Last week, Jerry Messer, President, Quad City Federation of Labor, and over 40 labor leaders  expressed disagreement with Bobby Schilling, Republican opponent to Congressman Phil Hare (D-IL-17th), for his support of the Korean Free Trade Agreement. Link to video of this event

On Monday, August 2nd, Bobby Schilling wrote an editorial to the Rock Island Argus explaining his support for the South Korea Free Trade Agreement.  The Labor community in the Quad Cities wishes to highlight why we feel Mr. Schilling is wrong.

The proposed trade pact is wrong for Illinois because it would allow a massive flow of highly technical industries from Korea into the United States with few opportunities for reciprocal export of U.S. products to Korea. In its current form, the net result will likely further job losses in segments of an industry critical to our area.

The current framework for the South Korea Free Trade Agreement was negotiated by the Bush administration, whose record on the economy is abysmal.  We strenuously object to the tariff schedule proposed by the Korean government. We take great exception to the fact that the tariff phase-out schedules for highly technical industrial products are nonreciprocal, providing Korea with a much more generous tariff elimination schedule than what is afforded U.S. producers and exporters. Since the purpose of this agreement is to provide fair and equitable treatment to all parties, the United States simply cannot accept an agreement that places U.S. manufacturers and workers at such a blatant disadvantage. Bobby Schilling may call this “free trade” when one party imposes tariffs on imports and the other party does not, but working families call it unfair.

Korea exported 476,833 cars to the United States in 2009 while U.S. carmakers sold only 5,878 in Korea. As a result, our automotive trade deficit with Korea now stands at $7.8 billion. In addition, Korea has maintained unfair restrictions on American beef, an insult to our nation's farmers.  This may seem fair to Bobby Schilling, but it doesn’t seem fair to working families.
 
The current trade framework will give goods of Korean origin duty-free entry into the U.S. market, while U.S. exports to Korea will still be subject to a 10 percent value added tax. It is misleading for U.S. officials to speak of zero-for-zero duty reductions when the U.S. imposes no comparable border tax on imports from Korea. Remedying this inequity should be part of any Korean trade agreement.

Mr. Schilling referenced “South Korea’s strong unions” in his editorial.  We would point out that dozens of trade unionists are serving time behind bars – in some cases for years – for the exercise of trade union rights, including the organization of strikes and/or demonstrations.  The use of irregular workers, or temporary workers, in South Korea is alarmingly high.  55% of the workforce consists of these temporary workers.  This may be sound economics to Bobby Schilling, but it is not to us.

In his editorial, Bobby Schilling chastised Congressman Hare for not knowing his district and doing what is best for his district in opposing free trade.  We would remind Bobby Schilling that in 2009 Seaford Clothing Company based in Rock Island, closed its doors, leaving 350 people without a job here.  Eventually, the company that bought Seaford out, Emerisque, shipped those jobs to India.  Also in 2009, BOMAG Americas, Inc. in Kewanee outsourced their jobs, leaving 133 people without employment.  If this is Schillingnomics, we don’t want it.

Free trade agreements must apply the same rules to both parties. To accept an agreement that imposes a nonreciprocal tariff schedule violates the most basic concept of free trade.

Jerry Messer, President, Quad City Federation of Labor.