On the recordNovember 19, 2014
We appreciate your contributions this evening. Following on what Congresswoman Slaughter has stated, I can guarantee you that, according to polls done by the Pew Research Center, which is a national polling organization, over half of Americans say that free trade has been about U.S. job losses. They have experienced it. They know that whether it is NAFTA, whether it is the China deal, whether it is CAFTA--in Latin America or Korea, CAFTA has operated the reverse. Enough people have now, sadly, suffered. They have internalized what is going on, and they are wondering what has happened to this country. Not only have they lost their jobs, but because the economy hasn't grown as fast, we are seeing that there is a downward pressure on wages in this country. I see people being hired in plants in my district now in the auto industry, which is doing better because we refinanced it a couple of years ago, but before, people used to be able to go in there and earn $20, $30 an hour. Now, they are starting them at a little above minimum wage. They are working them 7 days a week, 10 hours a day. They are working two and three times as hard because there is this downward pressure on wages. I mentioned Norma McFadden having worked at Dixon Ticonderoga in Ohio. I can tell you two out of every five of the displaced manufacturing workers who were actually able to be rehired had wage reductions of more than 20 percent. Congressman Tonko.
