Chris Martin, Professor of Digital Journalism at the University of Northern Iowa and a contributing writer for Working Class Perspectives, joined the America’s Work Force Union Podcast and spoke about a blog he recently published. The piece explores why working voices were right about the impact of unfettered global trade on working communities and the loss it created in the American manufacturing sector.
Martin’s blog looks back at the consequential trade agreements made over 20 years ago that then-President Bill Clinton assured would bring “a future of greater prosperity for the American people.”
That prosperity failed to materialize, just as many in the labor movement warned, Martin said. He recounted a protest of over 50,000 people at the World Trade Organization’s Third Ministerial Conference in Seattle in 1999 and what became known as “The Battle in Seattle.”
Shortly after Seattle, trade relations were normalized in China and American manufacturing jobs fell off a cliff, Martin said. Ever since, America’s working class has struggled to survive, he added. Jobs disappeared and countless communities dried up, never to recover.
Listen to the entire episode to learn more about this topic.