So, you may have heard that the North American Free Trade Agreement has been renegotiated. It’s definitely good that the three NAFTA countries (the United States, Canada and Mexico) are finally looking to change the NAFTA rules that have cost good jobs, made it harder to negotiate better wages, polluted our environment and generally left working people behind all across North America.
But we’re the ones who have worked for 25 years to take the trade policy rule book out of the hands of greedy CEOs. We’re the ones who forced the architects of these pro-corporate trade rules to admit they’ve been ignoring working people. We’re the ones who forced this renegotiation to happen. And we’re the ones who get to say when it is over.
Well, it ain’t over. We don’t know if there will be effective enforcement tools to penalize labor violations. We don’t know if the auto content rules will really create good new jobs and prevent more outsourcing. Just saying negotiations are over doesn’t make it so.
Just like this chicken isn’t fully cooked, NAFTA renegotiation isn’t over. Just like the Atlanta Falcons didn’t win the 2017 Super Bowl despite leading for 59 minutes, NAFTA renegotiation isn’t over. Just like we don’t know what happened to John Connor after he traveled to the future in the last episode of "Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles," NAFTA renegotiation isn’t over.
Working families need more than promises. We need new trade rules that will bring higher wages and better jobs. We want NAFTA results, not NAFTA slogans. This is far from over.
So if NAFTA renegotiation isn’t over, what do we do now? We do what we always do when we are not willing to put up with the way things are: We fight. Click here to send your member of Congress an email telling him or her to keep fighting for better trade rules for hardworking families.
To find out how else you can help, text TRADE to 235246.
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