海角大神

Labor leader Richard Trumka has plenty of beefs with President Trump, and happily predicts that Democrats will retake control of the House in November 鈥� with a big assist from union members.

Mr. Trumka, president of the AFL-CIO labor federation, also strongly opposes Brett Kavanaugh鈥檚 nomination to the Supreme Court. If confirmed, Judge Kavanaugh would 鈥渟kew the court even more towards corporations and the elite,鈥� Trumka told reporters at a Wednesday.

Trumka, in fact, came to the Monitor Breakfast armed with a four-page handout listing 50 actions by Trump that are 鈥渁nti-worker鈥� 鈥� from the Kavanaugh pick to 鈥渞olling back federal safety regulations鈥� to 鈥渢ax cuts for the rich鈥� that he says will be paid for by working people.

But Trumka isn鈥檛 uniformly critical of the president. 鈥淚 think he鈥檚 going in the right direction on trade,鈥� he says.

鈥淚nternational trade is a vital part of the US economy, but powerful corporate interests and secret negotiations, quite frankly, have rigged trade rules and they鈥檝e stacked the deck for the biggest and most unscrupulous corporations at the expense of working people,鈥� Trumka says. 鈥淪o it's time to rewrite those rules. And I think he understands that that's what should be done.鈥�

Then Trumka qualifies his praise of the president, saying he鈥檚 using tariffs too broadly. Tariffs should be used selectively, he says, like a 鈥渞ifleshot鈥� against countries that are violating the rules 鈥� not against Canada, which in his view hasn鈥檛 violated the rules.

And what about the farmers negatively affected by China鈥檚 retaliatory tariffs, in what many observers call a trade war? Trumka urges a big-picture perspective.

鈥淲hen you go through this, you鈥檙e going to come up with what鈥檚 good for the country,鈥� Trumka says. 鈥淎nd sometimes what鈥檚 good for the country may be bad for Joe or Jane in the short term, but in the long term, if it鈥檚 good for the country, it鈥檚 going to be good for everybody.鈥�

鈥淎nd if we get trade agreements that are fairly enforced, that farmer is going to get a fair shake,鈥� he continues. 鈥淭hey鈥檙e going to be able to compete, because the rules are the same for everybody. And when the rules are the same, I believe the farmers in this country are going to do well and they鈥檙e going to be able to compete worldwide.鈥�

The Trump administration last week announced a $12 billion bailout for US farms caught in the crossfire, but the subsidy could face a challenge at the World Trade Organization. And it triggered a negative response from some lawmakers, especially Republicans, who say farmers want 鈥渢rade not aid.鈥� Some lawmakers, too, demanded protections for industries in their home states.

Trumka thinks the 鈥渢rade war鈥� rhetoric is overblown. 鈥淭he hysteria about 鈥榯here鈥檚 a trade war and the sky is falling鈥� is simply inaccurate and does a disservice to the country,鈥� he says.

And, he notes, the final resolution of all the nation鈥檚 trade disputes remains to be seen. Trumka says he supports a rewrite of NAFTA, the North American Free Trade Agreement, 鈥渋f it鈥檚 a good agreement.鈥� If it isn鈥檛, he adds, 鈥渢hen we鈥檇 have to oppose that as well.鈥�

Trumka鈥檚 alignment with Trump, at least on trade 鈥� and the president鈥檚 popularity among some union constituencies 鈥� elicited a question about whether the AFL-CIO might possibly endorse Trump for reelection in 2020. The labor leader, now in his ninth year at the helm of the nation鈥檚 largest trade federation, did not rule it out.

鈥淲e will consider every candidate,鈥� Trumka said. But he quickly made clear that a Trump endorsement was highly unlikely.

In 2016, union members were looking for someone who would 鈥渟hake up the status quo,鈥� Trumka said. 鈥淎nd some of them thought they found that candidate in Donald Trump and other like-minded politicians who promised to lift up workers and rein in Wall Street. Today, nearly all of those promises are either broken or unfulfilled.鈥