FIRST NAFTA, NOW CAFTA?

UNEMPLOYMENT; ECONOMIC policy; NORTH American Free Trade Agreement; AFL-CIO; BOARDS of trade

The article reports that in 1993, the U.S. government passed the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) with Canada and Mexico, promising it would promote jobs. In reality, according to Sarah Massey, a spokesperson for the AFL-CIO Americas Union Movement, it lowered wages, heightened unemployment and increased pollution. Massey now argues that the proposed Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA) is going to be a failure just like NAFTA. Currently, CAFTA contains no provisions to compel Central America to meet Americas labor and environmental standards, or to adopt a set of basic standards. CAFTA has already been signed by the U.S., El Salvador, Nicaragua, Guatemala, Honduras and Costa Rica, but for it to be implemented each country has to hold an official vote. Protests leading to police violence have occurred in El Salvador and Guatemala, where workers marched to stop their governments' approval. The U.S. Commerce Department and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce are holding a series of pro-CAFTA events in U.S. cities such as Charlotte, North Carolina, where previous trade agreements caused job loss.