The groups also say that the investor-state dispute settlement system would enable foreign investors to challenge U.S. laws and strip vital regulations that protect the environment and financial system, among other areas.
Labor unions and environmental groups are among the more than 1,500 organizations calling on Congress to reject a sweeping Pacific Rim trade deal.
The groups, which include faith and advocacy organizations, argued in a letter sent to Capitol Hill on Monday that the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) would kill U.S. jobs, hurt the environment and endanger food safety.
“The TPP would make it even easier to ship American jobs overseas to wherever labor is the most exploited and environmental regulations are the weakest, so it’s little surprise that certain corporations support this pact,” said Arthur Stamoulis, executive director of Citizens Trade Campaign, which organized the letter.
“Civil society is unprecedentedly united against the TPP, however, due to the pact’s significant threats to jobs and wages, food safety, public health and the environment,” Stamoulis said.
In a separate letter sent earlier Monday, more than 400 businesses in 10 states signed off in calling for lawmakers to support and pass the trade pact.
“The questions policymakers should be asking about these rules is whether, on the whole, they would create American jobs, raise our wages, enhance environmental sustainability, improve public health and advance human rights and democracy,” the letter said.
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