ACTU President Sharan Burrow will be presenting the ACTU’s submission on the Australia-United States Free Trade Agreement to the Joint Standing Committee on Treaties in Melbourne today.

Sharan Burrow said the Howard government has still not provided convincing evidence that the AUSFTA will deliver the promised economic benefits for Australia.

‘The Howard Government has not shown that there will be positive returns for Australia out of this agreement. They should go back to the drawing board. The economic benefits are dubious while the threat to jobs and labour standards is very real,’ she said.

Sharan Burrow says the union movement has many concerns about the agreement and in particular, the weak provisions that are supposed to protect labour standards.

‘We acknowledge that unlike previous trade agreements AUSFTA contains chapters on labour and the environment. But a close reading of the agreement indicates that the parties aren’t serious about this aspect of the trade relationship.’

‘AUSFTA does not bind the parties to uphold the core labour standards set by the International Labor Organisation and the standard of labour provisions fall short of those found in other bilateral agreements the US has entered into, including with a developing nation like Jordan.’

‘The ACTU is also concerned about AUSFTA could lead to job losses in some industrial sectors, particularly in textile, clothing and footwear and the motor vehicle components industries.’

‘Trade agreements should have appropriate exemptions for public, social and essential services. In this respect AUSFTA again is inadequate.’

The ACTU shares the objections to AUSFTA by other organisations in the film, television, radio and cultural sectors that the parts of the agreement relevant to audio-visual industries are not comprehensive. They fail to empower the government and its successors to remedy deficiencies in our current local content rules for both free to air and pay television. It is also inadequate in responding to emerging and future delivery platforms.