IMPACT has warned of the threat posed by the proposed trade deal between Europe and the US, the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP).

Speaking at a seminar at the European Parliament Offices last week, IMPACT deputy general secretary Kevin Callinan, representing the Irish Congress of Trade Unions, focused on employment rights and how the agreement is likely to affect public services.

Kevin said “Trade unions do not oppose free trade but, as currently constructed, the proposed TTIP is fundamentally anti-democratic and constitutes a real threat to sovereignty. The balance is tilted heavily towards big business and away from the ordinary citizen.”

Kevin said a number of specific aspects of the agreement that caused alarm, “The additional ‘investor protections’ in the Agreement go above and beyond the property rights already enjoyed by companies and threaten democracy, labour rights and public services.

“Democracy would be breached by corporate control as the government, afraid of being sued, would have its hands tied in the creation of legislation. Companies that would claim compensation from the state would not even do so in the courts of law but in secret unaccountable arbitration” he said.

Kevin said TTIP would erode public service provision by further liberalising the trade in services, including public services. “The world is becoming a more insecure place by the day, this agreement would solidify that reality for our children. Whatever basic protections workers enjoy would come under pressure. No agreement is worth the effects this one would have on our society, especially when the case for economic growth is by no means certain” he said.