2004 Resolution - 003

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SUBJECT: Opposing GATS (General Agreement on Trades in Services) and FTAA (Free Trade Area of the Americas) as They Are Currently Being Negotiated

Introduced by: Minnesota Nurses Association E&GW Commission

Action: Passed 6/24/04

WHEREAS, GATS and FTAA are international trade agreements which will define the conditions of trade among participating nations; and

WHEREAS, the WTO (World Trade Organization), established in 1995, with 146 member nations, sets the rules for international trade through 12 major treaties and enforces the rules of trade agreements through secret panels whose rulings can overrule national, state, and local laws; and

WHEREAS, over 3,000,000 manufacturing jobs have been lost to free trade since 1994; both GATS and FTAA will now do to service-sector jobs and industries what NAFTA did to those manufacturing jobs and industries; and

WHEREAS, there exists an extraordinary lack of knowledge concerning the implications of these Acts in the expansion of the power of the World Trade Organization to include absolute control over ìservice industriesî such as education, water systems, postal services, and healthcare; and

WHEREAS, these trade agreements could deem professional licensing standards a ìbarrier to tradeî and usurp statesí authority to regulate nursing licensure; and

WHEREAS, some GATS proposals would allow imported nurses and other healthcare workers under special visas to be exempted from U.S. wage and hour laws; and

WHEREAS, these agreements will be finalized in the coming year; and

WHEREAS, WTO, GATS, and FTAA supercede all national standards and legislation of environmental protections and national legislation; and

WHEREAS, WTO, GATS, and FTAA undermine worker protection and the rights of working people to organize; and

WHEREAS, GATS and FTAA may cause a significant increase in global health inequities;

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, that the United American Nurses (UAN) vigorously oppose GATS and FTAA as proposed; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the United American Nurses educate its members on these agreements, inform them of the critical nature of these negotiations, and use multiple tactics to mobilize them against this issue; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the United American Nurses work with ANA to educate and lobby Congress to oppose these agreements as proposed; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the UAN, working in conjunction with ANA-PAC and the AFL-CIO, are to consider a candidateís position on this issue and related issues when making an endorsement decision; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the UAN provide adequate funding to allow the UAN to build coalitions with the AFL-CIO and other groups who share the UANís opposition to these agreements; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the UAN work collaboratively with ANA, the AFL-CIO, and other groups who share our concerns to assure that all future trade negotiations and resulting agreements guarantee environmental preservation, workersí rights to fair wages and treatment, and non-exploitative treatment of the population of participating countries.