TRADING LIVES: DEMOCRACY, HEALTH CARE, AND TRADE IN SERVICES

ab le o f C on te nt s 2 A solid economic foundation is the right of every American. The recommendations in this report feed into ADA’s 10 point plan for a fairer world: 1. Redesign the fast track mechanism to give Congress more scrutiny over trade deals. 2. Put labor standards (from the International Labor Organization) and environmental standards (from Multilateral Environmental Agreements) at the core of trade agreements, and also meet these standards in the US. 3. Fully fund the international agencies with the power to enforce these standards. 4. Promote aid, debt relief and access to generic medicines to allow developing countries to meet these standards and build government capacity. 5. Raise the US minimum wage to its buying power in the 1970s, and then index it to increases in average wages. 6. Decouple health care and pensions from employment and reroute employer contributions through governments. When individuals lose their jobs, they should not lose their benefits. 7. Reform Trade Adjustment Assistance and unemployment insurance to help more people get back on their feet, and promote development at state and local levels to reduce the impacts of trade on local communities. 8. Reduce subsidies for big agribusiness to give family farmers in the US and abroad a fair playing field. 9. Provide access to decent education, training and retraining for all