This paper argues that the present proposal for a North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) represents a significant escalation of a process under way since the mid-1970's. That process involves a transnational corporate agenda, borne out of the collapse of Bretton Woods, and designed to resolve the crisis which brought on the collapse. The transnational corporate agenda has important implications for the popular organizing agenda. Organizing work around NAFTA cannot be solely focused on the defeat or even reform of the present NAFTA proposal.
Dave Ranney
Transnational Investment and Job Loss: The Case of Chicago
This report estimates the job loss associated with transnational investment policies of firms based in Chicago at the beginning of the 1980's decade. We examine that magnitude in several ways. First, we develop an estimate of the number of jobs lost because of factory closings or major layoffs by corporate parents of Chicago firms. We include those parents who were engaged in significant international operations at the time they reduced or eliminated production in Chicago. Our estimate is 79,744 jobs eliminated in the City of Chicago between 1980 and 1990.
Employment Impacts of City of Chicago Purchasing Contracts
The following report is a contribution to the efforts of the City of Chicago and the Mayor's Office of Employment and Training to implement a job impact analysis program. The main purpose of this program is to increase job opportunities for Chicagoans through the selection of those city spending and investment policies that have the greatest job creation potential. To accomplish this goal, it is necessary to develop the capacity to predict the employment impacts of alternative city expenditure patterns.