TTIP Press Release: Protest this Saturday

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TTIP represents the race to the bottom that is inherent in global, neo-liberal capitalism

Press Release- Bríd Smith TD
21/04/2016
Anti-TTIP protest to coincide with international day of action

People Before Profit TD, Bríd Smith, has said that the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) represents a further erosion of democracy and an acceleration in the race to the bottom that is inherent in global capitalism.

If TTIP is ratified, it will lead to an abandonment of protections of the rights of workers, environmental protection regulations and the increased dominance of global corporations and capitalists over elected governments.

TTIP will totally undermine elected governments. Big business will also have a massive advantage over small, local businesses and thus will lead to a risk of huge unemployment.

Deputy Smith also pointed to the example of another Free Trade Agreement that had disastrous effects; the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA).

Deputy Smith was speaking before the CETA/TTIP demonstration in Dublin on Saturday 23rd April. This event was scheduled to coincide with international demonstrations against TTIP.

Deputy Smith said that “TTIP is the cutting edge of neo-liberal capitalism. What TTIP, if ratified, will do is destroy worker’s rights, environmental protection standards and food safety rules. It will also usher in a new era where global corporations have total control over democratically elected governments.

“The Investor State Dispute Mechanism (ISDS) will allow for global corporations to take states to a private trade court which has the power to impose billion dollar fines on democratically elected governments. One example of this is the US company Lone Pine is suing Canada for banning fracking, which is regarded as detrimental the human health and the environment, in Quebec. This is the vision of a dystopian future if TTIP is not stopped.

“A real example of the disastrous nature of these Free Trade Agreements is NAFTA which caused a loss of one million US jobs over 12 years after hundreds of thousands of jobs were promised.

“I am urging people to turn out the CETA/TTIP demonstration at the Central Bank in Dublin at 2pm on Saturday.”

Ends