Reply #70: ALEC behind propsed resolution in Washington state legislature urging Congress to pass Korea-US FTA [View All]

“The experiences of union members and working people with too many flawed trade deals like the North American Free Trade Agreement and China’s accession to the World Trade Organization do not justify optimism that this deal will generate the promised new jobs,” AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka said in a statement. “We’ve seen U.S. multinational companies take advantage of the investment and other corporate protections in past trade deals to shift production offshore, while maintaining access to the U.S. consumer market and undermining the jobs, wages and bargaining power of American workers. And the results have been catastrophic, with chronic and unsustainable trade deficits that sap economic growth and domestic job creation.”

SJM 8006 was instigated by the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), a conservative corporate-funded organization promoting “small” government that produces model legislation for state lawmakers. Among ALEC’s primary funders are the infamous Koch brothers, the Kansas billionaires who are funding right-wing activities ranging from the Tea Party to Republican Gov. Scott Walker’s assault on Wisconsin public employees’ collective bargaining rights.