By Arthur Stamoulis As renegotiation of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) chugs along rapidly behind closed doors, President Donald Trump will soon be forced to decide whether to keep or abandon his campaign pledge to make the pact “much better” for working people. NAFTA’s renegotiation should be an opportunity to end its quarter-century Continue readingNAFTA Talks: What’s the Deal?
Free Trade
By Richard Roman and Edur Velasco Aeeegui The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) talks started on August 16 with very little of the fire and fury Donald Trump had promised during his campaign. His pledge to abolish the deal has largely been replaced with a plan to modernize it. Some currents within the Trump Continue readingThe NAFTA Consensus
By Gerard Di Trolio As Donald Trump’s blustering over NAFTA over the past several months has given way to negotiations, an important story has not picked up much attention. Three rounds of exploratory talks for a free trade agreement (FTA) between Canada and China have taken place with the most recent round happening in Ottawa Continue readingHow not to oppose free trade with China
By Kimball Cariou The Trade Justice Network reported on May 2 that high level negotiators from 11 countries were meeting at an undisclosed location behind closed doors in Toronto in an attempt to resuscitate the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP). The proposed corporate mega-trade deal appeared to be dead after public pressure prompted the U.S. to Continue readingIs the TPP back from the grave?
By Ernie Tate The new Trump administration has made the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) between Canada, Mexico and the United States, a major issue in its relations with its two neighbours. Recently, Trump has threatened to tear it up. With his standard nationalist demagogy, he claims “previous bad trade deals,” have cost the Continue readingNAFTA Redux
By Elizabeth Rowley The first two decisions by President Trump following his inauguration were to withdraw from the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) agreement, and to renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). He campaigned on the mass permanent unemployment, slashed wages and living standards, and de-industrialization that NAFTA caused in the US, blaming the Continue readingCanada needs a new trade policy: Not a new NAFTA deal
The Parliament of Wallonia, a French-speaking area in Belgium, voted to prevent the country from signing onto the CETA deal. This in effect scuttled an upcoming CETA conference and may scuttle the entire deal. The Canadian trade minister walked out of the talks this week. The CETA deal was met with widespread opposition from the labour Continue readingWeekend Video: Stopping CETA
By David Bush and Gerard Di Trolio In the wake of Britain’s shocking vote to leave the European Union, a recent polls shows that only 1 in 4 Canadians believe that the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) is good for the country. This poll was timed to coincide with the “Three Amigos” summit in Continue readingLet’s hate NAFTA like we used to
By John W. Warnock Southwestern Ontario is the historic home of Canadian tomato growers. The bulk of the crop goes to processing, and since 1909 the dominant corporation had been H. J. Heinz, a food giant based in Pittsburgh. But in 2013 the Heinz Corporation was bought by Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway (26 per cent) Continue readingGrowing tomatoes in the era of free trade
By Gerard Di Trolio South Korea has seen the the largest crackdown on labour and civil rights since the end of the military dictatorship in the late 1980s. Protests led by the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU) against reforms that would weaken labour protections were repressed by police. The KCTU leader Hang Sang-gyun has Continue readingTime for Canada’s Labour Movement to Think and Act Globally
By Gerard Di Trolio The Trans-Pacific Partnership has quietly emerged as an issue during the federal election. It should receive the scrutiny it deserves. First we learned that Canada would continue to be part of the negotiations during the election with Canada’s Privy Council declaring that this was possible so long as no “drastic” actions Continue readingCan this election halt NAFTA on Steroids (a.k.a. the TPP)?
Rail safety | EI reform fiasco | Bill C-377 | NGF Guelph strike | Saskatoon transit lockout | Live-in caregiver program | Good Jobs Summit | Pensions study | ETFO anti-racism | Canada-Korea Free Trade | Ontario health and safety | Dalhousie post-docs Rail Safety New Teamsters TV Commercial on rail safety Train cars that Continue readingRankandFile.ca Labour News Update: October 13, 2014