In Trumka’s view, fast track is neither transparent nor democratic.

"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."




"Trumka’s praise turned to scorn when asked about Wisconsin governor Scott Walker, an expected presidential candidate who pushed through a landmark 2011 law that curbed the ability of his state’s public sector unions to bargain collectively. At a conservative political conference in February, Walker enraged many in labor by suggesting that his success in facing down Wisconsin labor protesters showed that he could take on the Islamic State’s terrorists. “If I can take on 100,000 protesters, I can do the same across the world,” he said."


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