Washington, D.C., March 16, 2004 - The International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM) and the AFL-CIO are calling for trade sanctions against China over that country’s brutal suppression of workers’ rights and says such actions constitute unfair trade practices under current law.

The petition for sanctions, filed under Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974, represents the first time that China’s human rights record has been formally invoked as an unfair trade practice. The Trade Act authorizes the President to impose sanctions against countries that engage in “unreasonable trade practices.”

“China routinely violates fundamental human rights, including the right of its workers to freely form their own unions and to engage in collective bargaining” said IAM International President Tom Buffenbarger. “The 301 petition includes economic analysis that proves what we have been saying for many years: China’s harsh control of its workers artificially drives their labor costs down, making their products cheaper, allowing their industrial sector to flourish at the expense of our own.”

The petition also documents China’s violent history of suppressing free and independent labor unions and its failure to implement minimum workplace health or safety standards.

“Jailing and killing workers to keep them under control is all too common in China,” said Buffenbarger. “These abuses distort trade, depresses wages and demean workers.” The President of the United States has 45 days to respond to the petition.

“China has continued its miserable labor policies even after its admission into the WTO,” Buffenbarger stated. “If anyone doubts atrocities are being committed in China, they need to look no further than our own U.S. State Department reports.”

In addition to today’s petition, President Buffenbarger sent a letter to China officials urging them to immediately release two worker activists who are serving jail sentences following peaceful protests seeking wages and benefits in 2002.

For more information on the IAM’s Trade and Globalization Department, go to: http://www.goiam.org/visit.asp?n=107. For more information about the IAM, visit its web site at www.goiam.org.