Senator, union tout trade assistance program
Warren Tribune Chronicle – More than 3,000 foreign-trade displaced workers in Trumbull and Mahoning counties have received help retraining for jobs since 1994, showing the value of a federal program that has become a hot potato in new trade agreements talks, a senator and union leader said Wednesday.
“Taking care of Ohio and American workers should be our first priority,” U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, said after joining AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka in a telephone news conference to press their case for including Trade Adjustment Assistance in treaties with South Korea, Columbia and Panama. “That means passing a long-term extension of (trade assistance) to keep Ohio workers and manufacturers competitive and ensure that they can get retrained for 21st century jobs.”
“We need a new approach to trade, not the same broken deals that send jobs offshore and benefit multinationals but not working people,” Trumka said of the program that has been used by nearly 40,000 Ohio workers. “We can and must do better to create good jobs here at home that fuel our economic growth and rebuild our economy.”
