Meeting in Paris, President Richard Trumka of the AFL-CIO and General Secretary Bernadette Ségol of the ETUC discussed shared priorities for the TTIP (Trans-Atlantic Trade and Investment Partnership) to advance the interests of working people and fight misguided austerity policies on both sides of the Atlantic.

The AFL-CIO and the ETUC officially kicked off a joint campaign to ensure that shared prosperity and sustainable growth are the driving principles in the upcoming talks on a United States - European Union trade agreement known as TTIP.

The ETUC and the AFL-CIO both recognised that a successful trade agreement must be based on the best practices on each side of the Atlantic, in order to have positive impacts on jobs and economic growth.  Both organisations committed to devoting the resources and effort needed to ensure that working people as well as negotiators understand how the TTIP can be shaped to maximise the opportunities for workers to share in its benefits.  Priority areas include the labour, regulatory, and investment rules the agreement would establish.

Both groups agreed that the goals of the TTIP should include full employment, decent work, and rising standards of living for all—not the enshrinement of destructive austerity, de-regulation, or other neoliberal ideas prominent in recent years.  Trumka and Ségol’s first order of business will be finalising a joint position statement on the pending agreement.  They agreed to maintain close contact in following the course of the negotiations.

The two labour leaders also discussed the unacceptable labour rights regime in Bangladesh and ways the two organisations could cooperate to advance labour rights, fair pay, and improved working conditions for Bangladesh’s workers. 

For more information on the federations’ principles and goals for the TTIP, please visit:

http://www.etuc.org/a/11228 (ETUC)

http://www.aflcio.org/Issues/Trade/U.S.-EU-Free-Trade-Agreement (AFL-CIO) 

The ETUC exists to speak with a single voice, on behalf of the common interests of workers, at European level. Founded in 1973, it now represents 85 trade union organisations in 36 European countries, plus 10 industry-based federations.

The ETUC is also on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Flickr. If you would like to subscribe to the ETUC newsletter, please click here.

More information:
ETUC Press and Communications
Tel: + 32 (0)2 224 04 31/2 – GSM: + 32 (0)473942563
mail: media@etuc.org

Contact: Josh Goldstein (202) 637-5018