The Trans-Pacific Partnership:
A Threat To America’s Retirees
Introduction
We believe that highlighting the threat the TPP poses to retirees
and Medicare is the right strategy to slow down and eventually
defeat the TPP.
With the knowledge of the strength of our message and our
collective voices, we have created this presentation to assist you
in our ongoing fight against the TPP.
It includes everything you will need to better understand the TPP
and ensure that you can work towards stopping its passage.
With details on the TPP itself, information on how prior “free”
trade deals hurt working families and what next steps we need to
take, the information here will help you to stop the TPP dead in
its tracks!
How “Free” Trade Deals Hurt Working
Families
and
Retirees
• “Free” Trade cost American families jobs: Korea FTA= 75,000; NAFTA=
700,000; WTO= Millions
• It has made it easier to offshore jobs
• It has empowered global firms with special legal rights, but no
obligations
• It has driven a race to the bottom in wages, environmental protections,
and consumer standards
• Since China joined the WTO, the U.S. has lost more than 60,000 factories
and more than 5 million manufacturing jobs
• Employers use the threat of offshoring to secure pay & benefit givebacks
from U.S. unions and employees, including cuts to pensions and
retirement savings, hurting current and future retirees.
KORUS: Korea-US Free Trade Agreement
Jobs Promised, Not Delivered
• The 2010 Korea-US Free Trade Agreement (KORUS) was supposed to add over
70,000 jobs. Instead it destroyed 40,000.
• KORUS was supposed to lower the U.S. trade deficit with Korea. In its first year,
the deficit worsened by $5.8 billion - a whopping 39.8% increase in ONE year!
NAFTA
• NAFTA (North American Free Trade Agreement), is the U.S.’s
largest regional FTA to date. In its 20 year history, it has:
• Cost the U.S. 700,000 jobs
• Undermined labor and environmental protections in the
U.S., Canada, and Mexico
• Contributed to increasing inequality and stagnant wages in
all 3 countries
• Increased corporate influence in all 3 countries, particularly
through “ISDS,” private “corporate courts” used to hold
democratically-enacted policies for ransom
• Undermined job creation policies including “Buy American”
NAFTA:
Destroyed Jobs and Exploded the Trade Deficit
• NAFTA eliminated over 700,000 jobs from the U.S.
• U.S. had $1.6 billion trade surplus with Mexico before NAFTA; Today, we have a
$97.2 billion trade deficit.
1993 (Before NAFTA)
$1.3 Billion Trade SURPLUS
Supported 29,400 jobs
2010
$97.2 Billion Trade Deficit
Destroyed Over 700,000 jobs
Corporate Friendly “Free” Trade Deals Contribute To More
Money For Profits, Less To Working Families And Retirees
Workers’ Share of National Income is Shrinking
Leading To A Less Secure Retirement For Current And Future Retirees
“Free” Trade Deals Have Helped Detach Worker
Productivity From Worker Wage Increases
Workers’ Share of National Income is Shrinking
Leading To A Less Secure Retirement For Current And Future Retirees
Another result:
Increasing Inequality!
Real family income growth
117%
1947-1973
98%
104%
105%
1973-2009
454%
Off the
charts!
rise in
income*
645%
rise in
income*
$3 million
average
income
$27 million
average
income
89%
57%
Credit: EPI
analysis of
U.S.
Census
Bureau
data.
29%
16%
6%
-6%
Poorest
20%
Second
20%
*1973-2008
Middle
20%
Fourth
20%
Richest
20%
Top
0.1%
Top
0.01%
*Average income
includes realized
capital gains.
The Trans-Pacific Partnership =
NAFTA on Steroids
• The Trans-Pacific Partnership covers 12 countries
• USA, Canada, Mexico, Peru, Chile, New Zealand, Australia, Japan,
Brunei, Malaysia, Singapore, and Vietnam
• These countries represent 40% of the global economy.
