Speakers will include Tommy Campbell of UNITE, Yiorgos Kastalatis, PeoplesNHS (Chair) as well as speakers from the ATUC and Stop TTIP Aberdeen. All are welcome to attend.
TTIP, the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership, is a series of trade negotiations being carried out mostly in secret between the EU and US. As a bi-lateral trade agreement, TTIP is about reducing the regulatory barriers to trade for big business, things like food safety law, environmental legislation, banking regulations and the sovereign powers of individual nations.
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| Tommy Campbell |
"Since before TTIP negotiations began last February, the process has been secretive and undemocratic. This secrecy is on-going, with nearly all information on negotiations coming from leaked documents and Freedom of Information requests."
Brian Carroll of the PCS Union and the ATUC added, "Public services, especially the NHS, are in the firing line. One of the main aims of TTIP is to open up Europe’s public health, education and water services to US companies. This could essentially mean the privatisation of the NHS.
"The European Commission has claimed that public services will be kept out of TTIP. However, the UK Trade Minister Lord Livingston has admitted that talks about the NHS were still on the table.
Tommy warned, "TTIP’s biggest threat to society is its inherent assault on democracy. One of the main aims of TTIP is the introduction of Investor-State Dispute Settlements (ISDS), which allow companies to sue governments if those governments’ policies cause a loss of profits.
"In effect it means unelected transnational corporations can dictate the policies of democratically elected governments."
Click here for more information on the wider threat from TTIP.
