Oman Trade Agreement Continues Race to the Bottom for American Workers

Official Statement of Teamsters General President James P. Hoffa

The Oman Free Trade Agreement passed today by the U.S. House of Representatives not only will continue our current job-killing, race-to-the-bottom trade model, but it jeopardizes our ability to secure our nation's ports.
The agreement gives Oman and foreign companies incorporated in Oman the
right to own and operate important and sensitive infrastructure in the
United States, including our ports. If such rules had been in place during
the Dubai ports debacle, our government would have had to pay the Emir of
Dubai tens of millions of U.S. tax dollars. Every single member of Congress
who voted for the Oman agreement voted to sell out our nation's security.
Passage of this agreement also sends a message that it is OK to exploit
workers for the benefit of multinationals and the Sultan, and that is not
acceptable to the Teamsters. Labor and worker conditions in Oman are poor.
Oman prohibits unions and collective bargaining while permitting forced
labor and human trafficking.
The Teamsters would like to thank those members of Congress who stood
with us and opposed this deeply flawed agreement. We will continue our
fight against the failed trade policies of the Bush administration. We will
fight for trade agreements that are fair -- and that means raising living
standards and providing enforceable labor standards that protect workers,
both here at home and abroad. The Oman agreement fails on all counts, and
it is the American middle class that will continue to pay the price.