Michael Rosen, a member of the American Federation of Teachers from Milwaukee, has witnessed local corporations like AO Smith and Briggs & Stratton shift their manufacturing to foreign countries.
And as chairman of the economics department at Milwaukee Area Technical College, he has watched laid-off workers struggle to learn new skills to reenter the workforce.
''We're opposed to the FTAA agreement because in the last three years we've lost 77,000 manufacturing jobs, and over 120,000 since NAFTA in the state of Wisconsin,'' said Rosen, 55, who came to Miami to protest the Free Trade Area of the Americas, along with nine others from the college and 100 others from Wisconsin.
Vowing to stop the drain of jobs, thousands of union members from all over the United States, Canada and Latin America rallied Thursday at Bayfront Park Amphitheater, calling for fair trade, guarantees of workers' rights and environmental protections. Then they marched through downtown Miami.
''The FTAA simply facilitates the exportation of jobs to low-wage countries where workers are mistreated and not paid the value of their labor,'' said Judy Ancel, 57, a member of the Fair Trade Coalition from the Kansas City area.
Representing disparate labor groups but unified in their beliefs, members traveled to Miami by plane, car and bus to oppose the FTAA. Ralliers wore T-shirts emblazoned with ''United Steelworkers of America,'' ''AFL-CIO'' and ``FTAA Sucks.''
They carried signs saying ''Jobs With Justice,'' ''Protect People Not Profits'' and ''No More NAFTAs'' and chanted, ``No Way FTAA.''
''In Minnesota, we've lost 65,000 jobs. Our manufacturing sector has gone the way of most of the country -- that is outsourcing our workers to other countries,'' said Alan Kearney, 43, a St. Paul member of the Fair Trade Coalition. ``Our factories are moving to Mexico, China and Indonesia and our workers are losing their jobs, and workers in other countries are taking their jobs and working at poverty wages.''
More than 70 Canadians flew to Miami to oppose the FTAA, said Fred Wilson, a member of the Communications, Energy and Paper Workers Union of Canada. He said workers already know the toll of the North American Free Trade Agreement. ''We're here because the FTAA is an extension of NAFTA, and Canada has suffered very badly under NAFTA,'' said Wilson, 50, from Ottawa. ``We've lost more than 500,000 manufacturing jobs.''
Within the crowd were hundreds of steelworkers, as well as machinists, electricians, painters, teachers and letter carriers. They spilled out from the park's amphitheater, onto the lawn, and by the vendors selling hot dogs and arepas.
''What FTAA will do is it won't help people in other countries. It will misuse and abuse them and take jobs away from us here,'' said Joy Randolph, a steelworker from Ravenswood, W.Va. ``The workers in other countries are not our enemies. We need to bring their standards up, instead of lowering ours.''
In fervent speeches, union leaders' messages also centered around jobs.
''Since the Bush regime took power, we've lost three million jobs, 2.5 million of them in manufacturing,'' said Richard Trumka, secretary-treasurer of the AFL-CIO. ``It's time, it's time, it's way past time for George W. Bush to go down.''
''We've had enough of corporate greed,'' AFL-CIO President John Sweeney told ralliers. ``What we need and what the world needs is a trade agreement that works for working families.''
Rosen, the economics professor, said the belief that globalization improves lives and produces jobs is only a theory. ''The trade agreement isn't good for people here or elsewhere,'' he said. ``Anyone who says people benefit isn't looking at reality.''
FAIR USE NOTICE: This page contains copyrighted material the use of which has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. NoNonsense English offers this material non-commercially for research and educational purposes. I believe this constitutes a fair use of any such copyrighted material as provided for in 17 U.S.C § 107. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond fair use, you must obtain permission from the copyright owner, i.e. the media service or newspaper which first published the article online and which is indicated at the top of the article unless otherwise specified.