March 16, 2015
By LaborPress
Preventing the proposed Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal from being “fast-tracked” through Congress is a top priority for the AFL-CIO, this year, federation President Richard Trumka said March 10. “We are going all out to oppose it,” he told reporters in Washington.
“There is such a dramatic impact on the standard of living and a lowering of wages and a loss of jobs—this will have a major impact, and we will not forget this vote for a long time.” President Barack Obama is seeking to have Congress vote on the 12-nation agreement without the power to propose amendments, but Trumka said allowing that “will adversely affect the way working people view this administration and those in the Democratic Party for a long time." He still gets accosted by people complaining about the AFL-CIO’s support for President Bill Clinton after the 1994 North American Free Trade Agreement, he added. Read more
