Top U.S. labor group wary of bipartisan trade deal
11 May 2007 22:29:17 GMT Source: Reuters
By Doug Palmer WASHINGTON, May 11 (Reuters) - The largest U.S. labor groupreacted cautiously on Friday to a deal between the White Houseand Democratic leaders in Congress to strengthen labor andenvironmental protections in free trade agreements, while mostbusiness groups welcomed it. The agreement requires the Bush administration to modifypending free trade pacts with Peru, Panama, Colombia and SouthKorea to include an enforceable obligation to abide byinternational labor and environmental standards. AFL-CIO President John Sweeney said he commended U.S. Houseof Representatives Ways and Means Committee Chairman CharlesRangel, a New York Democrat, for making substantial progresstoward "improving workers' rights and environmental standardsin the Peru and Panama Free Trade Agreements." But he repeated the group's strong opposition to tradedeals with Colombia and South Korea, which senior Democratshave said face additional obstacles in Congress. Sweeney alsoexpressed doubt about the Bush administration's willingness toenforce the labor and environmental provisions. The cool labor organization response is a sign of thedifficulties House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, a California Democrat,faces in persuading a majority of her party to support thedeal, which was announced on Thursday. Pelosi said the bipartisan deal built on the Democraticparty's tradition of "free and fair trade" while Senate FinanceCommittee Chairman Max Baucus, a Montana Democrat, called it agroundbreaking achievement providing unprecedented protectionsfor workers and the environment. But labor groups and some lawmakers like Sen. SherrodBrown, an Ohio Democrat, were suspicious of a provision thatwould only allow national governments to file a labor complaintunder the pact. Without assurances enforcement will not be"left to the devices of the Bush administration, we will behard pressed to support this agreement," the UnitedSteelworkers union said in a statement. Meanwhile, Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, a Florida Republican,criticized Democratic leaders for saying approval of theColombia agreement faced additional obstacles because of ahistory of violence against trade unionists in that country. She warned that failing to approve the pact would "throwoverboard ... a steadfast ally in our joint struggle againstnarcotics trafficking and terrorism." MOST BUSINESS GROUPS SUPPORT PACT The National Association of Manufacturers voiced supportfor the new enforceable labor provisions after earlierexpressing concern about where talks on that were headed. "Our state right-to-work laws and other state laws andconstitutional provisions relating to labor are completelyexempted from any challenges, an extremely important point forAmerican manufacturers" NAM President John Engler said. However, Engler expressed concerns about other provisions,which he said could weaken intellectual property protections,particularly for pharmaceutical manufacturers. The Business Roundtable, the Coalition of ServicesIndustries and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce hailed the deal ashopeful sign for renewal of trade promotion authority, whichallows the White House to negotiate trade deals that Congressmust approve or reject without changing. But the U.S. Business and Industry Council, whichrepresents smaller American companies, called the agreement a"sell out" unless more comprehensive trade policy changes weremade.
