Labor and Free Trade

8 Thoughts About the Last Debate #3

So, McCain accuses Obama of not understanding free trade because he hasn't travelled south of the border yet. (An interesting accusation considering that he picked the prom queen as his running mate.) Obama responded:

Actually, I understand it pretty well. The history in Colombia right now is that labor leaders have been targeted for assassination on a fairly consistent basis and there have not been prosecutions.

And what I have said, because the free trade -- the trade agreement itself does have labor and environmental protections, but we have to stand for human rights and we have to make sure that violence isn't being perpetrated against workers who are just trying to organize for their rights, which is why, for example, I supported the Peruvian Free Trade Agreement which was a well-structured agreement.

Obama is a realist and knows that the so-called global economy is here to stay. He also realizes that if we are going to give these countries free and unfettered access to our markets, we have to have protections inserted into the agreements that protects labor, not just in the other countries, but in our own country as well.

For too long, the Republican party has been able to get away with union busting. The results of that is the shrinking of the American middle class. Why? It was labor unions that worked alongside FDR when the modern middle class was built during the New Deal and they were our last bastion of defense against oppressive corporations. Without the ability to come together and fight, real wages decrease and fewer people move into the middle class. The war against labor is one of the greatest evils perpetrated by modern conservatism. With an Obama Presidency and a strong Democratic majority in both houses of Congress, this war will end.