Rally-goers in Keokuk raise concerns about USMCA

KEOKUK — About five dozen farmers and union members gathered at the Labor Temple in Keokuk Sunday to call for more revisions in the U.S. Mexico Canada Trade Agreement. Carrie Duncan, a local officer in the Machinist Union, said the event highlighted important connections among America’s working class.

“They try to divide us and our farmers and our labor, we all toil in many different ways,” she said.

The rally was organized by the Iowa Farmers Union and the Iowa AFL-CIO. Duncan said the new deal to replace NAFTA will benefit corporations, not workers

“We’re still outsourcing jobs,” she said, “not keeping manufacturing jobs here in the United States.”

The Trump Administration is lobbying U.S. lawmakers to ratify the new deal before congress takes a month-long recess in August.