Thread: U.S. unions freeze campaign contributions over trade

U.S. unions freeze campaign contributions over trade

WASHINGTON Wed Mar 11, 2015 3:50pm EDT

(Reuters) - The largest U.S. federation of labor unions said on Wednesday it is freezing contributions to federal candidates in next year's elections as it waits to see the outcome of key trade votes.

The AFL-CIO said in a statement defeating legislation to streamline the passage of trade deals through Congress was a top priority.

AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka said on Tuesday unions would keep a tally of how lawmakers voted on key trade issues and would make trade an issue in the 2016 campaigns, which cover all House of Representative seats and one-third of the Senate. [ID:nL1N0WC232]

The AFL-CIO is a major donor to Democrats, who are keen to win back control of Congress in 2016.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/...0M72CX20150311

Good to see labor being concerned about trade deals. 'Bama obviously is not.
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Americans first in this magnificent country

American jobs for American workers

Fair trade, not free trade

GO UNIONS! GO! GO! GO! You know, Unions, you've been hanging your hat with the wrong party all these years. It's Republicans who support protected trade policies, it's Republicans who want to protect American workers from the ravages of illegal immigration and excess legal immigration, it's Republicans who established OSHA to protect our workers, and EPA to protect our worker's environments. It's Republicans who support the pipeline and other infrastructure projects like Keystone X and new roads to nowhere as well as somewhere. It's Republicans who support the FairTax that would allow all workers and earners in the US to go home with all their money free of the federal income tax, while still funding Social Security and Medicare with no change in benefits, plus a Rebate for all citizens and legal permanent residents to cover the cost of the FairTax on spending up to the poverty line.

So I applaud this stance on free trade. Free trade agreements have cost American Workers over 20 million good jobs. Yes, I realize that Republicans also support Right to Work Laws. But no employee should be forced to join a union as a condition of employment anywhere in the US. You just have to do a better member relations program and convince them it's the right thing to do, to support the entity that represents them and helps them advance their earnings and benefits. I think you'd get a whole lot more dues payers if you changed your policy on supporting foreign imported labor. That really makes most Americans furious, and rightly so.

So gather up your members and bring them on into the Republican Party, the party of Americans who have always fought for the American Worker, in fact, we're the party that was formed to do just that, and we're the party whose members despise free trade and have always despised it, as much as we've despised the income tax, so come on in and help US fix our country.

You know free trade started in 1913 by the Democrats, when they lowered tariffs on imports so much, they had to find a way to replace the lost tax revenue, which is when the Democrats devised the evil federal income tax to pay for it, and then used the mandated federal income tax to form the Federal Reserve. This all happened in 1913, which was a memorable year for the Democrats, because they set in motion the 3 policies that together with their massive immigration policies of recent years would eventually bankrupt our nation and leave US with more people than jobs and a staggering national debt of over $18 trillion and growing like a weed.

Major unions stepping up battle against free-trade pact

By TOM RAUM - Associated Press - Wednesday, March 11, 2015

WASHINGTON (AP) - The AFL-CIO union says it and its affiliated unions are freezing political contributions to federal candidates “until further notice” to channel funds into the labor’s intensifying battle to stop or at least help shape a proposed free-trade agreement being negotiated by the U.S. and other nations that border the Pacific Ocean.

Meanwhile, the Teamsters union called for U.S. negotiators on the trade pact to press for a crackdown on Mexican cross-border trucking as part of the emerging agreement.

Both unions have been critical of the proposed Trans-Pacific Partnership. The unions are battling legislation now being considered by Congress to give the negotiations a “fast track” to passage in the House and Senate.

Such a trade shortcut has been used before, notably in the 1993 North American Free Trade Agreement.

In a statement Wednesday, the AFL-CIO said it and its affiliated unions “are freezing all Political Action Committee (PAC) contributions to federal candidates until further notice in order to conserve resources for the historic legislative battle around fast-track…and the debate” over the Pacific free-trade proposal.

Earlier U.S. trade deals “form a mountain of broken promises made to workers,” the union said.

With negotiations on the trade proposal going on in Hawaii, White House spokesman Josh Earnest was asked at his daily briefly whether the AFL-CIO stance would make it harder for the administration to find Democratic support in Congress for fast-track authority.

“We understand that there are some groups that have traditionally been aligned with the Democratic Party that are very skeptical of any sort of trade deal,” Earnest said. “But, you know, the fact is the president has made a firm commitment to both Democrats and Republicans that any sort of trade agreement that he signs onto will be one that he firmly believes is clearly in the best interests of American businesses and American middle class families. And that is not going to change.”
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Such a trade shortcut has been used before, notably in the 1993 North American Free Trade Agreement.

And that little piece of Free Trade Treason needs to be repealed and put on a bonfire on July 4, 2015, along with all the rest of them.

I call these agreements Free Trade Treason Agreements because that's what they are. They provide no benefits to US companies except lure them out of the US to foreign locations. They provide no benefits to US workers because as the companies leave, so do the jobs. They even have immigration clauses that in essence open our borders to millions of aliens to migrate from those countries to ours. These agreements are not free, they have cost the US our manufacturing base and work force, technology and innovations that arise from the manufacturing sectors, plant engineering and technical service businesses, and with all that loss all it gains US is a bunch of impoverished immigrants added to the welfare rolls with the Americans who lose their jobs and can't find another one, leaving US with growing national debt, trade deficits and 20 million unemployed Americans.

Regardless of the AFL-CIO position on trade agreements, they are the enemy and their position on illegal immigration and border security is unacceptable!

https://www.numbersusa.com/content/l...rs-endors.html

http://www.progress.org/aflcio01.htm

http://www.breitbart.com/big-governm...ecruits-to-us/

http://immigration.procon.org/view.a...stionID=000772

http://www.sci.sdsu.edu/salton/AFL-C...rIllegals.html