The battle over free trade has taken a crass -- and dishonest -- turn thanks to an ad campaign run by the AFL-CIO which suggests a free trade agreement between the United States and Colombia is "about murder" of Colombian labor organizers. The ad, which features a coffin, applauds the "brave union leaders" of Colombia who are lobbying Congress to reject the proposed agreement. The AFL-CIO claims that to approve the FTA would be to condone the murders of union leaders in Colombia.
What's the ads don't mention is that the Colombian union leaders visiting Washington this week are in more danger here than in their home country. In fact, according to statistics cited by the Heritage Foundation, the murder rate in Washington is 33.4 per 100,000 inhabitants, compared to the 5.3 for Colombian unionists.
The AFL-CIO is also using old data, going back over 25 years of drug war violence, to exaggerate the situation in Colombia, which has seen marked improvement in recent years. According to research conducted by the Cato Institute, assassination of union leaders in Colombia peaked in 2001, and has dropped 77 percent since then, far outpacing the decline in the overall murder rate.
Senior Democrats have said that the Colombia trade agreement is in the national interest. President Obama has pushed for passage in his last two State of the Union addresses. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has praised Colombia's efforts to end violence. Incoming Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta said recently that ratification of the Colombia free trade agreement would improve national security because developing trade with the United States "creates greater stability within those countries."
The union opposition to a U.S.-Colombia free trade agreement is mystifying. Low tariffs on imports from Colombia and higher tariffs on our exports already benefit Colombian manufacturers. The lower trade barriers would level the playing field and increase U.S. exports by $1.1 billion, according to the U.S. International Trade Commission. That is good news for workers who produce goods in the United States for export. The FTA helps U.S. businesses sell more products internationally and create more jobs domestically.
But deception is becoming common-place for the AFL-CIO. On its official blog Thursday, the union defended the National Labor Relations Board's campaign against Boeing. The union is trying to block the airplane manufacturer from opening a Dreamliner production line this summer, which would employ 1,000 South Carolina workers. The blog post stated that "Boeing executives decided to move production of the 787 Dreamliner to South Carolina." However, the South Carolina line is a supplement to the existing Seattle line, not a replacement.
The AFL-CIO stated, "If Boeing moved the work to Oregon or California, the same issue would still exist." What the AFL-CIO did not say is that if Boeing built the factory in China or Iran or Korea the federal government could not have blocked it.
To summarize, a new production line in South Carolina would employ 1,000 people, enhance exports, diversify Boeing's geographic presence and not cost any union jobs -- yet its proponents of the new South Carolina production line are characterized as selfish?
Ethics come from the top. In violation of its own policy, the AFL-CIO made Richard Trumka its president despite the fact that Mr. Trunka had used the Fifth Amendment to avoid giving testimony which could have incriminated him in a criminal investigation. Under Trumka's leadership, the AFL-CIO has decided to oppose free trade and free enterprise regardless of the facts, using misleading if not outright deceptive tactics and information to achieve their end.
My father was a union organizer and a good, honest and ethical person. He would be ashamed of the AFL-CIO's tactics. He would have understood, though, that it's up to the AFL-CIO membership -- the hard-working Americans who are funding the deceptive, misguided and destructive political activities of their leadership -- to demand change. AFL-CIO members can and should insist that their leaders support policies and agreements that will be good for union workers and indeed the American economy as a whole.
Gary Shapiro is the president and CEO of the Consumer Electronics Association and the author of the New York Times Bestseller, "The Comeback: How Innovation Will Restore the American Dream."
Follow Gary Shapiro on Twitter: www.twitter.com/GaryShapiro
An oft-repeated lie. Americans still don't believe it.
Does the Consumer Electronics Association represent any companies that manufacture anything in the United States?
I don't need lessons from the CEA in how to form a trade agreement considering that we have massive trade imbalances and most especially in the area of consumer electronics. Shapiro - your industry has divorced themselves from America and you should be speaking to your new goverment - China.
