| While much
of the country is kept distracted by the excessive rhetoric of
the current Presidential campaign, groups like the Campaign for
Labor Rights continue to do the day-to-day work that is necessary
to create a society in which we would like to live, and one that
we would like our children to grow up in. We do this work with
minimal resources, all the while battling a well-financed and
resource-laden corporate opponent. It is your continued support
that allows us to keep fighting and organizing. For that I am
very appreciative and I hope that you will continue to support
our efforts at building a better world.
One aspect of that better world which we envision
is that it be based on participatory democracy. This concept originates
with the People of the Six Nations, better known as the Iroquois
Confederacy. It was their model of governance, already in use
for 600 years, which provided much of the foundation for the representative
democracy created by the founders of this country. Unfortunately,
representative democracy is designed specifically to limit the
direct participation of the people. As a result we are in our
current state, where our representatives in government have aligned
themselves, and pledged their allegiance to, a class whose interests
differ greatly from those of the people.
While our form of democracy is often touted as
the “greatest system on earth” it is clear that large
portions of society are excluded from participating in this system
and prevented fromsharing the benefits enjoyed by a select few.
We call this exclusionary democracy. This is the type of democracy
exercised in this country and it is this kind of democracy that
we export to the rest of the world. In fact, besides exporting
this exclusionary democracy, our government and corporate media
actively attack any expression or appearance of participatory
democracy, which serves as a clear indication of the genuine threat
it poses to those in power.
For some though, even representative democracy
allows too much participation by the people. On the rare occasion
when our representatives in Congress go against corporate attempts
to gain even greater profit and to limit public oversight, a new
route must be found so the rich can achieve their goals. [It is
important to remember that the corporate model is authoritarian
and is diametrically opposed to the democratic model.]
One manifestation of this new route was recently
on display in New Orleans. Well, actually it wasn’t really
on display, since it was done behind closed doors and minus the
people’s participation. But it did occur, as it has for
the past few years, and you may find its existence disturbing.
On April 21-22, the leaders of Mexico, the United
States and Canada met for the 4th Leader’s Summit of the
North American Security and Prosperity Partnership (SPP). The
SPP is the model being pushed by those who feel threatened by
even the limited aspects of representative democracy. The SPP
is an executive-level agreement between the 3 countries of North
America and it is not subject to Congressional or Parliamentary
oversight in any of the countries.
The Security and Prosperity Partnership is a perfect
example of the concept of the unitary executive advanced by the
Bush regime over the past 7 years.
The SPP was created in 2005 when the 3 leaders
shook on it. This handshake committed the governments of each
country to implement a series of agreements that facilitate corporate
access to our communities and increase corporate influence on
government policies, while limiting the ability of communities
to act in their own best interest. This corporate-dominated process
is the epitome of attempts to silence the voice of the people.
Input to the SPP is limited only to government
bureaucrats and corporate “advisors.” That should
be of great concern to the people of all three countries. The
SPP is an extension of the failed North American Free Trade Agreement
(NAFTA). Part of its goal is to eliminate “non-tariff barriers”
to trade, that NAFTA left in place. These include product safety
regulations and food standards, minimum wage and worker safety
laws, environmental protections and other laws and regulations
that are designed to protect our communities and to keep in check
the voracious appetite for power and profit of corporations. In
addition the SPP would place even more public services in the
hands of for-profit private entities.
In my opinion this is the greatest threat
posed by the so-called free trade model -- the threat to democracy.
These agreements are designed to subordinate
our local, state and national laws -- our interests -- to those
of unelected supra-national councils made up of corporate appointees
and serving corporate desires. This is an agenda that seeks to
position the corporate authoritarian structure above our democratic
structure and then hope we don’t notice that our form of
government, no matter how flawed, has been eviscerated. Keep in
mind: in business and government “free trade” is the
accepted agenda, this is the norm.
While the SPP meetings were taking place, Campaign
for Labor Rights and other groups were working actively to oppose
this undemocratic agenda. In New Orleans we helped organize the
People’s Summit as an alternative to the Leader’s
Summit. The People’s Summit offered an opportunity for people
to learn more about the SPP and about the failed free trade model.
Workshops on the security aspects of SPP, trade policy and immigration,
disaster capitalism and food safety ran alongside deep discussions
on democracy, racism, community building and cross-border organizing.
Activists from all over North America came together
and were able to see up close and personal a model of the SPP:
New Orleans.
As you know, New Orleans was devastated by hurricane
Katrina in 2005. Three years later it has barely recovered. Many
residents have not returned and availability of public services
has not reached pre-Katrina levels. After Katrina the U.S. government
moved to privatize relief and recovery efforts, placing corporate
interests in profit above the needs of the residents of New Orleans.
Not only were private firms like Blackwater,
Bechtel and Halliburton (do these names sound familiar?) contracted
to handle relief efforts, but laws were changed -- or ignored
-- such as prevailing wage and minimum wage laws, allowing them
to gain even greater profit. Federal procurement laws, designed
to support local small and mid-sized businesses were flouted.
Many local businesses went under because they were locked out
of the recovery. Not only did this shovel more profit to large
corporations, but it also forced more residents out of New Orleans
because they could not survive economically.
