Speech by Len Shindel, United Steel Workers of America

The United Steel Workers of America is proud to be part of the coalition of student, environmental, labor, and other organizations organizing to protest the Free Trade Area of the Americas meeting in Miami.

We know too well what unfair trade means. 200,000 steelworker retirees and surviving spouses have lost their health coverage in part because the price of steel has been kept artificially low by the importation of unfairly traded steel.

But we also know that bad trade deals undermine the living standards, the environment, and the culture of our entire global community. Our members have visited factories on the Mexican border, runaway shops built by employers who used to operate in the US under contract with our Union. They have seen the inhumane conditions which face Mexican workers [conditions are seen] in every corner of the world. We are learning, through bitter experience, that our adversaries are not the workers of other countries, but Corporations who plunder the world's human and natural resources.

We can defeat the FTAA. We can create a new model of fair trade and relationships between countries. We can do it by organizing--by going into our communities, our schools, our houses of worship and our workplaces. We can create a new model of fair trade by organizing, by forcing a real discussion on issues facing the majority of people in our country....We can create a new model of fair trade by supporting each other in our individual struggles. We can build a new model of relationships between countries by holding our leaders accountable to those who elect them.

We salute the commitment of those who are here today. We look forward to joining you in spreading our message to the thousands in our community who have nothing in common with the Corporate plunderers and everything in common with each other. On to Miami!