Failed Trade Policies, Economy Show Bush Out of Touch With Workers

Official Statement of Teamsters General President James P. Hoffa

WASHINGTON, Jan. 30 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The following is a
statement of Teamsters General President James P. Hoffa:

President Bush today touted his failed trade policies as proof of a
strong economy, demonstrating to workers everywhere that he remains out of
touch with their reality.

Our globalization policies are being mismanaged. This administration
has yet to address China and Japan's currency manipulation as promised or
to remedy the U.S.-China trade imbalance. We need thoughtful and aggressive
policies on China, and yet, he remained silent on that.

Bush highlighted Caterpillar Inc. as reaping the benefits of U.S. trade
policies. But for a majority of Americans, jobs have been destroyed, wages
and benefits are stagnant, and communities have been stressed and terribly
impacted. Our competitiveness as a nation has even been severely hindered
-- forcing us to rely entirely on other countries around the world for
essential goods and services, even to equip our great men and women serving
in Iraq. This is a matter of national security, and yet our president
continues to be blind to this reality.

The Teamsters are mobilizing to fight against extending fast track
presidential trading authority when it comes up for renewal later this
year, and we are pushing for a new trade model that will truly uplift all
workers. Fast track has proven to be nothing more than a mechanism to rush
through a patchwork of bad, rubber-stamped free-trade agreements to fill
the pockets of multinational companies with the profits made by taking
advantage of cheap and exploitable labor. This is not only to the detriment
of those workers exploited, but also to workers in the United States.

So yes, Bush's economy may be great for corporate executives. But for
the millions of workers who have lost their jobs or who live in fear of
their jobs being shipped overseas, who are without health care and
retirement security and who are struggling to keep their families afloat,
Bush's so-called "strong" economy is a joke.