The privatized recovery model has facilitated
a substantial transfer of wealth and the removal of significant
portions of the city’s African-American and poor populations.
Efforts are now focused on making New Orleans “business
friendly” and building the infrastructure for tourism and
development, rather than on meeting the needs of residents and
the displaced. During the People’s Summit, tours of the
city were given and much of the corporate favoritism was exposed.
Attendees were able to hear first-hand from residents about their
experiences.
At the People’s Summit, information was
given freely and community building was the focus. At the Leader’s
Summit, government officials and corporate advisors huddled in
secrecy and excluding community was the focus. Which summit would
you have preferred to attend?We were also active in Washington,
DC. On Monday April 21, I participated in a press conference on
Capitol Hill to announce the release of a letter to Congress denouncing
and informing elected officials about the SPP. Our letter called
for an immediate halt to SPP proceedings, investigations by Congress
and for a legislative vote on whether or not to continue with
the SPP. You can read this letter here.
The letter was signed by 28 organizations and networks, representing
many thousands of concerned people.
While it was to be expected that coverage of
our own press conference would be minimal in mainstream media,
I was amazed that the New York Times, Washington Post, and other
“media of record” barely made mention of the fact
that the 3 Leaders of North America were meeting to discuss the
future of the continent. The words “Security and Prosperity
Partnership” didn’t even appear.
Maybe they just don’t think we care about such minor matters.
Or, more likely, they prefer that we remain unaware.
Your continued financial support for Campaign
for Labor Rights will help insure that people in the United States
do not remain unaware of this threat to our democratic system.
Your role is not just limited to writing out a
check. After you read the letter to Congress, please take a few
minutes and call your Senators and Representative. Tell them you
expect them to exercise their responsibility on matters of international
agreements and expose the SPP to public scrutiny. Tell them you’ve
had enough of the Bush administration’s trampling of democracy,
and enough of their complicity. You can reach your members of
Congress by calling the congressional switchboard at 202.224.3121
and asking to be connected. As Frances Moore Lappé and
Paul Du Bois point out, "Democracy is not something we have.
It is something we do." Please do your part to reclaim our
democracy.
Recently I attended the Labor Notes conference
in Dearborn, Michigan. This event brings together several thousand
union members and organizers for three days of strategizing, sharing
experiences and information and to build a stronger labor movement.
Along with Dr. Ian Robinson of the University of Michigan, I presented
a workshop on Free Trade and Migration.
One aspect of free trade agreements that is always
present is displacement. In Mexico under NAFTA, more than 3 million
farmers have been forced off their lands.Many of these farmers
went searching for work in the maquilas, the assembly factories
that make up a significant portion of the Mexican economy. Under
NAFTA Mexico was supposed to see a boom in production, leading
to the creation of many new jobs. That never really happened.
Some jobs were created as CEOs in the U.S. closed domestic factories
and moved south to take advantage of Mexico’s lower wages
and lax regulations.
But they didn’t stick around for long.
Even lower wages could be found elsewhere in Central
America or in Asia, and factories in Mexico soon closed, leading
to another wave of displacement. This led to the massive increase
in migration north, where workers seek employment in order to
support their families back home. Last year, Mexicans working
in the U.S. sent $24 billion dollars in remittances back home.
This amount makes remittances second only to oil in importance
to the Mexican economy. That workers have been put in this position
by a free trade agreement should make one wonder, just who does
benefit from these agreements? A look at CEO salaries should help
answer that question. According to United for a Fair Economy,
CEOs in 2006 averaged $10.8 million dollars in compensation. That
works out to $5400.00 per hour. Another way of looking at it is
that CEO compensation was 364 times higher than that of the average
worker. Still another way: the CEO earns in one day, what the
average worker earns in a year.
The Campaign for Labor Rights is committed to
helping people have an understanding of the economic system and
to providing the necessary tools to actively resist the inherent
inequality of the system, as well as to protect and nurture the
democratic underpinnings of our society.
As part of the Alliance for Global Justice, we
have launched our Economic Literacy and Respect for Democracy
Campaigns to help spread this understanding and to build stronger,
more aware communities. Most people already know that the system
is skewed against them. But how many have a solid understanding
of how the system is designed to work, how our political system
has been mutated to limit democracy and shield corporations and
how our ability to make the necessary changes is being curtailed
daily?
Help yourself and your community by not just writing
out a tax deductible donation – though that is certainly
important – but also by inviting us to do a workshop or
presentation in your community. Help prepare your family, co-workers
and neighbors to challenge corporate dominance and to defend democracy.
Help arm them with the knowledge to deal with politicians who
have pledged allegiance to the almighty dollar and the corporate
media which would keep us ignorant and confused.
Part of our goal with the Economic Literacy and
Respect for Democracy campaigns is to bring community organizations
and information resources together. Reach out through your union
local, your activist base, your local third party, your church
or civic group -- reach out into your community and come together
to learn, share and take action. Our role, which your support
enables, is to provide the foundation from which you can exercise
self-determination and launch local campaigns to reassert democratic,
community control over corporations. Our opponent is well armed
and well financed. But we have strength in numbers. Let’s
fight together, for all our sakes.
In solidarity,
Jon Hunt
National Coordinator
Past Letters
December
07
March
07
September
06
November
06
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