The reason I oppose new trade agreements is because none of the old ones are working. Free traders have a credibility problem because every last trade agreement we have comes with massive deficits far surpassing even our budget deficit.
The last person anyone here should be taking trade advice from is Gary Shapiro. He represents the problem, not the solution.
"My father was a union organizer and a good, honest and ethical person. He would be ashamed of the AFL-CIO's tactics."
Is that really who your father is ashamed of? The policies your industry has supported killed the union your father worked for. My guess is that he would be very ashamed of those who lead that industry. What's your job title again?
You raise an interesting point on how US citizens of various groups seem to be more "at risk" in their home country, but that doesn't mean there isn't danger or deception in other countries.
And is it wrong for me to mention this little article, from 2001? http://www.therationalradical.com/dsep/coca-cola-colombia.htm
Well golly gee, no way!
If entities won't self-regulate, who will regulate? And who will regulate the regulators?
Naah, let's just let total devolution continue. It's more profitable that way. Besides, with corporate spin being at an all time high, nobody's surprised that even those that claim to fight for worker rights won't engage in chicanery either.
The article is classic misinformation, along the lines that Karl Rove has made famous. Repeat a lie over and over and over, and some of the public will begin to believe the lie might be true.
The article is classic union bashing, read anti-worker. Focusing on the U.S.-Colombia free trade agreement is mystifying. This agreement is very, very low on AFL-CIO priorities, but distractions are what Mr. Shapiro is all about.
I also read this:
http://blogs.forbes.com/garyshapiro/
"moral wealth"? What parallel dimension is this guy from?
Even more, maybe he'll do an article, since he's for "innovation will bring America's economy back", telling us who was for "the service economy" to begin with - as "the service economy" helped lead to the elimination of manufacturing, math, science, and the rest. We were told "We'll do just fine as a service economy"... of course, we're told lots of things...
Where is the misinformation to which you refer?
What is "mystifying" about focusing on the Colombia free trade agreement as you say it is "very, very low on AFL-CIO prioirities". Funny, last week, the AFL-CIO bought expensive ads in many publications on the Colombia agreement so it seems they want the workld to think it is a priority for them.
Don't let the facts get in the way of your opinions - the facts are so inconvenient!
So you've repeated yourself again, so it must be true.
Here we go.
For starters: "In violation of its own policy, the AFL-CIO made Richard Trumka its president despite the fact that Mr. Trunka had used the Fifth Amendment to avoid giving testimony which could have incriminated him in a criminal investigation."
I always love it when right-wing hacks try and bring up a smear against people for exercising their Constitutional rights. Numerous people in the labor movement have done just that, as the sad game from our Justice Department often involved witch hunts against labor where there was no evidence of criminality. The Second Red Scare is a classic example. In fact, that is when that AFL-CIO policy came to be, during a time where it was lambasted as giving in to the right while those who did not found themselves facing exclusion by the federal government for refusing to fill out a form claiming they weren't Communist. Meanwhile, even the most cursory examination of wikipedia would demonstrate how you are spreading misinformation on this one.
"The union opposition to a U.S.-Colombia free trade agreement is mystifying."
Nonsense. Elimination of tariffs hasn't had a good effect on many local industries where these agreements have come in. This is largely due to the fact that such nations neither have the technology, nor the subsidies, to compete with our industries. What's mystifying is that this smear article is your best pitch.
Oh, and subtle of you to call what the AFL-CIO is doing "lobbying", when you are yourself a high-powered lobbyist...
Have you become so closed to another opinion that you do not believe anything from Heritage? I may not agree with everything Heritage (or Move On or Huffington say) but I do look for a variety of views and real facts.
I have no problem with the AFL-CIO lobbying or with CEA lobbying - in our unique democracy our right to gather to inform legislators is important and protected. My objection is to misinformation and intentional distortions.