Dear Hillary: Been There, Done That

♠ Posted by Emmanuel in ,, at 6/11/2007 12:17:00 AM
Picture this: a polarizing candidate for US President named Clinton seeks the help of organized labor in getting out the vote. You know, I could be talking about 1991/2 as well as 2007/8--the Clinton in question is Bill in the former instance, Hillary in the latter. Now, we know what happened then: Bill solicited and won labor's vote, but then became a pretty ardent (dare I say, "neoliberal"?) free trader who promoted NAFTA while organized labor was bemoaning all sorts of sucking sounds. Well it passed and we're still here, but some 3 million US manufacturing jobs have been lost in the meantime, or so they claim. Organized labor says free trade is the culprit while free traders say that manufacturing productivity has increased (necessitating less labor) and that these lost jobs have been moved to other, more promising industries.

I bring this matter up because Hillary has hit the highway looking for support from organized labor. She has just appeared before the AFL-CIO seeking its support for 2008 in Detroit (think auto industry, or whatever is left of it). In particular, she is now claiming that she will vote against the Korea-US Free Trade Agreement (KorUSFTA) when it comes to vote in the Senate:

Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, the Democratic front-runner in the presidential race, said on Saturday she would oppose ratification of a free trade pact with South Korea because it would harm the U.S. auto industry, among other things.

"While I value the strong relationship the United States enjoys with South Korea, I believe that this agreement is inherently unfair," Clinton said at an event hosted by the AFL-CIO labor confederation in Detroit, home of the U.S. car industry.

"It will hurt the U.S. auto industry, increase our trade deficit, cost us good middle-class jobs and make America less competitive."

The deal with South Korea, due to be signed on June 30, would lower barriers in areas ranging from agriculture and manufacturing to financial services and telecommunications.

Lawmakers from states with auto interests have argued the pact would give South Korea unimpeded access to the U.S. auto market without going far enough to ensure Seoul dismantles barriers to its auto market.

Last year, South Korea exported 700,000 cars to the United States while U.S. carmakers sold 6,000 in South Korea, Clinton said, attributing more than 80 percent of a $13 billion U.S. trade deficit with South Korea to such lopsided figures.

My, how quickly organized labor seems to have forgotten about Bill Clinton's NAFTA post-election tactics. Being the cynical type, I'd say this instance is no different. (Disclosure: I am a backer of the Clintons with all the baggage that entails!) Might I even say that this looks like a bait-and-switch tactic. Perhaps her advisors have calculated that KorUSFTA won't pass anyway with all the anti-free trade sentiment pervading American politics right now. In the end, it all boils down to the money and legwork that organized labor can still provide despite its diminished status in the US of A as the Detroit News notes:
"If we don't have a strong manufacturing base in our economy, it won't be long until we don't have a strong economy," Clinton told about 700 union members gathered at the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers union hall near downtown.

"A lot of hard-working people in this country have been invisible to this administration," said Clinton. "You won't be invisible to the next president of the United States."

She selected Detroit for a town-hall meeting that was arranged by the national AFL-CIO. Each of the seven leading Democratic candidates was allowed to choose from among 15 U.S. cities, as part of the union's presidential endorsement process.

"When I was asked where I wanted to go, I said one place: Detroit," Clinton said.

Her message, in her first visit to Michigan since becoming a candidate in January, was more sympathetic to the troubled domestic auto industry than one delivered by Illinois Sen. Barack Obama, in his address to the Economic Club of Detroit last month. In his speech, candidate Obama bluntly told Detroit automakers that they must improve fuel efficiency by 4 percent annually and scolded them for falling behind foreign automakers in providing the fuel efficient vehicles consumers want...

Michigan AFL-CIO President Mark Gaffney said Clinton performed well. The AFL-CIO probably won't endorse a candidate for president until the end of the year, he said.

"She showed an understanding of our issues and support for our issues," Gaffney said.

He said health costs are a big reason why auto jobs have been moved from the United States to Canada which has nationalized heath care. The wages and pensions paid autoworkers in the two countries are basically the same, he said...

Courting Big Labor, as she did Saturday, is also smart politics. Labor unions spent about $100 million on get out the vote efforts last year and reached tens of millions of voters through phone calls and mailing on behalf of labor-backed candidates.

Commenters on the AFL-CIO blog are justifiably cool to Hillary Clinton courting the labor vote for similar reasons, although one commenter has noted that the New York AFL-CIO has already joined the Hillary bandwagon and has few qualms over her pro-labor qualifications:

Whereas, U.S. Senator Hillary Clinton is one of several candidates vying for the Democratic nomination for President of the United States, and

Whereas, as a twice endorsed candidate of the New York State AFL-CIO, Senator Clinton has consistently displayed, through countless deeds and actions, a strong commitment to the needs and concerns of working men and women, and

Whereas, through her seven years as a U.S. Senator, Hillary Clinton has worked on far reaching national legislation that would further the cause of all workers, such as supporting an increase in the minimum wage, co-sponsoring the Employee Free Choice Act and the Family Medical Leave Expansion Act, and opposing CAFTA, and

Whereas, Senator Clinton has also worked diligently on local labor issues in New York that sometimes fly under the national radar but are vital to the future of local unions and rank and file members, and

Whereas, Senator Clinton has led the fight on the aforementioned local issues, such as supporting funding for the World Trade Center Medical Monitoring Health Care program, calling CEO’s on behalf of numerous local unions to help expedite contract negotiations when the employer had tried to stall talks, expressing support for card-check recognition for local workers who were seeking to form a union, and has made it a priority to be supportive of unions during organizing drives and strikes, and

Whereas, the New York State AFL-CIO represents one out of every seven union members in the country, thus providing the State Labor Federation with a significant voice concerning candidates worthy of labor’s support, and

Whereas, male candidates from a home state receiving support from a group or organization are traditionally referred to as a “favorite son”, and

Whereas, the term “labor brothers and sisters” historically denotes the unity, solidarity and shared sense of purpose amongst union members, as well as their staunchest allies, therefore be it

Resolved, that the New York State AFL-CIO will consider Senator Clinton as a “favorite sister” of the New York State AFL-CIO.

As always, caveat emptor. It's still a long way to go before we can see a President Hillary Clinton, let alone a pro-labor agenda. Her record on promoting health-care reform has been consistent, but I am inclined to believe that she is very Bill-like on matters of trade.