Sunday, May 31, 2015

AFL-CIO Targets TPP Sell Out

The AFL-CIO in California is taking direct action to protect American jobs:
The AFL-CIO has been threatening for weeks to make an example of a Democrat who dares support giving the president fast-track trade authority — a warning shot to others leaning that way. And now they’ve picked their man: Sacramento’s Ami Bera, a two-term congressman who barely held on to his seat in one of last year’s most expensive House races.

The union leaders are going after Bera hard. They’re getting personal and vicious. And they say they don’t care if it means that a Republican wins the seat instead.

“Ami Bera won off the support of working families’ boots in the district, knocking on doors for him,” AFL-CIO spokesperson Amaya Smith said. “But no one’s saying, ‘Let’s not call him out because we’re scared of a Republican taking him out.’”

[...]

Throughout this past recess week, union-linked protesters have been in Bera’s district holding out giant Q-tips, urging him to clean out his ears. On Friday, labor activists went up with an $84,000 ad buy in the California district. On Sunday, the communications director for the California Labor Federation published an op-ed in the Sacramento Bee calling his support for the TPA “a slap in the face to those who worked so hard to elect him.”

Now they’re going guerrilla, with a mock classified ad that will run in Monday’s Sacramento Bee and on Sacramento Craigslist.

“Wanted in CA-7: A congressman w/backbone to represent working families,” the Craigslist ad says. “Successful candidate will stand with constituents, not multinational corporations, for good jobs and fair trade. Must have backbone. No sell-outs need apply. Taking applications now.”
Labor has been talking about no longer going along to get along for a while. It's good to see that they are no longer willing to be doormats for corporate Democrats.

2 comments:

  1. Capper, thanks. Hope the call Rep. Kind, “These are tough, tough debates, the passion, the politics,” said Representative Ron Kind, Democrat of Wisconsin, who has tried to round up more votes for the president. “Outside of an authorization of military force, votes probably don’t get tougher than trade.”

    http://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/01/business/obamas-push-for-trade-deal-faces-bipartisan-peril-in-house.html

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  2. weird that out teajahdifriends never bitch about TPP, NSA spying or a bunch of other issues that Obama is involved in...

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