Beltway Area Indymedia

PEOPLES’ FORUM ON THE KOREA-US FREE TRADE AGREEMENT:
Fighting for Our Jobs, Health, Environment and Human Rights

Monday, June 11
Teach-In 9:30am-12:30pm Lobby Workshop 1:30-3pm
AFL-CIO, Gompers Room, 815 16th Street, NW, Washington, DC

After making a secret deal with a handful of senior Democrats, the Bush administration is poised to sign the South Korea-US Free Trade Agreement (KORUS FTA), the second largest trade deal since NAFTA.

If passed, the KORUS FTA will become the new model used by multinationals to expand corporate power, weaken labor and environmental standards, and pursue profits without regard to the struggles of ordinary people. The KORUS FTA will eliminate thousands of jobs in both countries, further erode the rights of workers, degrade the environment, destroy farmers' livelihoods, cut peoples' access to medicine, and embolden foreign corporations to coerce local and state governments in the U.S. and South Korea to overturn environmental, public health, and safety laws.

Join us for a packed one-day teach-in and lobby workshop sponsored by the Korean-Americans for Fair Trade (KAFT), Alliance for Responsible Trade (ART), AFL-CIO, and the 50 Years is Enough Network. Leading experts from South Korea and the U.S. will share analyses about how the KORUS FTA will impact job losses, health, environment and human rights, and what we can and must do to implement a shared vision of fair trade.

SPEAKERS/TRAINERS:
Christine Ahn, Korean Americans for Fair Trade (KAFT)
Sameer Dossani, 50 Years is Enough Network
David Edeli, Public Citizen
Brett Gibson, AFL-CIO
Michael Greger M.D., The Humane Society of the United States
Young Koo Heo, Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU)
Hae-young Lee, Korean Alliance Against the Korea-US Free Trade Agreement (KoA)
Thea Lee, AFL-CIO
Tom Loudon, Alliance for Responsible Trade
Doug Meyer, UAW
Mike Palmedo, Center for Information Justice and Intellectual Property, American University
Sofia Plagakis, Center for International and Environmental Law (CIEL)
Jeff Vogt, AFL-CIO
If you plan to attend, please RSVP, as lunch will be served.
For more information, go to www.kaft.org
or contact Christine Ahn at christineahn@mac.com or by phone (310) 482-9333