News and views from SA Canada Trans-Pacific Partnership — A charter of big business rights A tration of power in giant Trans National Corpora
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Alongside burgeoning global trade is the concen tions (TNCs), able to move production to places where labour costs are the lowest. En route, those firms bully, threaten, and reduce the wages and benefits of their workers. The Trans Pacific Partnership, like its “free trade” predecessors, is a charter of rights for the TNCs. The great secrecy surrounding its negotiation reflects the fact that, once again, the interests of work ing people will be sacrificed on the altar of globaliza tion and private profit.
Information issued and leaked about the TPP in dicates that the deal will not help but hurt workers’ rights and standard of living. Several industries in Canada will suffer. The auto industry is one. Japan’s rulers want their vehicles imported duty-free, with just 30 per cent of the parts manufactured and as sembled in Canada, the U.S., or Mexico—down from the 60% content presently required under the North American Free Trade Agreement.
UNIFOR, Canada’s largest private-sector union rep resenting auto workers, warns that this would “kill thousands of Canadian auto jobs.”
Canada’s dairy and poultry industry and its supplymanaged systems will be open to more foreign compe tition, something that will cost heavily in lost revenue. In fact, during the latest federal election campaign, the former Conservative government promised hundreds of millions of dollars in compensation payments to soften the blow of the TPP. The millions would come from revenues that could be applied to meet human needs, rather than serving an arrangement that will mostly benefit multi-national food conglomerates.
Wikileaks revealed the chapter related to intellec tual property rights and patents. Toronto Star tech nology columnist Michael Geist warns that the TPP will require significant changes to Canada’s copyright laws. TPP changes concerning internet use and online practices would put privacy at risk.
New rules governing corporate lawsuits would in crease claims by foreign corporations against the Ca nadian government over national policy and court de cisions. Pharmaceutical giant Eli Lilly is already suing the Canadian government for $500 million regarding patent rules. The aim of the TPP is to extend the life of corporate patents—a policy that will cost consumers Canadian authorities are now in the last stages of ne gotiating the Comprehensive Economic Trade Agree ment with Europe. Many of the same problems with the TPP are evident in CETA too. The latter provides for even greater TNC powers in the area of govern ment services and procurement policy. At risk is the preferential purchasing of costly items, such as sub way cars, from local manufacturers, and it facilitates the sale of government services to the lowest bidder, even if it is a foreign service provider.
Ontario province, Canada’s industrial heartland, may lose thousands of jobs under CETA since its big gest export to Europe is low-labour-intensive gold, while its largest imports are high-labour-input phar maceuticals, autos, and auto parts.
Tom Mulcair and the NDP leadership, while op posing the TPP late in the recent election campaign, should have been mounting opposition to both deals much earlier, not just on the eve of the signing. They should know that these deals are being crafted by the international captains of industry, whose main objec tive is to increase their power and profits at the ex pense of millions of workers and the environment.
Socialists are not against trade. But we do oppose trade deals that weaken the bargaining position of unions and the workers they represent. We are against trade deals that jeopardize government safety regulations and public services. We are against the export of jobs to low-wage zones. To reduce carbon emissions associated with long-distance transport, we favour local sources, and reluctantly accept long-distance trade in goods that cannot be obtained near by, provided that the producers are decently paid, and enjoy good benefits and a safe working environment. In other words, “fair trade” is inseparable from an in ternational, ecological workers’ agenda. n