LOCAL
USTR Tai, DelBene meet with labor on worker-centered trade
SEATTLE (Aug. 10, 2021) — United States Trade Representative (USTR) Katherine Tai and U.S. Rep. Suzan DelBene (D-WA, 1st) met with Washington state labor leaders last Thursday at the Machinists District 751 hall in Seattle for a roundtable discussion on the impacts of trade policy on working families. Tai serves in a Cabinet-level position as the Biden administration’s principal trade advisor, negotiator, and spokesperson. DelBene is vice chair of the House Ways and Means Committee, which has jurisdiction over trade policies.
“Everyone at this table understands the importance of trade to supporting good family wage jobs,” said Cherika Carter, Washington State Labor Council Political and Strategic Campaign Director, who facilitated the roundtable. “But we also have seen with our own eyes the damage that can be done by trade rules that don’t ensure workers share in the prosperity they create.”
Joined by representatives from the Machinists 751; Society of Professional Engineering Employees in Aerospace/IFPTE 2001; Teamsters Joint Council 28; the International Longshore Workers Union; and the Washington Fair Trade Coalition (also representing the Association of Western Pulp and Paper Workers), there was a robust discussion about specific trade policies and practices hurting Washington industries and costing workers their jobs.
Among other issues, concerns were raised about:
● China’s manipulation of markets and low labor standards and the impacts on aerospace, aluminum and woods products industries.
● The importance of using tariffs and border taxes effectively to protect U.S. jobs and ensuring robust enforcement against trading partners that violate trade law, environmental standards and workers’ rights.
● How the constrained flow of goods in and out of U.S. ports is stifling economic growth and hurting port and freight workers.
Tai welcomed the input of Washington’s labor community and assured labor leaders that the Biden Administration is committed to “trade policy that is crafted with workers for workers.” With support from late AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka, the USTR has established a vision for a worker-centered trade policy that “lifts wages, empowers workers, and expands economic opportunity at home and around the globe,” she said.
Washington’s labor leaders committed their support to making the vision of a worker-centered trade policy a reality.