For too long, debates over international trade have been dominated by corporate elites and economic idealogues, rather than rooted in the experiences of ordinary Americans.
The Trade Stories Project allows people who have been affected by policies and institutions like NAFTA and the WTO to share their views on a matter crucial to the global economy.
This includes displaced workers, farmers, small business owners and immigrants who have been typically excluded from the trade debate.
Joe Stricker
Cosmopolis, WA
Joe worked at the Weyerhaeuser paper mill in Cosmopolis, Washington for 35 years before it closed in 2006 due to increased competition from imports.
Hear part of Joe's story...
“I don’t see the big increases that they talk about in jobs. You talk to the free trader people and a lot of our politicians out there, and they’ll tell you, ‘Oh, we lost 100,000 jobs, but we gained 80,000 or 120,000 or some number of jobs.’ But I don’t see what jobs we’re gaining that are valuable jobs…
“When you get rid of $30 an hour jobs and replace them with $20 an hour jobs, I don’t see the win. I don’t see how anyone is winning… Just about everybody I know that worked there at the mill is working for less money and poorer benefits now.”