AFT President Randi Weingarten Urges Needed Changes to NAFTA 2.0

WASHINGTON—AFT President Randi Weingarten declared that in its current form, President Trump’s new United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (also referred to as NAFTA 2.0) needs continued negotiations, saying enforcement is paramount. 

“On the campaign trail, President Trump promised to fight for the ‘forgotten man and woman,’ but this trade deal has the potential to leave far too many of those people behind, marking another broken promise from this administration to the working people of this country. 

“NAFTA 2.0 lacks serious language to enforce labor protections and has the potential to leave out public sector workers entirely. It keeps the door open for corporations to continue sending jobs to Mexico, where, too often, wages are cruelly low and workplace safety is tragically neglected. It doesn’t do enough to protect LGBT workers and takes a step backward on improving access to affordable medications by putting the needs of big pharmaceutical companies over those of consumers. 

“We agree that Trump’s new version of NAFTA has some improvements, but it doesn’t thwart the offshoring of American jobs. Working men and women need a better deal than what they were handed today. They need serious changes that will truly protect them, their jobs and their communities.”