<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR class=msghead><TD><TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 border=0><TBODY><TR class=msghead><TD class=msgF noWrap align=right width="1%">From: </TD><TD class=msgFname noWrap width="68%">SDPpolorules <NOBR></NOBR></TD><TD class=msgDate noWrap align=right width="30%">8:38 am </TD></TR><TR class=msghead><TD class=msgT noWrap align=right width="1%" height=20>To: </TD><TD class=msgTname noWrap width="68%">ALL <NOBR></NOBR></TD><TD class=msgNum noWrap align=right></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></TD></TR><TR><TD class=msgleft width="1%" rowSpan=4></TD><TD class=wintiny noWrap align=right>18354.1 </TD></TR><TR><TD height=8></TD></TR><TR><TD class=msgtxt>US trade union interviews SDP's Ambalam
Monday, 05 January 2009
Singapore Democrats
The United Aeropsace Workers Local 592, a trade union based in Illinois, USA recently contacted the Singapore Democrats and conducted an interview with Mr Gandhi Ambalam, Chairman. The interview touched mainly on the political situation in Singapore and how it exploits workers here.
Below is the write-up and text of the interview by Timothy Mills:
Given the loss of 533,000 American jobs in November, the largest downturn in thirty-four years, it is vital that we have a public discourse on the cost of free trade and its twin – runaway corporations.
In a free trade advocate’s view, the global marketplace is an idyllic universe of decision makers where everyone is free to buy and sell. In actuality, the exchange between the great masses of humanity and a transnational corporation is neither free nor fair. Does free trade mean that companies can do what they want, no matter the circumstances?
Take the city-state of Singapore. It has been hailed by business executives as one of free trade’s success stories.
The whole truth, however, is quite different. As an employee of Hamilton Sundstrand, I learned about the down side of such a success story as I watched machinery and good jobs being uprooted in Rockford, destined for Singapore.
Some folks may still be asking, “Why are companies with long histories in our community, such as Sundstrand, so attracted to Singapore?” Here are a couple of reasons:
#1 In 2003, the governments of the United States and Singapore signed the U.S.-Singapore Free Trade Agreement. The agreement gave the green light to corporations seeking to benefit from great disparities between the two nations, such as living and environmental standards, as well as human rights. http://ctrc.sice.oas.org/Trade/USA-Singapore/USSSingaporetext.pdf
Corporations setting up shop in Singapore may hire from a pool of immigrants who come from poverty-stricken south Asia. Approximately 600 thousand foreign workers are employed, representing thirty percent of the nation’s total workforce. For these workers, employment in Singapore symbolizes an opportunity to send money back home to their families.
In a letter sent to Congress, the Citizen’s Trade Campaign warned that the proposed trade deals between U.S.-Singapore and U.S.-Chile would undermine labor and environmental protections:
“…the remedies provided for the only enforceable labor and environmental provision in the agreement are fines capped at levels insufficient to serve as deterrents. Additionally, any fines assessed for labor violations are paid by the violating country back to itself, rather than to the complainant, amounting to nothing more than a budgetary transfer.
“Further, the only enforceable labor and environmental provision in either pact is that countries enforce their own existing standards - meaning that Singapore and Chile are free to maintain labor laws that do not meet the core ILO [International Labor Organization] standards, or can eliminate or weaken existing domestic labor and environmental laws in order to attract investment or trade with no threat of fines or sanctions.” http://www.citizenstrade.org/singapore.php
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Monday, 05 January 2009
Singapore Democrats
The United Aeropsace Workers Local 592, a trade union based in Illinois, USA recently contacted the Singapore Democrats and conducted an interview with Mr Gandhi Ambalam, Chairman. The interview touched mainly on the political situation in Singapore and how it exploits workers here.
Below is the write-up and text of the interview by Timothy Mills:
Given the loss of 533,000 American jobs in November, the largest downturn in thirty-four years, it is vital that we have a public discourse on the cost of free trade and its twin – runaway corporations.
In a free trade advocate’s view, the global marketplace is an idyllic universe of decision makers where everyone is free to buy and sell. In actuality, the exchange between the great masses of humanity and a transnational corporation is neither free nor fair. Does free trade mean that companies can do what they want, no matter the circumstances?
Take the city-state of Singapore. It has been hailed by business executives as one of free trade’s success stories.
The whole truth, however, is quite different. As an employee of Hamilton Sundstrand, I learned about the down side of such a success story as I watched machinery and good jobs being uprooted in Rockford, destined for Singapore.
Some folks may still be asking, “Why are companies with long histories in our community, such as Sundstrand, so attracted to Singapore?” Here are a couple of reasons:
#1 In 2003, the governments of the United States and Singapore signed the U.S.-Singapore Free Trade Agreement. The agreement gave the green light to corporations seeking to benefit from great disparities between the two nations, such as living and environmental standards, as well as human rights. http://ctrc.sice.oas.org/Trade/USA-Singapore/USSSingaporetext.pdf
Corporations setting up shop in Singapore may hire from a pool of immigrants who come from poverty-stricken south Asia. Approximately 600 thousand foreign workers are employed, representing thirty percent of the nation’s total workforce. For these workers, employment in Singapore symbolizes an opportunity to send money back home to their families.
In a letter sent to Congress, the Citizen’s Trade Campaign warned that the proposed trade deals between U.S.-Singapore and U.S.-Chile would undermine labor and environmental protections:
“…the remedies provided for the only enforceable labor and environmental provision in the agreement are fines capped at levels insufficient to serve as deterrents. Additionally, any fines assessed for labor violations are paid by the violating country back to itself, rather than to the complainant, amounting to nothing more than a budgetary transfer.
“Further, the only enforceable labor and environmental provision in either pact is that countries enforce their own existing standards - meaning that Singapore and Chile are free to maintain labor laws that do not meet the core ILO [International Labor Organization] standards, or can eliminate or weaken existing domestic labor and environmental laws in order to attract investment or trade with no threat of fines or sanctions.” http://www.citizenstrade.org/singapore.php
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