The TPP Isn’t Just About “Free” Trade
It Affects Us Here At Home
• For example, the TPP covers:
• Labor laws
• Anti-Trust laws
• Patent & copyright laws
• Environmental protections
• Wall Street/banking regulations
• Food, cosmetic, and medical device safety
• Government purchasing (e.g., Buy American)
• Drug pricing in public healthcare programs such as Medicare
• A private justice system (“corporate courts”) for foreign investors
• Public services, such as transportation, healthcare, and education
TPP Threat:
ISDS -- A Threat to Jobs & Democracy
The Investor-State Dispute Settlement (ISDS)
provisions of the TPP would empower foreign
corporations to:
• Bypass national courts
• Allow foreign investors to use private
“corporate courts” to seek taxpayer
compensation for local, state, or federal
laws & regulations that threaten their
“expected future profits”
• Has been used to attack decisions on toxic
chemicals, local building permits, & even
minimum wages
Here are some ways the TPP could
affect your local government:
• Foreign firms could challenge “Big Box” laws
designed to keep abusive employers out &
preserve local retailers
• A foreign investor could challenge a decision
to deny a permit to a dangerous/toxic facility
• A foreign investor could challenge a local
minimum wage increase
• A foreign country could challenge state rules
on the practice of medicine or insurance
• Your county government might not be able
to prefer products from your state when
purchasing
TPP Threat:
Bye, Bye Buy American Policies
• The TPP will limit the ability of the federal
government (and possibly state governments)
to stimulate the economy by ensuring
taxpayer monies can be used to buy U.S.made goods and services.
• Companies could not be barred because of
their human rights and labor rights records.
• It will constrain how national and state
governments may use public funds in
construction projects, purchases of goods and
services, etc.
TPP Threat:
Americans Competing With Third-World Wages
• Suppression of the right to form independent
unions.
• Restrictions on Strikes. Vietnam’s Labor Code
allows party-controlled unions to strike but
imposes strict and cumbersome conditions
that must first be met, which effectively nullify
this right.
• Vietnam is guilty of using child labor and
forced labor in its garment sector.
• There is a U.S. arms embargo against Vietnam
because of its human rights violations and
imprisonment of political dissidents
TPP Threat:
Criminally Low Wages
Daily Minimum Wages
(January 2013 in Dollars)
$58.00
$8.70
$4.59
$2.23
United States
Malaysia
China
Vietnam
Other TPP Threats:
• Deregulation of banks, food safety & product
safety rules
• Foreign subsidized companies (SOEs) that
behave in a predatory manner & undercut
U.S. private sector firms lead to lost U.S. jobs
• Weak rules of origin that allow China and
other countries to benefit without even
agreeing to the rules lead to more
outsourcing and lost U.S. jobs
• Continued weak & ineffective efforts to
protect labor rights and ensure
environmental compliance
• Less local control, more corporate control
The TPP Threat To Retirees:
Higher Drug Prices For All Americans
• New monopoly rights for drug
companies, making it harder to access
generic medicines
• Biologics, other drugs remain
expensive because no generic options
• U.S. patent rules already keep drug
prices high and the TPP will make
some patent rules worse
• Drug companies are using TPP to
prevent Congress from ever reforming
U.S. patent laws.
The TPP Threat To Retirees:
Threatens Medicare
• Could undermine cost saving measures in
Medicare.
• ISDS could be used to block Medicare
policies that make drugs more affordable
for taxpayers & beneficiaries.
• Block Congress from enacting price
negotiations in Medicare or requiring
discounts on drugs purchased.
TPP TIMELINE
• When Congress passed Trade Promotion Authority, also known as Fast
Track, earlier this year it forced the approval of the TPP to follow a specific
timeline:
• Once the White House gives notice of intent to sign the TPP a 90-day
countdown until when Congress can vote on the deal begins.
• Members of Congress and staff with security clearances will have
access to the deal during the first 30 days of the countdown, but not
the public.
• After this 30-day period the text of the TPP will be released to the
public, but then it must be voted on within 60 days.
• With only 2 months for the public to review before Congress must vote
- time is of the essence.
What Do We Do Now?
• It’s not too late to act!
• Text “TPP” to 235246
• Contact your state Alliance for Retired Americans at xxx-xxx-xxxx or
xxxxx@xxxx.com
• Work on a campaign to pass a state or local resolution against a bad TPP
• Commit to telling at least one friend or family member about the dangers of
TPP
• Share this PowerPoint and Alliance information on the TPP with friends or
family
• Call your Member of Congress at 1-855-712-8441 to say “No TPP that doesn’t
work for retirees!”
• Visit aflcio.org/trade and aflcio.org/blog to learn more