Labor Day Statement
Labor Day 2004: Global Trade That Works for All
Cardinal Theodore E. McCarrick
Archbishop of Washington
Chairman, Domestic Policy Committee
United States Conference of Catholic Bishops
September 6, 2004
As we celebrate Labor Day this year, we do so with a greater awareness of the
impacts that the global trading system has on working people in the United
States and around the world. As members of a world-wide community of faith, we
have long supported measures that overcome divisions and boundaries in the
pursuit of greater solidarity and the common good. Unfortunately, the debate
over international trade is polarized. Some see increased trade as the
solution to all economic problems; others see it as the source of major
economic distress. However, trade is a reality in our interdependent world, as
are the rules and agreements that structure it. Trade can lead to more open
markets for U.S. goods and services around the world and more ways for the
world to access the U.S. market. When managed wisely, increased trade can help
workers in our own country to live in dignity while enabling workers in the
poorest countries to escape poverty. Labor Day is a good time to reflect on
the question of international trade and how to make sure the global economy
works for all.
It has become all too clear in recent times that decisions made by governments
and companies far from our borders can help or hurt the economic vitality of
America's urban centers and rural areas. Decisions made here can affect the
ability of subsistence farmers and factory workers in Central America, Africa
and Asia to earn a living and feed their families. Our bishops' conference
became more aware of the economic and human benefits and costs of increasing
trade in our hemisphere during a visit to the United States by a delegation of
bishops from Central America. They came to discuss the likely impact of the
U.S.-Central American Free Trade Agreement (U.S.-CAFTA).
On this Labor Day, we urge our leaders to look at trade policies from the
bottom-up—how they touch the lives of the poorest families and most
vulnerable workers in our own country and around the world. Trade policies
must reflect fundamental values of justice and dignity, while encouraging
sustainable growth, fighting poverty, respecting workers' rights and caring
for the environment.
As the debate around trade heats up, many voices will be heard—government
officials, proponents and opponents of trade agreements, industry and labor
lobbyists, economists and activists. Sadly, those least likely to be heard or
to have a place at the table are families and workers struggling to make ends
meet.
Pope John Paul II has called for the "globalization of solidarity,"
inviting us to resist a zero-sum game that separates our brothers and sisters
in the U.S. into winners and losers.
There is a growing concern in the U.S. about moving jobs overseas. In today's
global economy, many workers are afraid of losing their jobs here to places
where labor is plentiful and cheap. This can lead to resentment that turns
workers into economic enemies. It can also arouse protectionist attitudes
resulting in barriers to trade in richer countries that further jeopardize
poor workers.
As a global Church, we believe in building bridges and crossing boundaries in
order to share both our needs and our gifts. Arguments that focus simply and
exclusively on the likely domestic impact of trade are far too narrow. At the
same time, U.S. workers and their families must be able to earn a decent
living and, when necessary, adjust to the requirements of job changes and
dislocation. As Pope John Paul II reminds us: "All must work so that the
economic system in which we live does not upset the fundamental order of the
priority of work over capital, of the common good over private interest."
Effective steps should be taken to minimize serious negative impacts on
workers affected by trade and development. No one at home or abroad should be
forced to sacrifice their right to work, their ability to raise a family or
their authentic cultural expressions because of the demands of the market. By
ignoring these values, trade policies can fall short of their true potential
and, as the Pope has said, "the weakest, the most powerless and the
poorest appear to have so little hope!" We must always remember that
trade agreements and economic policies are not pre-ordained laws of nature,
but are created by people and governments. Their goal must be to promote the
dignity of work and the rights of workers.
The labor movement has a proud history of securing rights and benefits that
U.S. workers have come to expect and workers in poorer countries hope for,
such as the right to organize, to join a union, to decent wages and to safe
working conditions. Catholic social teaching insists on these fundamental
rights for workers everywhere. Our teaching also demands that increased trade
not come at the expense of the environment. While these issues are essential,
we should ask a more fundamental question: how can trade policies lead to
authentic human development? Some may say that bad jobs are better than no
jobs, that poverty is better than misery, that unclean air and polluted water
are necessary by-products of economic growth. And, we respond that one failing
does not justify another. We can do better, and we must do better, in shaping
a bold, comprehensive trade and development agenda for our domestic policies
as well as bilateral and multilateral trade negotiations.
An encouraging move in this direction was made recently by members of the
World Trade Organization in their recent negotiations in Geneva. In addition
to affirming the need for a global trading system, governments, including the
United States, made important commitments to reduce some agricultural supports
that often assist those who need help the least and neglect those who need it
most at home and abroad. For example, small farms in developing countries can
be priced out of the market by protected or subsidized goods from developed
countries, while small farms in the U.S. often receive much less government
support than large agricultural entities. Members of the World Trade
Organization now need to follow through in ways that honor the spirit of these
commitments.
At a time of international instability, how we trade and who we trade with can
be a way of building trust and cooperation among nations. Efforts at extending
U.S. compassion around the world can be enhanced or undermined by U.S. trade
policies. How can we insist that developing countries reduce their tariffs on
products the poor depend on to survive, while we heavily protect the same
products at home? "Loving our neighbor" in a globalized world
requires economic policies and political will to convert our comforting words
into effective deeds, especially towards those who are less able or less
likely to benefit from increased trade.
We urge policymakers, legislators, advocates and citizens involved in trade
policies and trade agreements currently being negotiated by the United States
to consider these key questions:
· How do these agreements touch the lives and dignity of poor families and
vulnerable workers in our country and the countries of our trading partners?
· Do they restructure and reduce excessive agricultural supports so that
vulnerable farmers in our country and developing countries have a fair chance
at selling their crops and making a living? Do reforms target supports to
small and medium-sized U.S. farms?
· Do poor countries have sufficient flexibility to set trade policies that
can protect sensitive industries, as developed countries have done in the
past, so their farmers can produce sufficient food for their families, have
income security and promote rural development?
· How can trade negotiations combat corruption, increase accountability, and
ensure that the voices of the poor are heard?
· Are there real and effective mechanisms in trade agreements that ensure
fundamental labor and environmental standards and take into account the impact
on migration?
· Are trade policies part of a wider development agenda that provides
continuing appropriate assistance on a range of broader social and economic
issues, such as the Millennium Challenge Account, and addresses the human cost
of economic dislocation?
The moral measure of trade policy is not simply the trade increased, the
growth produced, or the money made; rather it is the lives lifted up, the
decent jobs created, and the families leaving poverty behind. We urge
representatives in all nations affected by these trade agreements to look
beyond partisan concerns, beyond the contributions and commercials of powerful
interests. We ask them to look at trade policies through the eyes of the poor
and vulnerable as well as those desperate to earn a living for themselves and
their families.
When managed justly, increased trade can offer opportunities to current and
future workers in a way that puts the global economy at the service of all men
and women. Following the Holy Father's plea, as we give thanks this Labor Day
for the many blessings God has given us; let us pledge to build a nation and a
world where the dignity and rewards of work are shared by all God's children.
Additional copies are available from
United States Conference of Catholic Bishops
Office of Domestic Social Development
3211 Fourth Street, NE, Washington, DC 20017
(202)541-3185
www.usccb.org/sdwp
__________________________________
Office of Communications
United States Conference of Catholic Bishops
3211 4th Street, N.E., Washington, DC 20017-1194 (202) 541-3000
August 17, 2004 United States Conference of Catholic Bishops