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8 July, 2001The Steelworkers' union will challenge the constitutionality of NAFTA.
USA: The IMF-affiliated United Steelworkers of America announced in a press release issued in Washington, D.C. on July 6, 2001, that it is filing a petition with the U.S. Supreme Court to challenge the constitutionality of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA).
The USWA originally brought federal suit in July 1998, charging NAFTA is unconstitutional because it is by definition a treaty and therefore required a two-thirds vote of the U.S. Senate before being implemented. In February this year, the Federal Court of Appeals in Atlanta, Georgia, ruled that the Steelworkers' challenge raised a "political question" beyond that Court's jurisdiction.
The USWA president, Leo Gerard, has stated that "NAFTA continues to demonstrate it is a bad trade policy for American workers. Our members' lives are being profoundly affected by a treaty that has never been properly voted on by their elected representatives. Americans continue to lose jobs and family security. Communities are losing their economic base, and America continues to lose manufacturing plants. Given the magnitude of harm being inflicted, it is incumbent on the Supreme Court to render a decision in this case."
According to the USWA, it was at the urging of the Clinton Administration that NAFTA was approved by simple majorities in both the U.S. House and Senate in 1993. The Senate approved NAFTA by a vote of 61 to 38, short of the two-thirds margin needed for a treaty. The USWA argues that NAFTA is a far-reaching agreement having major impact not only on jobs and the economy, but on domestic laws as well, and that NAFTA plainly constitutes the kind of agreement that under the U.S. Constitution cannot be adopted without approval of a two-third's Senate vote.
The USWA originally brought federal suit in July 1998, charging NAFTA is unconstitutional because it is by definition a treaty and therefore required a two-thirds vote of the U.S. Senate before being implemented. In February this year, the Federal Court of Appeals in Atlanta, Georgia, ruled that the Steelworkers' challenge raised a "political question" beyond that Court's jurisdiction.
The USWA president, Leo Gerard, has stated that "NAFTA continues to demonstrate it is a bad trade policy for American workers. Our members' lives are being profoundly affected by a treaty that has never been properly voted on by their elected representatives. Americans continue to lose jobs and family security. Communities are losing their economic base, and America continues to lose manufacturing plants. Given the magnitude of harm being inflicted, it is incumbent on the Supreme Court to render a decision in this case."
According to the USWA, it was at the urging of the Clinton Administration that NAFTA was approved by simple majorities in both the U.S. House and Senate in 1993. The Senate approved NAFTA by a vote of 61 to 38, short of the two-thirds margin needed for a treaty. The USWA argues that NAFTA is a far-reaching agreement having major impact not only on jobs and the economy, but on domestic laws as well, and that NAFTA plainly constitutes the kind of agreement that under the U.S. Constitution cannot be adopted without approval of a two-third's Senate vote.