The leader of America’s biggest union federation tells Steven Greenhouse why he’s no fan of the TPP

The leader of America’s biggest union federation tells Steven Greenhouse why he’s no fan of the Trans-Pacific Partnership, and criticises Scott Walker for ‘equating American workers with terrorists’



AFL-CIO president Richard Trumka: ‘There’s a large array of money against us. We will fight and we’ll ultimately prevail.’ Photograph: Susan Walsh/AP

http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/apr/14/afl-cio-chief-richard-trumka-interview-trans-pacific-partnership-hillary-clinton

Richard Trumka, AFL-CIO's combative president: 'We still punch far above our weight'

Steven Greenhouse in Washington
Tuesday 14 April 2015 07.00 EDT

Richard Trumka, the president of the AFL-CIO, is in a fighting mood. With election season starting up again, the ursine leader of the main US labor federation is heading a crusade against the planned Trans-Pacific trade pact – which he says will undermine America’s economy and workers – while launching broadside attacks at the Republican presidential candidates, who he says are out to sabotage social security, labor unions and much more.

Even though organized labor has lost members and clout in recent years, the AFL-CIO remains a formidable force in political campaigns and on Capitol Hill – it has single-handedly snarled Barack Obama’s efforts to get Congress to bless the Trans-Pacific Partnership, a 12-nation accord under negotiation. “We punch far above our weight,” said Trumka, whose top-floor office looks across Lafayette Park to the White House.

Under Trumka, labor has sought to extend its power by alliances, cooperating with African-American groups, immigrant groups, environmental groups and others as well as car wash workers and day laborers seeking to organizers. He pointed to the wave of Fight for $15 protests scheduled for April 15 as an example of a new way workers are flexing their muscles. “Fast-food workers, Walmart workers and others are rising up and we’re starting to see corporations respond, with Walmart, Target and a number of others give raises, but it’s certainly not enough,” he said.

While he tussles with Obama on trade, Trumka simultaneously praises and mocks the Republican candidates for discussing income inequality. “I like the fact that they’re adopting our language and recognizing that inequality is a problem and that falling wages are a problem, even though their policies are what got us here and even though the policies they’re pushing will make things worse,” he said.

FULL story at link.