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A lawyer representing CUPE warned Mexico not to fall into the NAFTA energy trap during a series of mid-June meetings in Mexico City designed to build solidarity among unions in Canada, Mexico and the United States in the lead-up to the next Security and Prosperity Partnership (SPP) discussions.

“While Mexico’s oil and gas industry is facing serious challenges, foreign investment and free trade are not the answer,” lawyer Steven Shrybman said on CUPE’s behalf. If it chooses that path, it will “follow in Canada’s footsteps and see much of the oil wealth flow into the coffers of transnational energy corporations, while the Mexican people suffer price increases and supply shortages, both at the same time.”

Shrybman represented CUPE and the Communications, Energy and Paperworkers’ union of Canada (CEP) at the meetings. Also participating were representatives from the AFL-CIO and several independent Mexican energy unions, including the Amalgamated Union of Nuclear Industry Workers (SUTIN).

In report titled “Pemex, Privatization and the NAFTA Trap”, Shrybman also blasted the Canadian government for falling into that same trap.

“Canada is the only nation in the world that is committed to serving US energy needs in priority to its own,” he told the Mexico meetings. “This is because under NAFTA, US consumes are now entitled to at least 60% of Canadian natural gas, and approximately 65% of its oil and gas – and this share continues to grow.”

See the attached complete report on the NAFTA trap.