TPP and supposed union support.

According to "The Last Word" article in the January 25 issue of The New American, organized labor was one of insiders behind the closed doors of the TPP negations --wrong!

As a union member (IBEW), I can assure you of labor's unwavering opposition to these manufacturing job exporting fiascoes. Last May the AFL-CIO held "National Day of Action" rallies against the TPP, and have put congressional Democrat "free traders" on notice that labor's support is not unconditional.

Think about it: One of the main objectives of these deals is to fatten the corporate bottom line by replacing well-paid American manufacturing workers (especially union workers) with low-wage foreigners, so the odds of a union getting invited to "free trade" negotiations is about as good as The John Birch Society getting invited to an Agenda 21 meeting!

DEAN WOLF

Tigard, Oregon

The editors respond: According to the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) website, "The Obama Administration has included the leaders of four major labor unions on the Administration's highest-level advisory committee, the President's Advisory Committee on Trade Policy Negotiations: International Brotherhood of Teamsters, United Auto Workers, United Food and Commercial Workers, United Steel Workers."

And it lists presidents of 22 other unions (including IBEW, AFT, UFW, SEIU, UMA) on its Labor Advisory Committee. It says further, "The labor community has helped shape TPP provisions including freedom of association and collective bargaining ... employment discrimination, and minimum wages."

The AFL-CIO itself says, "In 2011, the AFL-CIO joined with labor federations from the majority of Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) countries to draft and submit a comprehensive labor chapter " to the TPP. In his 2011 appearance before the pro-TPP Council on Foreign Relations, AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka explained his support for a TPP that also would have included vastly more government intervention and central planning.

Rank-and-file union members oppose "free trade" agreements, but big union bosses are something else entirely. Big Labor's current opposition to the TPP is based not on commitment to constitutional principles but on their failure to get all the socialism they wanted.