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On the 20th Anniversary of the signing of NAFTA, labor unions, farmers, women, environmentalists, and human rights organizations from México, the United States, Canada and Quebec came together in a Tri-national Forum in Mexico City. We have assessed the impact on human, environmental, labor, social, and cultural rights. We conclude that the benefits of NAFTA were exaggerated to sell the agreement to the public. The promises made were not fulfilled, on the contrary, we have seen a rise in inequality, impoverishment of the vast majority of the population, loss of employment, job insecurity, environmental degradation, deterioration of social cohesion and increased violence.

It is clear that the economic and labor policies imposed by trade agreements lead to increasingly widespread exploitation and commercialization of public goods and ecosystems, as well as to a deepening commodification of women´s bodies.   This happens by way of the privatization of public services, the weakening of social security systems and its disproportionately negative impact on women who assume the responsibilities of the care economy, and through the closure of thousands of factories, eliminating quality jobs  excluding thousands of people, in particular young people, from the right to collective bargaining.  It also happens by the increased control by transnational corporations over sectors such as agriculture, food, energy, extractives and fishing. Community resistance to these attacks has led to the repression of democratic unions and social movements, the violation of indigenous rights, the criminalization of protest, and militarization.

NAFTA has altered the balance of power in favor of transnational corporations through
Chapter 11 investment protection. This includes investor-to-state dispute settlement, which gives corporations the chance to nullify democratic laws in special courts with extraterritorial jurisdiction. This leaves communities helpless and environmental conservation vulnerable. Increased corporate control has failed to generate shared prosperity for the community, but has enriched transnational enterprises. Particularly in Mexico (and Central America under CAFTA), it has increased the informal economy, resulting in more poverty and forcing millions of people to seek work in the north, where they encounter discrimination.

Currently, the failed model of NAFTA is being replicated in new agreements, specifically the Trans-Pacific Strategic Partnership (also known as TTP), in order to further expand the power of transnational corporations and impose greater restrictions on government regulations. These treaties are being negotiated in secret, behind citizens’ backs.

The organizations gathered at this forum condemn the NAFTA trade model and demand its renegotiation with greater transparency and equity among our communities. We also demand:

• That all trade negotiations be opened to civil society participation, which implies prior publication of the texts, and the construction of mechanisms for information sharing, social participation and deliberation, while avoiding the imposition of fast track.
• The removal of investor-to-state dispute settlement to strengthen governments’ ability to protect social, environmental and labor rights, particularly for migrants.

• That effective mechanisms to protect human, labor, and environmental rights are included in the texts of trade agreements, with sanctions equivalent to those for violation of commercial provisions.

We demand the supremacy of human rights over corporate privileges. We need to develop new models of cooperation and international exchange based on justice, solidarity and the highest ecological standards. Therefore, we reject the current trade model reflected in the attempt to impose the TTP.

We are committed to strengthening our joint movements at the tri-sectoral and national level, to intensifying the fight in North America against this trade model, and to promoting alternative models of integration.

We call on organizations and the general public to mobilize against the Three Amigos summit in Toluca on February 19, 2014, to express opposition to the TTP and other initiatives that deepen the prevailing model of free trade.

Approved on January 31, 2014 in Mexico City, DF, by the participants in this forum and the following organizations:

International:

1. IndustriALL
2. UNI Global Union

Canada:

1. United Steelworkers -USW Canada-
2. USW-Canada, Humanity Fund
3. Common Frontiers Canadá
4. Council of Canadians

Quebec

5. Red Quebequense frente a la integración continental (RQIC)
6. Confederación de sindicatos nacionales (CSN)
7. Consejo central del Montreal Metropolitano, CSN
8. Central de Sindicatos Democráticos -CSD-
9. Federación de trabajadoras y trabajadores de Quebec -FTQ-
10. Federation Des Femmes Du Quebec-FFQ- / Marcha mundial de las mujeres
11. Coalición quebequense sobre los impactos socio-ambientales de las empresas transnacionales en  América latina –QUISETAL
12. Steelworkers-Quebec (USW)
13. Amigos de la Tierra de Quebec / Red Quebecense de los grupos ecologistas
14. ATTAC-Quebec (Asociación de Quebec para la Tasación de las transacciones financieras y la acción ciudadana)

United States

15. AFL-CIO
16. United Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers of America (UE)
17. National Farmers Union
18. Institute for Policy Studies (IPS)
19. Institute on Agriculture and Trade Policy (IATP)
20. Académicos de Universidad de Santa Barbara en los Angeles
21. Académicos de Universidad de California en los Angeles
22. Public Citizen

Peru

Latindad

Mexico

23. Red Méxicana de Acción Frente al Libre Comercio (RMALC)
24. Campaña trabajo Digno Dereco de las Mujeres
25. Red Maíz
26. COMDA
27. Red de Productores Sociales de Vivienda
28. Red Jaliciense de Derechos Humanos
29. Consejo de Pueblos del Estado de Morelos
30. ANEC
31. Totikes ANEC
32. Frente Democrático Campesino Chihuahua
33. UNORCA
34. ARIC  Campeche
35. CNPA-Ecat.
36. Bastión del Granero
37. CAMPO
38. Carnaval del Maíz
39. Productores Rurales del Bajío
40. El Café de Todos, SCRL
41. Semillas de Vida
42. Unión Nacional de Trabajadores (UNT)
43. Vicepresidencia de Equidad de Genero de la UNT
44. Frente Auténtico del Trabajo (FAT)
45. Sindicato Mexicano de Electricistas (SME)
46. Sindicato de Trabajadores Mineros
47. Sindicato de trabajadores de la UNAM
48. Sindicato de Telefonistas de la Republica Mexicana
49. SITIEMS
50. Sindicato Nacional de Trabajadores de General Tire de México
51. UNTYPP
52. SITIEMS
53. STIMAHCS – FAT
54. SNTHIA – FAT
55. STRACC – FAT
56. Sind Nal. De Trab. De General Tire de Mexico
57. CACEHC Trabajadoras del Hogar
58. UPREZ
59. Sociedad Organizada en Lucha (SOL)
60. Unión Popular Valle Gómez, A.C.
61. Alianza Nacional de Cooperativas (ALCONA)
62. Sociedad Cooperativa El Zapote
63. Sociedad Cooperativa Las Vegas
64. Comisión Cuenca ríos Ameca-meca y Compañía, A.C.
65. Comisión de Bosques, Selvas y Producción Orgánica
66. Frente Amplio Opositor a la Minera San Xavier (FAO)-REMA
67. San José del Progreso, Oaxaca-REMA
68. Consejo de Ejidos y Comunidades Opositores a la Presa la Parota  (CECOP)
69. Alianza Mexicana por la Autodeterminación de los Pueblos (AMAP)
70. RAPAM, A.C.
71. RASA, S.C.
72. RASA-Guerrero
73. Centro Miguel Agustín Pro Juárez (Centro PRODH)
74. Red de Genero y Economia REDGE
75. Cleofas Cedillo, SPR de R.L.
76. DECA Equipo Pueblo, A.C. – Espacio DESC
77. Ebano
78. FIAN México – Espacio DESC
79. Fronteras Comunes México
80. Grupo Tacuba
81. RedccamARIC
82. SIDEC
83. Boca de Polen, A.C.
84. Brújula Metropolitana
85. SPR H. Ameyolt
86. AII Mexicana
87. CILAS
88. Seminario Permanente de Estudios Chichanos y de Fronteras (SPECHF)
89. Academicos  de la UACM.
90. Académicos de la UAM-I,
91. Académicos de la UAM-X,
92. Acádemicos de la La ENAH
93. Testigos por la Paz