Posted on January 28, 2011 by the San Francisco County Central Committee
The following resolution was submitted to the San Francisco Labor Council by members of the San Francisco Peace and Freedom Party, and adopted by the Labor Council on January 24, 2011.
Resolution Opposing the Korea-US Free Trade Agreement
Whereas, the proposed KOREA US KORUS Free Trade Agreement will be coming before Congress early this year and,
Whereas, this agreement is modeled on the NAFTA agreement that has led to the loss of jobs for millions of US workers and Mexican workers, privatization, deregulation and repression of unions in Mexico and,
Whereas, this KORUS agreement will also push privatization and deregulation of the US and Korean economy and,
Whereas, dozens of members of the Korean Teachers Union KTU have been jailed for lobbying against legislation in Korea which is illegal under the law and,
Whereas, Korean public workers do not have the right to bargain and strike which are basic labor rights and,
Whereas, as a result of labor deregulation of the Korean economy today nearly 50% of Korean workers are part time and temporary and,
Whereas, the KORUS agreement will also restructure the Korean National Healthcare System resulting in a privatized healthcare system in part by forcing Korean hospitals to purchase high priced medicines from Pfizer and other multi-national Pharma companies that also fight unionization and,
Whereas, there is no serious ability for trade unionists and labor to protect their rights to organize and for democratic union rights within the KORUS agreement and,
Whereas the KORUS agreement is being pushed by major multi-national corporations who have used these Free Trade Agreements FTA to eliminate unions, destroy health and safety protections and pit workers of the US against workers in other countries and,
Whereas, the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions KCTU, all Farmers organizations, civil and human rights organizations in Korea are opposing this agreement as well as the AFL-CIO and the KCTU and other civic organizations have a delegation visiting Washington D.C. this week to urge opposition to this agreement,
Therefore be it Resolved the San Francisco Labor Council calls on Congresswomen Nancy Pelosi and Jackie Speier and US Senators Dianne Feinstein and Barbara Boxer representing San Francisco to publicly oppose this agreement and,
Be it Further Resolved this Council will support and participate in a demonstration at the Korean Consulate located at 3500 Clay/Laurel in San Francisco on Saturday January 29 11:00 AM and,
Be it Further Resolved this Council supports a Labor Community Educational conference on “KORUS, Another NAFTA?” on Sunday February 27, 2011 at the University of San Francisco from 9:00 AM To 5:00 PM sponsored by the California Fair Trade Coalition, UPWA and other organizations and,
Be it Finally Resolved that this Council will send letters to all Congressional and Senate representatives asking them to oppose this KORUS agreement and ask for their concurrence with this action by all affiliated bodies including the California AFL-CIO.