Iowa CWAers Made Presence Felt at Weekend Caucus Events

CWA activists made their presence felt at weekend political events all across Iowa.

CWA Iowa State Council President Steve Abbott said activists at a Hillary Clinton Cedar Falls event were not there to protest but to get Clinton to stake out a position on Fast Track and the proposed Trans-Pacific Partnership trade agreement that is currently under negotiation.

CWA members had a booth where they shared information on Fast Track and the TPP and engaged grassroots partners.

The assembled national and local media descended on CWA District 7 Staff Representative Bonnie Winther, who was carrying a "No TPP" sign outside the event. The Des Moines Register interviewed Winther about her response to what Clinton had to say, namely that she needed to know more before taking a position on TPP, and ran a photo of her holding the sign.

"I'm disappointed that she's not ready to respond to the question in a way that would satisfy the people who support her," Winther said in the story.

"Democratic presidential contenders campaigning in Iowa need to step up now and tell us 'which side they are on,' " CWA President Larry Cohen wrote in Huffington Post. "The President controls trade policy so what these candidates say on trade is far more consequential than on issues that require congressional approval...Secretary Clinton, Senator Sanders and other Democrats in Iowa owe it to the Party to speak out now when it matters."

Secretary Clinton expressed concern about the Investor State Dispute Settlement (ISDS) provision of the proposed pact that she said gives "corporations more power to overturn health and environmental and labor rules than consumers have."

"I think that is a problem," Clinton said during a roundtable event in Iowa, when one woman participating in the event asked her about the deal.

Local 7117 Organizer Kay Pence attended former Texas Governor Rick Perry's event in Dewitt, IA. Perry took just one question after his talk and it was from Pence, who asked about TPP. The NBC and ABC affiliates then interviewed her afterward.