The AFL-CIO’s bold announcement that it would withhold contributions to congressional Democrats in advance of votes on fast-track trade protection authority thrilled labor supporters and annoyed many Democrats.
But it remains to be seen whether the move will impede the Obama administration’s trade agenda — or merely become the latest illustration of unions’ declining clout.
The AFL-CIO has tried such moves in the past — including during the 1993 fight over the North American Free Trade Agreement — only to be defeated and then resume funding Democrats again. Now, with a wide margin of pro-trade Republicans in the House and fervent lobbying from the White House and groups that support President Barack Obama’s trade agenda, labor is more marginalized on trade policy than it’s been in years, despite its growing influence with the president on other workplace issues.
“They certainly have gotten the attention of people who have relied on union support,” said Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill.), who acknowledged that her fellow Democrats often take labor’s loyalty for granted. “Sometimes Democrats feel the default position is always going to be to support Democrats when it comes to organized labor.”?
Labor groups vigorously oppose fast track, saying it would speed approval of trade deals that lower labor standards and create additional wage stagnation for the middle class. The AFL-CIO also says that past promises in trade deals to enforce labor standards weren’t worth the paper they were printed on, citing a recent Labor Department report documenting labor rights violations in Honduras and a 2014 Government Accountability Office report faulting the monitoring efforts of the U.S. Trade Representative and Labor Department.
“We know NAFTA has not worked, CAFTA has not worked, and we have lost jobs and they have brought our wages down,” Tefere Gebre, AFL-CIO executive vice president, said at a meeting of the Democratic National Committee’s labor council last month. “Why the hell would we think a new, larger NAFTA-on-steroids TPP would work?”
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http://www.politico.com/story/2015/03/does-labor-have-the-oomph-to-halt-fast-track-116071.html
