Unions to Hit the Street in Washington
By Joseph Kahn with Steven Greenhouse
Washington, April 11 -- American labor unions, worried that the world economy is destroying many good jobs, are descending on Washington to mount street demonstrations against a China trade bill and to lend support to students, environmentalists and religious groups protesting globalization.
The aggressive effort comes as labor's leadership has hardened its opposition to liberalized trade, and its ties with the Clinton administration have frayed. President Clinton's trade policies have done serious damage to American workers, they argue, adding that all new trade initiatives should be rejected unless they seek to improve working conditions around the world.
Capitalizing on last year's anti-trade demonstrations in Seattle, union leaders have also forged alliances with some environmental and student groups gathered this week in Washington to protest against actions of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund. The "blue-green" alliance is unusual for labor, which until five years ago largely avoided ties with such groups.
The labor campaign kicks off on Wednesday with a rally on Capitol Hill and will continue in Washington and key Congressional districts during the next 10 days.
Labor pressure has also caused problems for Vice President Al Gore, the likely Democratic nominee for president. Mr. Gore, who has long supported free trade initiatives, has tiptoed around the China trade measure because of unexpectedly strong labor opposition. Mr. Gore won an early endorsement for his presidential candidacy from unions this year, and has told union leaders that he would take a different approach to trade than Mr. Clinton.
The Clinton administration is asking Congress to extend permanent trade ties to China, a step that would allow United States companies to benefit fully from market-opening measures China agreed to take as the price of admission to the World Trade Organization. Unlike some other trade deals that labor unions have opposed, this one does not require the United States to open its market wider to foreign-made products.
Many analysts say that the China measure could help close American's gaping trade deficit with that nation by allowing companies to export more goods there, a situation that would presumably be good for American workers. Separately, union officials are opposing another Clinton administration trade initiative that would grant lower tariffs to many of the poorest African countries, a measure that has support from many Democrats.
Union officials insist that they have not become knee-jerk protectionists, a reputation they worked hard to shed in recent years. But they do say that they are now opposed to trade accords unless they raise labor standards in foreign nations. That stance leaves them in opposition to almost all trade liberalization measures around the world these days.
Some union officials now even argue that increased export opportunities are ultimately bad for American workers because multinational companies exploit every market opening to shift union jobs to less heavily regulated nations.
Unions are taking out advertisements this week citing a study by the Economic Policy Institute, a union-oriented policy group, that predicts hundreds of thousands of job losses even if China joins the World Trade Organization and American companies get new export and investment benefits. Clinton administration officials call those predictions baseless.
"Globalization works only for multinationals, not for workers," said George Becker, president of the United Steelworkers of America and one of the most active labor leaders in rallying workers against China trade. "The main reason companies are interested in the China market is the repressed labor and low environmental standards there."
Mr. Becker said that many unions, especially since the Seattle demonstrations, have found common cause with some nongovernment organizations and college students who want to rewrite he rules of globalization to protect the environment, upgrade labor standards and alleviate poverty abroad.
"We are not traditional allies," Mr. Becker said. "But when I saw those kids in Seattle who knew that something was wrong in the world, I knew we should stand together in the trenches."
Mr. Becker, whose union is based in Pittsburgh, said he is staying in Washington through Sunday so that he can speak at an rally against the World Bank and I.M.F. that day. John J. Sweeney, president of A.F.L.-C.I.O. umbrella union, spoke at a rally in favor of forgiving third world debt last Sunday and announced an alliance with the Sierra Club, an environmental group, on Monday.
The United Auto Workers, the International Association of Machinists, the Union of Needletrades, Industrial and Textile Employees and the International Brotherhood of Teamsters have are also busing in members for the rally and lobbying effort against China trade, which may draw 20,000 protesters. Many say some of their members will stay on through the weekend to join the protest against the financial institutions.
Labor's broad campaign against 1990's-style globalization is deeply worrying for Democrats. Labor is perhaps the party's single most active political constituency. Its heavy lobbying effort against the China trade measure has split the party and hindered its efforts to present a moderate, united front in this year's presidential elections. Especially in seeking money and votes from high-tech workers, Democrats are eager to present an internationalist image, not a protectionist one.
"It puts Democrats in a tough position because they have to break ranks with a key constituency or risk hurting our leadership on an important issue," said Representative Calvin M. Dooley, a California Democrat who is among a minority of his party's caucus in the expected to vote in favor of permanent trade ties for China. "I think labor has demagogued so much on the trade issue that even when we get one that's clearly in the U.S. interest, they can't get comfortable with it."
Thea Lee, an international economist with the A.F.L.-C.I.O., said labor's opposition to the China Trade bill is principled, asserting that trade should not be normalized with China because it is known for violating human rights, workers' rights and many past trade agreements that have been signed.
How much political power labor can bring to bear is debatable. But in an era of low voter turnout, many Democrats are persuaded that labor proven get-out-the-vote efforts can make the difference between victory and defeat.
Largely because of labor pressure, no top Democratic leader in the House has publicly supported the China trade bill. Some in the party fear that stance will cost them business donations and possibly hurt their chances of winning back the House this year.
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Carl
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