Category Archives: WTO

WTO Affair

  • tune: My Sweet Little Alice Blue Gown
  • by Kay Thode

In my sweet little Alice Blue gown,
I tripped blithely down into the town.
There were cops everywhere,
A WTO affair,
And on every street corner,
Protesters were there.

They were calling for a living wage,
And to rewrite each WTO page.
They don’t want modified food,
Or forests that are nude
Here or anywhere else on earth.

WTO Rap

  • by Kay Thode

The World Trade Organization
Supersedes the laws of all the nations.
Trade is the answer, profit is the king.
To heck with human right, they don’t mean a thing.

Unelected corporate bosses make all the rules.
Guess they take us all for a bunch of fools.
No more labor standard, down with environment.
Child labor is much cheaper, sweatshops charge less rent.
Patent all the seeds, make the farmers pay,
Bioengineering is the order of the day.

Now the time has come to stop this corporate plan.
We want trade that’s fair, not this free trade scam.
Put a stop to this train of devastation
Before it wrecks the planet and our entire nation.
Replace the corporate rulers with people we elect.
Make rules that serve all people, not just the select.

Chant: WTO SIMPLY HAS TO GO! (three times)

BEGONE!

Saints- Labor

  • tune: When the Saints Come Marching In

When workers rise and organize
When workers rise and organize,
How I want to be in the number,
When workers rise and organize.

  • Variations:

When the union’s voice is heard…

When women’s work gets equal pay…

When trade is local, green and fair…

When WTO has been replaced…

Radical New Economists

  • tune: She’ll Be Coming Round the Mountain

Oh, we’re radical new economists,
We’re radical new economists,
We like health care and fair wages,→
And sweatshops give us rages, //
We’re radical new economists.

We like rules made out in public, yes we do,
And ones that serve all people, wouldn’t you?
We’re tired of all the corporate greed→ That hurts the people on Main Street, //
We’re radical new economists.

We like trade that’s local and that’s fair,
And doesn’t transport coal or pollute air,
We like farms owned by the farmers→ Not those agribusiness charmers, //
We’re radical new economists.

So, join these radical new economists
Who say get rid of WTO.
Let’s set up a fair new system,→ One we can exist in, //
As radical new economists.

Qatar WTO

  • by Kay Thode
  • tune: When Johnny Comes Marching Home

WTO has met again, this time Qatar.
The Persian Gulf’s an unlikely place—it’s quite bizarre.
They don’t want protesters to have their say.
They chose a site that is far, far away,
But they got our message: We demand fair trade!

Third World countries are put on the spot—what else is new?
They want more markets and balance of power, wouldn’t you?
Agriculture and textiles were pulled from the talks;
Those critical matters would be deadlocked.
So much for free trade: Do it our way or not!

The message from Brussels and Washington is liberalize,
While we in the West protect our own and subsidize.
Dirty water, poverty, pricey drugs
Should no longer be sanctioned and swept under rugs.
Give us fair trade, union made! Share in the common lot.

Gaggle Against WTO

  • tune, Side by Side

Oh, we’re a gaggle of Grannies,
Urging you off of your fannies,
We’re raising our voice
We want a new choice—
NO WTO!

With the starving wages they’re paying
To workers sweating and slaving,
The owners all thrive,
Can workers survive?
NO WTO!

With world wide domination,
They’ll do the planet in.
We have got to stop them—
We must not let them win.

Sooo, join this gaggle of Grannies.
Get up off of your fannies!
We’re telling you now,
We’re angry and how!
NO WTO!

We really mean it—NO WTO!

We mean precisely—NO WTO!

We will say it very nicely—NO WTO!

READ OUR LIPS! (mouth silently, No WTO!)