NAFTA is still causing American jobs and shipping them to Mexico—this time those union jobs are coming from Alabama.
GADSDEN, AL—The United Steelworkers is mourning the loss of another 175 jobs due to the 25-year old North American Free Trade Agreement, or NAFTA.
Local Union President Mickey Ray Williams says that 175 jobs will be lost at the local Goodyear plant as the company transfers the work to a plant in Mexico.
(Williams) says a Goodyear plant in Mexico is getting those jobs and the Mexican workers are being paid two to three dollars per hour for the same work.
“As (the Goodyear plant in Mexico) comes up online, we’re losing tires. As they build more tires, our production here in Gadsden is decreasing. What has happened is we’re caught up in NAFTA and the free trade deal. We can’t compete here in Gadsden,” Williams said.
Although the Trump Administration has renegotiated a new trade deal with Canada and Mexico—called the USMCA.
However, ratification of the trade deal has been held up in Congress by those who claim the new trade deal does not go far enough.
“President Trump has threatened to cancel NAFTA unless Congress approves to the U.S.-Mexico-Canada agreement, but Democrats have indicated they won’t approve it unless Mexico agrees to U.S.-level labor protections,” reports WSFA12.com, “and Republicans won’t approve it without steel and aluminum tariffs being eliminated for Canada and Mexico.”
