Will Big Labor Pick Fight Over Obama's Corporate-Friendly Trade Deals?

[xchrom]

http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2013/09/11-9


Is Richard Trumka’s AFL-CIO willing to stand its ground against the TPP and fight President Obama's corporate-friendly trade agenda. (Photo: AP)

Before concluding its national convention in Los Angeles this week, the membership of the AFL-CIO adopted a resolution calling for a new approach to global trade and summoned a collective threat that it might actively oppose the controversial Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) agreement that has been pushed by President Obama and will soon be put before Congress.

Describing the global trade regime represented by secretive trade deals like the TPP as a system that promotes the "rise in corporate power at the expense of working people," the union resolution argues the history of so-called "free trade" agreements (FTAs) shows that regional agreements like NAFTA and various bilateral deals have fueled the profits of companies who "outsource and offshore" jobs while suppressing the "wages and standard of living" of average workers.

"So long as the TPP appears poised to promote the rights of the 1%—rather than shared gains from trade—we, along with our international labor movement and civil society partners, will oppose its adoption and implementation, devoting resources to create a national campaign," reads the resolution.

However, even though that language stands as a strong statement against the status quo concerning international trade, it does not go so far as to declare the AFL-CIO will necessarily launch a full blown campaign to block the deal in Washington.

[LWolf]

1. I hope so.

I'm not optimistic that anything they do will be big enough, loud enough, prolonged enough, and carry enough teeth to make a difference, but I hope so.

[newfie11]

2. If not labor then who

We are screwed if labor isn't able to quash this.

[xchrom]

3. kick

[liberal_at_heart]

4. Labor has given up to much in the name of compromise. It is time to fight.