MoveOn is starting up a group to battle against this “NAFTA on Steroids” or “Corporate Coup”, as many are calling it.  MoveOn is asking local councils to endorse this campaign and Margaret Flower’s letter.  What do you think?

Below is the text of a letter that we will send to organizations to invite them to be part of the Stop the TPP action campaign. We are asking you to sign on so that when it is sent out, groups will see who is already participating. We tried to word this in a way that is open to people in all countries, which are involved in this struggle.

Please let us know how your organization would like to be listed. We need this information by the end of the week.

And please forward this to other groups that are working to stop the TPP.

We hope to launch the action website by the end of this week and start pushing for TPP Tuesdays! Onward to stop the TPP!

 Margaret Flowers

Letter:

We invite you to join a campaign that will stop the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP). To stop the TPP we need to act quickly in solidarity as this massive trade agreement is a high priority for transnational corporations and they are working together to make it law.

The TPP affects many issues, among them worker’s rights and wages; environmental collapse and climate change; sovereignty of nations and democratic rule of law; Internet freedom and online creativity; food safety and agriculture; health care and financial regulation including controls over the flow of capital. This is an opportunity for everyone working on these issues and more to join together in unity to stop the TPP.

A group of people already working on campaigns to stop the TPP has been meeting for the last month to develop an action plan. We ask your organization to join this campaign, which we hope to launch by July 1.

Here is the plan:

Phase I: In July, the goal is to educate and mobilize people about the TPP. The TPP has been negotiated in secret for three years, so very few people know much about it. We will change this through “TPP Tuesdays,” weekly actions to draw attention to the trade agreement. It will be up to people around the country to decide what works best for their local area or organization. It could be a protest at a corporation like Monsanto, Bank of America, Walmart, Pfizer, Exxon-Mobil or other big corporations that have been helping to negotiate this treaty; creative visibility action in a highly-trafficked public place; highway overpass bannering or light brigade; protests at congressional offices. The goal is to be visible and provide the public with knowledge about this global corporate coup. We will write about TPP Tuesday events to share with activist groups and inspire more actions. OccuCards created a new card on the TPP, which can be handed out at actions.

Phase II: In August during the recess, we switch focus to influencing members of Congress. We have two goals with members (1) Require the contents of the TPP be made available to the public. As former US Trade Representative Ron Kirk said, if the contents of this agreement were known it could not be signed because it would be so unpopular. (2) Stop Fast Track so Congress holds hearings, hears witnesses, and suggests amendments before the president signs the agreement. Actions include bird-dogging at public events and rallies at district offices. At the beginning of August we encourage organizers to attend the “Localize This!” training in Vashon Island, WA so they can meet and plan larger actions for September.

Phase III: Defeat the TPP with major actions at the last round of negotiations (site TBA) and in Washington, DC focused on the US Trade Representative and sustained pressure on congressional offices in DC as well as in home districts. When a major action occurs, people will be encouraged to hold solidarity actions. Our goal is to make the TPP so unpopular that the congressional leadership will not even bring it to a vote.

There is a lot of flexibility in this strategy so different groups can develop tactics that work for them. By having a common goal – defeat the TPP – and a shared strategic framework, many groups can work together in solidarity. We will hold weekly conference calls that all participants will be invited to join. And we have an action-oriented website just for this campaign where groups can find resources and post their actions.

People now have enough experience with treaties like NAFTA to know that they are not good for the economy or workers; nor are they good for the environment. The only groups helped by these trade agreements are big transnational corporations who get cheap labor, avoid environmental regulations, and have inexpensive access to resources.

We can defeat the TPP. In fact, since the “Battle in Seattle” the World Trade Organization has had an almost impossible time moving forward as was seen in the failure of the Millennial and Doha Rounds of the WTO. Also stopped were the Free Trade Area of the Americas and the Multilateral Agreement on Investment. At least 14 other corporate trade agreements have not been completed because of widespread opposition.

We can stop the TPP, which will be a tremendous victory for the people over transnational corporate power — a victory on which each of us can build — but we can only achieve this victory if we work together.

Please let us know as soon as possible whether you will join in this campaign so we can include you on the website and show the broad solidarity of opposition to the TPP.

Sincerely,

[List of signing orgs here]