA.
Combined with the 37 pick-ups in the 2006 elections, Citizens Trade Campaign reports that 1/3 of Congress is solidly fair-trade, and would vote strongly on our issues.  Another 1/3 are with us in opposing very bad trade deals, like CAFTA.  This means that we have 2/3 of Congress with us sometimes, half of whom will be with us all the time, voting for a new direction in trade policy and leading the fight for change.
Support from the Democratic Party helped to make the trade issue a top priority in presidential, Congressional and Senatorial races. More than 130 paid television ads addressed trade, compared to roughly 25 ads in the 2006 races. President-elect Barack Obama ran a dozen trade ads, nearly all during the general election. The party's platform formally states that no future bilateral trade pacts "will stop the government from protecting the environment, food safety, or the health of its citizens; give greater rights to foreign investors than to U.S. investors; require the privatization of our vital public services; or prevent developing country governments from adopting humanitarian licensing policies to improve access to life-saving medications."
The results of these elections represent a broad shift in public opinion. A poll conducted by Public Citizen's Global Trade Watch division found that nearly three-quarters of Americans believe that a "free trade agreement" has had a negative effect on their families. And it's not just Democrats-42 percent of Republicans and 52 percent of Independents consider "free trade agreements like NAFTA, and the policies of the World Trade Organization," to be "a bad thing" for the U.S. Majorities oppose NAFTA across every demographic, with Catholic, swing, independent and Hispanic voters among the most anti-NAFTA blocs.

 

Half a million MN Jobs Potentially Offshorable 

MINNEAPOLIS - Nearly half a million Minnesota jobs are vulnerable to being sent overseas, highlighting the need for new trade and tax policies, the Minnesota Fair Trade Coalition announced. 

According to analysis by the Economic Policy Institute from this year, at least 485,000 current Minnesota employees, or 19 percent of all Minnesota jobs, are considered "offshorable," the coalition said. 

Check out the entire article at Workday Minnesota! 

Read the MNFTC Press Release on Trade and Offshorable Jobs

 

Art by Ricardo Levins-Morales. Check out more great local social justice art at the Northland Poster Collective.  1613 East Lake Street, Minneapolis MN 55407