Joined by Sen. Whitehouse, Reps. Sykes, Budzinski, and Deluzio, BlueGreen Alliance Leaders Release USMCA Trade Platform

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June 23, 2026

Leaders from the BlueGreen Alliance were joined by members of Congress today as the group released a new platform laying out proposed improvements to the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) during a press conference at the U.S. Capitol Building. United Steelworkers (USW) International President and BlueGreen Alliance Co-Chair Roxanne Brown, Sierra Club Executive Director Loren Blackford, and BlueGreen Alliance Executive Director Jason Walsh were joined by U.S. Reps. Emilia Sykes (D-OH), Nikki Budzinski (D-IL), and Chris Deluzio (D-PA), and Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) at the event, which highlighted the joint review of the trade agreement. “Working people need good jobs and a clean environment,” said Brown. “We’re working with our partners at the BlueGreen Alliance to ensure that the USMCA delivers on both of these crucial objectives. That will only happen when we stop corporations from shifting jobs to Mexico just to exploit the low wages and lax environmental safeguards there.”

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The BlueGreen Alliance was founded 20 years ago by USW and the Sierra Club to foster labor-environmental solidarity around a range of issues, starting with trade policy and the conviction shared by our labor and environmental partners that the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) must not prioritize the enrichment of multinational corporations at the expense of working people and planet. Six years ago, NAFTA was replaced by the USMCA. While BGA and our coalition partners believe USMCA made some improvements over NAFTA, the existing agreement still rewards companies for offshoring production, paying the lowest wages possible, and laying waste to the environment in the most vulnerable communities. “For more than three decades, working families, our communities, and our future have been threatened by trade and economic policies that drive a race to the bottom. We know there’s a better way,” said Blackford. “While the Trump administration continues to put corporate interests ahead of people, the United States can finally take the path that creates good-paying jobs and ensure businesses compete by innovating and investing, not by cutting corners on working conditions or illegally polluting around the world. American workers and communities have waited far too long. It’s time our leaders act.” “Our coalition works every day to develop common goals, navigate differences, and advocate collectively to end the exploitation of both workers and the environment. Nowhere has this been more necessary than on the issue of trade,” said Walsh. “Now is our time to fix USMCA to protect workers rights, encourage clean manufacturing, and raise labor and environmental standards across North America.” “Trade policy has real consequences for workers, families, and communities like those I represent in Ohio’s 13th Congressional District,” said Rep. Sykes. “The upcoming United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) review is an opportunity to raise standards for workers and the environment, strengthen domestic manufacturing, and ensure trade policy works for people, not just corporations. I’m proud to stand with labor and environmental leaders calling for stronger enforcement and protections, and for a fairer North American economy that delivers good-paying jobs and healthier communities.” “There is a terrific trade alignment between labor and environmental issues and the problem is similar. Foreign countries cheat on their labor standards, foreign countries cheat on their environmental standards, and American competition pays the price,” said Sen. Whitehouse. “It’s really important that as we undertake this joint review of the USMCA we go to battle to make sure that the provisions for labor enforcement and the provisions for environmental enforcement are strong.” “We have a unique opportunity to broker a better USMCA deal, and today, I was proud to join the BlueGreen Alliance in laying out our goals for that deal — which involves prioritizing our workers, our economy, and our environment,” said Rep. Budzinski. “When workers come first and everyone plays by the same rules, we can grow our economy, strengthen American manufacturing, and build a cleaner, more prosperous future. That is what our deal should entail and together with BlueGreen Alliance, I’m confident we can make that happen.” “The workers in my district like workers all over this country want better trade deals, they want clean air and clean water. These are basic things that we all demand in this country out of respect for our hard work and out of respect for our communities” said Rep. Deluzio. “This is an opportunity to have a better trade deal that doesn’t treat workers and their jobs as an afterthought and doesn’t treat our health, our air, our water, and our land as an afterthought.”

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