For too long, debates over international trade have been dominated by corporate elites and economic ideologues, 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.

Kevin Holmes

Bangor, ME

Kevin worked at several Maine shoe factories and 18 and a half years at the Eastern Fine Paper Mill in Brewer, Maine before it shut down in January of 2004.  Since then he’s held several lower wage jobs but was laid off again this spring when his company downsized. 

 Hear part of Kevin's story...

“Everything seems to be against the working people.  You can’t let the rich go without because, you know, they’re used to this standard of living …(Laughs)… right?  But since us poor working slobs are used to having nothing anyway, well, we can have a little less, right?  That seems to be the attitude.

“You gotta wonder what these people are thinking, like CEOs and stuff who are making absurd amounts of money.  Henry Ford understood you had to pay your workers a decent wage, if you’re gonna sell cars.  You know, you gotta pay your workers a decent wage or they won’t be able to buy one. 

“You cannot continue to keep throwing people out of work, or paying them poverty wages, and then expect them to turn around and buy your products.”