AFL-CIO president: Bad trade deal is worse than no deal
Source: AP-Excite
By STEVEN DUBOIS
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) National AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka says a bad deal is worse than no deal, and he urged Congress not to support fast-track legislation that would let President Barack Obama pursue a trade deal between a dozen Pacific Rim nations.
Trumka spoke Monday at a news conference about 10 miles from Nike Inc. headquarters in Oregon, the spot where Obama recently defended the Trans-Pacific Partnership.
Trumka said he's in the state for an organizing summit, and it's only a coincidence he was speaking near Nike. He jabbed Obama for his choice of venue.
"If I were somebody who was advocating or supporting TPP or fast track, the last place I would have gone is Nike, for the number of jobs they've offshored, for what they've done to drive down the wages of every Oregonian and everybody else."
FULL story at link.
National AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka speaks in Portland, Ore., Monday, May 18, 2015, about the organization's concerns over the Trans-Pacific Partnership treaty that President Obama is pushing. Trumka's visit comes as the U.S. Senate prepares to vote on so-called fast-track legislation that would let Obama pursue the 12-nation trade deal.(AP Photo/Don Ryan)
Read more: http://apnews.excite.com/article/20150519/us--afl-cio-trade_deal-c72b0c6ddc.html
ORGANIZED LABOR fires a warning shot across the POTUS bow.
msongs
(67,496 posts)babylonsister
(171,109 posts)PSPS
(13,635 posts)daleanime
(17,796 posts)jwirr
(39,215 posts)Beauregard
(376 posts)He used to be progressive when he was UMW president. But times have changed, and so has he.
DJ13
(23,671 posts)How dare Trumka dis their new best friend.
Populist_Prole
(5,364 posts)The only ones pushing the "we gotta do a deal no matter what" meme are the
- Talking heads in the corporate media
- The plutocrat's minions
- The tribal "true believers" who think that it's OK if our guy does it.
We don't live in a vacuum, and this deal is not just some other event in a long line of civilized society's vicissitudes; it's a manufactured scam, tailor made to solidify the plutocrat's gains.
If you lose on every deal, you won't make up for it by doing more deals.
jtuck004
(15,882 posts)Spitfire of ATJ
(32,723 posts)A slur that has lost it's sting but was once popular to describe conservatives of the 1950s who were against the idea of the United States doing anything to help the Third World or post war Europe. They were also against the New Deal and talked up the "law of the jungle" "rugged individualist" crap.
Bluenorthwest
(45,319 posts)"National AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka minced no words Monday criticizing Sen. Ron Wyden and other Oregon Democrats for supporting the Pacific Rim trade deal making its way through Congress.
During a rare Portland visit, Trumka called out Oregon's senior senator and three Congressional representatives Suzanne Bonamici, Earl Blumenauer and Kurt Schrader for siding with President Barack Obama as he seeks "fast track" authority to negotiate a Trans-Pacific Partnership between 12 nations.
Trumka and most other leaders in the organized labor movement contend the trade pact would drive down wages and lead to more outsourcing of U.S. jobs while offering no labor and environmental protections.
"I'm blowing the whistle, quite frankly" on the three Portland-area Democrats and Wyden "for being on the wrong side of this issue," said Trumka.
http://www.oregonlive.com/business/index.ssf/2015/05/afl-cio_president_richard_trum.html