Normally we (www.iuf.org) write to request your support for a specific group of workers in conflict with employers or governments, usually by asking you to send a support or a protest message. Your response has always been a valued source of support for workers in many conflicts. In view of the general threat to democracy and the labour movement contained in the EU-US trade and investment agreement TTIP (and similar treaties), we wanted to share this with you.
The secret TTIP draft texts released by Greenpeace Netherlands on May 2 confirm what critics have maintained from the outset. TTIP is a trade deal that threatens democracy.
Like the finalized but as yet unratified Trans-Pacific Partnership and the EU-Canada Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement CETA, TTIP's principle objective is to further expand the already considerable power of transnational corporations by restricting the regulatory power of governments and locking the system into place to prevent new regulatory initiatives.
The leaked chapters show how TTIP would undermine the capacity of governments at every level to adopt and enforce laws and regulations to defend worker and consumer health and safety and the environment against corporate depredation. And much more.