The request comes as more and more nations are raising
questions about whether the TPP will benefit working families rather than big
corporations. Attendees
at a Malaysian forum on the “free trade” agreement earlier this month
openly questioned whether the deal would benefits their workers or just multinational
corporations. They too are concerned what it would mean for jobs in their
country.
Others have also spoken out against this unfair trade deal. The
former prime minister of Malaysia announced his opposition to the deal in July.
In the United States, nearly
170 House lawmakers raised concerns about textile provisions contained in
the TPP last month. And 36
House freshmen urged the Obama administration to oppose the TPP in June.
Back in Chile, lawmakers want to know whether the Pacific
Rim trade pact would be fair to workers. There is good reason for concern. They
note the secrecy surrounding the TPP is raising worries that there may be
little for Chile to gain from signing onto the agreement.
In the U.S., trade deals very similar to the TPP resulted in
lost jobs, shuttered plants and hollowed-out communities.
Five
million manufacturing jobs have been lost since NAFTA. And an Economic Policy institute report released last month showed a similar deal with
South Korea that took effect a little over a year ago has already cost 40,000
American jobs.
Buffalo, N.Y., resident Peter Ciurczak, in a letter to the editor appearing in The Buffalo News earlier this week,
summed up the TPP perfectly:What has been revealed about this agreement is very distressing.
Exactly.
