Day: October 22, 2012

THE TRANS-PACIFIC PARTNERSHIP TRADE PACT

More Draconian Than NAFTA

by Peter Dolack, Systemic Disorder

Imagine a world in which which labor safeguards, safety rules and environmental regulations will be struck down because a multi-national corporation’s profits might be affected. A world in which measures to reign in financial speculation are illegal. A world in which the task of governments, codified in law, is to maximize corporate profits.

Imagine a world in which corporations can bypass national laws and courts when they are in a dispute with a government, and instead can have their dispute adjudicated by a closed tribunal controlled by their lawyers.

Unfortunately, the above is not dystopian science fiction; it is the reality of the top-secret Trans-Pacific Partnership. If you like NAFTA, you will love the TPP.

Mexico

Indigenous communities rise up in Michoacán

For the second time in less than two years, an indigenous community in the Mexican state of Michoacán has erected barricades and seized control of security matters.

Greater Middle East

Egypt: independent unions under attack

Egypt’s new government has launched the most serious set of attacks on workers’ rights since the days of Mubarak, with several activists sacked or prosecuted for organizing.