The head of the largest U.S. union confederation urged House Democrats to withhold support for the U.S.-Mexico-Canada trade agreement until the Trump administration makes more changes to the enforcement provisions.
The comments from AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka come as Democrats and the White House are nearing a deal on the agreement and as President Donald Trump has intensified his public calls for lawmakers to approve it.
Trumka said at a gathering of freshmen Democrats, which Speaker Nancy Pelosi participated in, that they need to stand firm to get the best deal possible on the agreement, which was crafted to replace the North American Free Trade Agreement.
"He said he has picked more pockets at the 5-yard line when he negotiates, to get more for his members that he possibly can," said Rep. Jimmy Gomez of California.
Some freshmen legislators from swing districts said at the meeting that they want to see a deal this year, according to lawmakers. They argued that Trump has been able to convince farmers that the damage from his trade war with China is actually due to the deal being held up.
Trumka assured the group that he wants to have a deal, lawmakers who attended said.
"He said he is working to get to yes and will do everything he can to get there," added Rep. Donna Shalala of Florida, a first-term Democrat who said she wants to get the agreement enacted this year.
The key sticking point in the talks is Democrats' demand that Mexico make stronger commitments to enforce its labor laws and that there be strong punishments -- including the banning of imports -- if Mexico fails to meet them.
"Labor enforcement in my judgment is the last hurdle," the top Democratic negotiator, Ways and Means Committee Chairman Richard Neal, D-Mass., told reporters Tuesday. "If we can get Richard Trumka to agree with the labor-enforcement mechanisms on the basis of this is better than what we have, I think that would go a longer way toward securing support on a cross-caucus basis."
Neal said he believes the agreement can be approved in 2019.
"It would help stabilize markets," he said. "I don't know how people can defend the current NAFTA when we have these new mechanisms before us, which are a substantial improvement."
The key role that Trumka is playing in talks on the new agreement has led Republicans such as Sen. John Cornyn of Texas to suggest the AFL-CIO is taking charge of the negotiations.
House Democratic Caucus Chairman Hakeem Jeffries of New York denied the claim that Democrats are beholden to labor unions.
"Nobody has veto authority with respect to the decisions of the House Democratic Caucus led by Speaker Nancy Pelosi," he said Tuesday. "We are partners with the men and women of organized labor."
Business on 11/20/2019