Auto union opposes trade deal

The fast-track legislation that would give the White House faster authority to negotiate trade deals with foreign nations would prevent voters from weighing in on potential agreements, the United Auto Workers union said on Friday. 

The fast-track legislation, formally known as trade promotion authority, is intended to make it easier for the administration to negotiate trade deals by preventing Congress from amending them. 

The UAW said Friday that a deal that was reached on Thursday by lawmakers in the Senate to move the fast-track trade measure would prevent U.S. residents from weighing in on trade deals that could negatively affect the nation’s economy. 

{mosads}“Congress should never have the voice of Americans muted in a debate over a process that could be bad for the country, bad for business and bad for middle-class incomes,” the union said in a statement. “Americans and UAW members should have the right to a robust debate over their families’ economic future.”

The fast-track track legislation is intended to ease negotiations on an agreement between the U.S. and 11 Latin American and Asian countries known as the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), which would be the largest trade deal for the United States since the North American Free Trade Agreement with Mexico and Canada.

The UAW said Congress should put the brakes on the fast-track legislation, however. 

“Get the facts on TPA at http://www.nofasttrack.com  then call your Congressperson at (888)-926-0045 and tell them to help us #stopfasttrack,” the union tweeted Friday.