Global Struggle

A Full Spring for STJC

This Spring, STJC is gearing up for some of the most important and exciting months in the trade justice movement. From fighting Free Trade Agreements and working for genuine U.S. trade policy reform, to campaigning for a fairer, more equitable Farm Bill, STJC is continuing its march for global trade justice.

Justice for the Americas: Say "No!" to Unfair Trade

At the Global Justice conference in early February, STJC carved out specific campaigns that are crucial in the movement for trade justice. One of those is the Justice for the Americas campaign. Justice For the Americas (JFA) is the name of the campaign that has been at the heart of much of STJC's work - and now more than ever JFA is engaged in fighting yet even more corporate trade treaties that sell out the interests of the people in exchange for power and profit. In the coming months, JFA will be on full alert with respect to the Peru, Colombia, and Panama FTAs. We will be mobilizing students and activists around the country to say No! to these flawed agreements, especially during our Urgent Action Alert during Congressional recess Feb. 19th-23rd. There will also be a Week of Action in April, when various speaking tours will be mobilized in connection with campuses across the country to strengthen the resistance to the FTAs should they make it to the floor of Congress for a vote.

Fast Track: Good Riddance to a Bad Trade Model

We also participated in sessions that looked critically at presidential Trade Promotion Authority, also known as "Fast Track." This campaign, aimed at stopping the current model of Fast Track and the trade model it promotes, is another STJC campaign. Public Citizen's Global Trade Watch senior organizer David Edeli and Student Trade Justice Campaign member Andrew Wolf presented the past, present, and future of this important piece of legislation and discussed how it gives away Congress' power to oversee the nation's trade policy to the president. On Sunday we discussed strategies for our spring campaign to stop the current model of Fast Track legislation in order to prevent more flawed trade policies that hurt global workers and farmers. This spring, campuses across the nation will raise awareness about this undemocratic method of doing trade and participate in a National Day of Action to push Congress to maintain its constitutional power to ensure that trade policies are in the best interest of all people, not just corporate interests.

The 2007 Farm Bill: Food Sovereignty and Justice for Farmers and the Environment

STJC also participated in a session regarding the Farm Bill, which is another campaign that we will be working on the remainder of this year. Currently, STJC is engaging campuses and students in collaboration with the work that various other groups are doing on the Farm Bill, and connecting with coalitions that share our goal of a comprehensive Farm Bill reform for 2007. Working Groups like the Rural Coalition, National Family Farm Coalition, and the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy, we hope to build a network of individuals and groups who feel strongly about the concept of food sovereignty, the impoverishment of the countryside, and the handouts to big agribusiness at the expense of small farmers and the environment. During this spring season, we will be engaging local food networks, community food security networks, and any students who are interested in helping to create a national farm policy that works towards food sovereignty, food security and protecting the environment, rather than destroying them.