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Contact: Frank Larkin, IAMAW
301-967-4520 (office)
202-285-3831 (cell)
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Machinists March on Miami
Miami, FL, November 19, 2003 – The International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM) arrived in force this week to march alongside thousands of labor allies and human rights activists opposed to the creation of the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA).
Machinists from each of the union’s seven territories in the U.S. and Canada will be led by IAM International President Tom Buffenbarger, who called the FTAA an outrage against the dignity of workers, the sovereignty of nations and the aspirations of free people everywhere.
“Just as the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) destroyed hundreds of thousands of jobs and devastated communities throughout North America, the FTAA is poised to inflict the same kind of damage throughout the Western Hemisphere,” said Buffenbarger.
“We are here in Miami to call the world’s attention to the hypocrisy of trade ministers who refuse to acknowledge the widespread human suffering and social unrest this accord would create,” said the Machinists president. “Their silence on these issues is a crime.”
Machinists are no strangers to the harm caused by corporations taking advantage of a deregulated international trade environment. Thousands IAM members have lost jobs during the past 3 years as companies moved operations out of the U.S. and Canada to exploit rock bottom wages and horrific working conditions in Mexico and elsewhere.
“Among the consequences of trade scams like NAFTA and the FTAA is the perverse ‘competition’ among developing nations to attract foreign companies with the lowest wages, the loosest environmental standards and the most violent suppression of labor unions,’ said Buffenbarger. “Not only are developed countries stripped of their basic industries, but the entire atmosphere becomes one of fierce competition where the worst economic and social conditions are rewarded.”
The International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM) is among the largest industrial trade unions in North America, representing nearly 720,000 active and retired members. For more information visit the Union’s website at www.goiam.org.
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