Rice is pictured here in 2014. Labor runs ads slamming N.Y. congresswoman on trade bill

Big Labor is taking aim at another Democrat for supporting a contentious trade bill.

The AFL-CIO has made a six-figure ad buy in New York against Rep. Kathleen Rice, slamming the freshman lawmaker for pledging to vote for legislation giving President Barack Obama the power to “fast track” trade deals through Congress. Rice initially said she opposed the controversial measure, but over the weekend, she announced she would support the bill.


The ad, which begins running Tuesday, slams Rice for what unions argue is a “flip-flop.”

“Which Kathleen Rice can we trust? In January, Congresswoman Rice wrote a letter to President Barack Obama saying she opposed fast-track trade authority because it would send American jobs offshore and push down wages. In April, she said it again,” a female narrator says during the ad. “On Saturday, Rice flip-flopped and now supports exactly that bad policy that experts say cost millions of American jobs we can’t afford to lose. Actions speak louder than words. Why should we ever trust Kathleen Rice again?”

In a statement to POLITICO Monday, Rice said pressure from unions won’t change her view that trade deals will help boost the economy.

“I’m not afraid to do what’s right for the working families and small businesses in my district, even if it means going against political allies,” Rice said. “If they want to come after me and that’s the price I have to pay to help more people find good jobs and help our businesses succeed in the global economy, I’ll pay it any day.”

Labor leaders are also planning a protest in Rice’s district on Monday with New York State AFL-CIO, Food & Water Watch, Sierra Club, MoveOn.org and local unions.

Nationally, union leaders are making a final push to scuttle the fast-track bill by pressuring on-the-fence Democrats to vote against the measure with additional television ads in California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Nebraska, North Carolina, Texas and Washington.

The House is expected to vote on the legislation this week if Republicans leaders and Democratic supporters can secure the 217 votes needed to pass the measure — a likely scenario as pro-trade lawmakers are increasingly confident they’ve marshaled enough votes.

Rice’s announcement that she plans to vote for fast track pushes the number of Democrats planning to support the measure into the 20s.

“Far too many things are getting lost in an important debate that has listed wildly between public policy, theater and threat. But a few things to me have become crystal clear, and these are what I’m going to let guide my vote when fast track hits the House floor in the coming weeks,” Rice wrote in an op-ed in The Hill. “Lost in the ensuing dust-up is that the fast-track legislation recently passed by the Senate outlines unprecedented requirements to address the worker-protection problems of NAFTA. It sets high labor and environmental standards, and ensures that trade sanctions can be imposed on any country that fails to meet these marks.”

Unions have aggressively targeted lawmakers who are supporting Trade Promotion Authority. Activists announced an $84,000 ad buy against California Rep. Ami Bera after he penned an op-ed supporting the deal and progressives nationwide have blasted lawmakers supporting it.

Labor leaders have also blitzed the phone lines of roughly a dozen lawmakers who are still on the fence, with promises to pull support during primary and general election campaigns if lawmakers vote ‘yes’ on fast track. The bare-knuckled tactics have helped Democratic trade opponents keep the vast majority of the caucus in the ‘no’ column, while rankling senior lawmakers who called for more “respect” from unions.