AFL-CIO chief blisters Obama on trade

AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka slammed the Obama administration in an open letter, saying that the president has falsely characterized the labor movement as opposed to trade in all circumstances.

“You have repeatedly isolated and marginalized labor and unions as the only opponents of fast track and TPP,” Trumka wrote in the letter, which was dated Monday. TPP refers to the Trans-Pacific Partnership, a 12-country trade agreement that Obama has made a top priority and a pillar of his Asia policy.


Trumka boasted of a “broad, deep, and intellectually impressive” set of allies joining his organization in opposing the president’s push for so-called fast-track authority, which would allow him to negotiate the deal and send it to Congress for a straight up-or-down vote.

“I take particular exception to your charge that the labor movement is ‘opposed to trade on principle’,” Trumka added. “To the contrary, we have supported trade deals when warranted, such as the U.S.-Jordan trade agreement.”

“What we do not support are trade deals that benefit Wall Street, but decimate Main Street.”

The remarks specifically referred to a statement made by President Barack Obama in April that many of those in his party opposed the TPP “because the unions, on principle, regardless of what the provisions are, are opposed to free trade.”

The AFL-CIO and other leading labor groups have led the charge against fast-track, pushing some in the Democratic Party to oppose Obama’s request and threatening to back primary challengers for those in Congress who vote for the measure.

The White House counters that it would be impossible to reach an agreement in earnest with the other Pacific countries with the looming threat of Congress seriously altering it before passage, while many on the left believe that they are being asked to hand Obama a blank check without ensuring that the deal will meet their needs.

The Senate voted to grant Obama fast-track authority last month, despite significant Democratic opposition including from leading liberal Sens. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), and the House is set to vote on such authority soon.

Trumka emphasized at the beginning of the letter that his opposition to fast-track authority did not negate his pride in having campaigned for Obama in 2008 and 2012. But, the AFL-CIO president wrote, his organization would like to see an overhaul of U.S. trade policy that has persisted through Republican and Democratic presidencies.

“Our goal is to ensure that as trade expands, growth is inclusive and prosperity is shared,” Trumka wrote. “Unfortunately, current trade policies have achieved the opposite.”