Blue-Green Alliance Links Seattle to Miami in Fight Against New Free Trade Agreement.Business Editors/Environment Writers SEATTLE--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sept. 24, 2003 The unlikely alliance of trade unionists and environmentalists who took Seattle by storm at the World Trade Organization ministerial in 1999 is on the march again. Starting at 10 a.m., Saturday, Sept. 27, marchers will leave the Seattle Labor Temple for Pier 62 where they will hold a rally at 11 a.m. to oppose the creation of the Free Trade of Americas Areas (FTAA FTAA Free Trade Area of the Americas FTAA Free Trade Agreement of the Americas FTAA Florida Turkish American Association FTAA Federated Tanners Association of Australia FTAA Fixed Threshold Adaptation Algorithm ). The Alliance for Sustainable Jobs and the Environment (ASJE ASJE Alliance for Sustainable Jobs and the Environment ), along with United Steelworkers District 11 and District 7, are using the Seattle march and rally as a send-off for a 15-state "March-to-Miami" tour aboard the biodiesel bus "The Blue-Green Machine." U.S. trade officials are meeting in Miami Nov. 20-21 to propose rules for the creation of the FTAA. As proposed, the FTAA would be the world's largest free trade area. "The March-to-Miami begins in Seattle because the WTO See World Trade Organization. protests in 1999 revealed a new political power arising from creative young environmentalists and rank-and-file union members acting together," said Dan Leahy, director of the alliance. Events on the "March-to-Miami" bus tour include classes, teach-ins, marches, rallies, signature-gathering, demonstrations, press briefings and visits to state legislators. The bus will link communities on the route with music and a Reality Road Show. The itinerary calls for reaching Florida in time for a final 60-mile walk into Miami and a mass rally against FTAA during the trade officials' meeting. As part of the opposition effort, the Washington Education Association, SPEEA-IFPTE Local 2001, Steelworkers, the Sierra Club Sierra Club, national organization in the United States dedicated to the preservation and expansion of the world's parks, wildlife, and wilderness areas. Founded (1892) in California by a group led by the Scottish-American conservationist John Muir, the Sierra Club , Seattle Audubon and others are sponsoring an educational forum at 7 p.m., Friday, Sept 26 at the King County Labor Temple. The March to Miami continues a collaboration begun during WTO in Seattle. The coalition of local and regional organizations putting on events includes the Washington Education Association, SEIU SEIU Service Employees International Union SEIU Special Education Intake Unit SEIU Secondary Education Interdisciplinary Unit SEIU Software Engineering Institute Union and OPEIU OPEIU Office and Professional Employees International Union (labor union) locals, Sierra Club chapters, Northern Plains Resource Council, Montana Community Labor Alliance, North Dakota Farmers Union, Minnesota Clean Water Action, Greater Kansas City Fair Trade Coalition, Nebraskans for Peace Nebraskans For Peace, or NFP, is a peace advocacy organization based in Lincoln, Nebraska, United States. History Founded in 1970, NFP is a state-wide progressive organization conducting active grassroots campaigns focused on promoting peace and social justice. , Humane Society of the US, and the Progressive Student Alliance of South Bend, Ind., among many others. "Unity is our winning strategy," said Bill Carey, United Steelworkers staff member and co-chair of the alliance. "We beat Fast Track trade negotiating authority in 1997 and 1998 and stopped the expansion of NAFTA NAFTA in full North American Free Trade Agreement Trade pact signed by Canada, the U.S., and Mexico in 1992, which took effect in 1994. Inspired by the success of the European Community in reducing trade barriers among its members, NAFTA created the world's . Together, we can defeat the FTAA." |
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