(The following statement by Teamsters General President James P. Hoffa appeared on the Teamsters’ website on June 24.)
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, I tendered my resignation (attached) from the President’s Advisory Committee on Trade Policy and Negotiations (ACTPN).
During the 2000 Presidential Election campaign, President Bush pledged to bring a new level of respect and bipartisan comity to the nation’s capital. Along with many other leaders in the labor community, I took him at his word and endeavored to forge a mutually respectful, productive relationship with both the President and his administration. As part of that effort, in April 2003 I agreed to serve on the President’s Advisory Committee on Trade Policy and Negotiations (ACTPN).
However, in recent months I have become increasingly uncomfortable with that association. The administration has clearly decided to wage a full-fledged attack on workers’ rights, social justice and economic common sense. While I had hoped that the Teamsters could maintain some semblance of a working relationship with this administration through my service on ACTPN, President Bush’s decision to sign the Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA) has left me with no choice but to resign.
I will no longer lend legitimacy to a sham process, in which our views and those of other important U.S. constituencies are not respected. Instead, I will dedicate my efforts to advancing an agenda at the national level that puts the interests of America’s working families first. Our country desperately needs leaders who will include enforceable labor and environmental standards in all future trade deals, combat off-shoring and strengthen our Buy America laws. This will ensure that foreign investors don’t get greater rights than our Constitutional standards, require all food products and trucks entering the U.S. comply with U.S. safety and inspection standards, and renegotiate CAFTA.
Click here to read President Hoffa’s letter of resignation
to President Bush: http://www.teamster.org/hoffa/hoffalettertobush_040624.htm