The G20: Bad for Pittsburgh, Bad for the World
This September, the political elites will be gathering in Pittsburgh to push policies that harm workers, human rights, the environment, and our local quality of life. Tell them, “enough is enough!”
What is the G20?
The G-20 is a group of finance ministers and central bank governors from the world’s largest economies who meet twice a year to discuss and coordinate the international financial system. Although the policies that result from the G-20 talks affect everyone, only a handful of elites from 19 countries plus the European Union are invited to participate. This September 24-25 around 1,500 delegates will be meeting in a fenced-off area of downtown alongside more than 2,000 members of the media, thousands of police, and corporate lobbyists.
Why Pittsburghers are opposing the G20:
The G-20 seeks to promote so-called “free-trade” policies such as those contained in the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA). The idea behind free-trade agreements is to make it as easy as possible for the world’s largest, most powerful corporations to do business cheaply and maximize their profits at the expense of workers, small business owners, the poor, and the health of our environment and local communities. We’ve seen the results of policies like these locally in the last couple of decades as our city has lost manufacturing jobs to countries known for cheap labor, a lack of worker and union rights, and lax environmental protections. We’ve also seen policies of eliminating controls over corporate financial institutions play a major role in the recent mortgage crisis and bank failures. On the heels of this past year’s financial meltdown that has affected hundreds of millions of people worldwide, we’re told that members of the G-20 are meeting to fix the system, to make things better. Actually, they’re the ones who messed things up in the first place.
Who we are:
We are Pittsburghers of all ages and backgrounds who have come together for a wide variety of reasons, sharing two things in common: a rejection of G-20 policies and a desire to move towards a more just and sustainable future. Historically, in the cities that host these summits thousands of people have spoken up and acted in opposition to the G-20’s role in promoting a world vision based on social and economic injustice. Pittsburgh will join this tradition; locally a wide variety of community and social justice groups have announced plans for a diversity of tactics that include protests, speakers, community picnics, direct action and civil disobedience, a people’s summit and interfaith presences. We invite you to join us!
For more information... http://resistg20.org
This flyer is brought to you by the Local Outreach Committee of the Pittsburgh G20 Resistance Project