Trump trashes head of AFL-CIO for wanting Canada in trade deal

President Donald Trump kicked off Labor Day with an attack on the head of the powerful AFL-CIO and a defense of his own trade posture.

Trump went after AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka with an early morning tweet, where he faulted the labor chief for ‘poorly’ representing his own union. 

The move came after Trumka said in a TV appearance that a renegotiated trade deal to replace NAFTA should include Canada – the nation’s largest North American trading partner and the source of many auto manufacturing jobs for U.S. firms. 

Trump tweeted Monday that Trumka ‘represented his union poorly on television this weekend.’ 

  

President Donald Trump issued a Labor Day tweet Trump tweeted Monday blasting AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka and saying he ‘represented his union poorly on television this weekend’

‘It is easy to see why unions are doing so poorly. A Dem!’ Trump said, using Trumka’s party affiliation as an apparent pejorative.

The president’s attack came after Trumka appeared on ‘Fox News Sunday’ over the weekend where he said efforts to overhaul the North American Free Trade Agreement should include Canada. 

Trumka, whose organization is an umbrella group for most unions, said the economies of the United States, Canada and Mexico are ‘integrated’ and ‘it’s pretty hard to see how that would work without having Canada in the deal.’

The language had extra sting because Trumka is a NAFTA critic and has battled previous trade deals he believed had insufficient labor or environmental protections.

‘We’re anxious to move forward with it and anxious to have all three countries involved, because NAFTA has had a devastating effect on the working people of this country for the last 25 years,’ Trumka said. 

Canada is second only to China in trade with the U.S. 

Trump blasted Trumka’s appearance on ‘Fox News Sunday’

Trump began labor day with an attack on the head of the AFL-CIO, Richard Trumka

A few minutes later, Trump sent out a ‘Happy Labor Day!’ tweet

Trump also wrote that the American worker was doing ‘better than ever’

Trump said Saturday on Twitter that there was ‘no political necessity’ to keep Canada in NAFTA, while blasting the longtime ally for ‘abuse.’  

‘There is no political necessity to keep Canada in the new NAFTA deal,’ Trump tweeted during services for the late Arizona Sen. John McCain in Washington.

‘If we don’t make a fair deal for the U.S. after decade of abuse, Canada will be out. Congress should not interfere with these negotiations or I will simply terminate NAFTA entirely & we will be far better off.’

But it’s questionable whether Trump can unilaterally exclude Canada from a deal to replace the three-nation NAFTA agreement, without the approval of Congress. Any such move would likely face lengthy legal and congressional challenges.

President Donald Trump issued a Labor Day tweet going after AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka and saying he  ‘represented his union poorly on television this weekend’

Trumka had said Canada should be included in a renegotiated North American trade deal

Trump administration negotiations to keep Canada in the reimagined trade bloc are to resume this week as Washington and Ottawa try to break a deadlock over issues such as Canada’s dairy market and U.S. efforts to shield drug companies from generic competition.

Trump wants to get a trade deal finalized by Dec. 1.

Trumka also said of Trump: ‘the things that he’s done to hurt workers outpace what he’s done to help workers,’ arguing that Trump has not come through with an infrastructure program and has overturned regulations that ‘will hurt us on the job.’

In this April 4, 2017 file photo, AFL-CIO president Richard Trumka listens at the National Press Club in Washington

Asked about the low unemployment rate and economic growth, Trumka said ‘those are good, but wages have been down since the first of the year. Gas prices have been up since the first of the year. So, overall, workers aren’t doing as well.’

On Monday, Trump touted the economy, saying ‘Our country is doing better than ever before with unemployment setting record lows.’ He added, ‘The Worker in America is doing better than ever before. Celebrate Labor Day!’

The unemployment rate of 3.9 percent is not at the best point ever – it is near the lowest in 18 years.

Read more at DailyMail.co.uk