Statement by AFL-CIO President John Sweeney on Decision to Remove Timetable for Colombia Free Trade Agreement

For Immediate Release                 Contact: Alison Omens (202) 637-5018

Statement by AFL-CIO President John Sweeney

On Decision to Remove Timetable for Colombia FTA

April 9, 2008

 We agree with Speaker Pelosi that Congress must keep a hard focus on the economic crisis facing America’s working families – and certainly before consideration of another flawed trade deal.  We applaud her for taking decisive action to reassert congressional authority over trade.  

The AFL-CIO position on the Colombia FTA remains unchanged: the violence, murders, impunity, and violations of workers’ rights in Colombia must end.  Until and unless the Colombian government achieves sustained results on the ground to that effect, the AFL-CIO will muster all its resources in opposition to this agreement.

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