Labor Leaders join Lawmakers to Announce Opposition to Fast Track

As part of a day of high-stakes lobbying of their members of Congress on Capitol Hill yesterday, CWA members attended a press conference where Congressional and labor leaders announced their opposition to Fast Track for labor deals, especially the proposed Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP).

At a Capitol Hill news conference, Representative Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.), leading the fight against Fast Track, is joined by other members of Congress and union leaders and activists.

CWAers, joined by brothers and sisters from across the labor movement, came to Capitol Hill as part of the campaign to defeat Fast Track.

“Oregon voters overwhelmingly oppose fast track authority,” said Oregon AFL-CIO President Tom Chamberlain, speaking of the procedural method Congress would use to give up most of its power over international trade to the United States Trade Representative and the Obama administration. California Labor Federation Chief Officer Art Pulaski told those in attendance that “trade policy has become a mountain of broken promises” that has failed to create jobs for Americans.

CWA Local 9588's Martina Rangel-Ortega, from Colton, CA, unfurled a banner proclaiming opposition to Fast Track.

“Working Americans are hurting, they cannot afford another bad trade deal,” said Representative Rosa DeLauro of Connecticut, who has been a leader in opposing the TPP and has been reaching across the aisle to Republicans in Congress to bring them on board to oppose Fast Track.

While the Obama administration has been pitching the TPP as a means to undermine Chinese economic power in the Pacific, Representative Peter DeFazio of Oregon hit the nail on the head, saying “China loves this, they see all sorts of ways to decimate American manufacturing."