The Washington State Labor Council has refused to endorse Sen. Patty Murray’s re-election bid, citing her past support for the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal as the reason.
The council has frozen out several other Democratic members of the House as well, underscoring the extent to which President Obama’s trade agenda has driven a wedge between his party and its traditional union allies.
WSLC is the state branch of the AFL-CIO and represents a coalition of 600 local unions representing 400,000 workers. On Saturday, it voted on its 2016 endorsements.
While Democratic Gov. Jay Inslee got their backing, Murray, whose term runs out this year, was notably absent from the list. The council endorsed only two of the state’s six sitting Democratic members of the House, Danny Heck and Adam Smith, leaving Reps. Suzan DelBene, Derek Kilmer and Rick Larsen without the backing of a major party ally. No Republicans were endorsed either.
That leaves Murray, a member of the Senate Democratic leadership and conference secretary, without the backing of a major party ally as she prepares to defend her seat. WSLC President Jeff Johnson made it clear in a statement that TPP was the deal-breaker.
“The fact that rank-and-file delegates from across the state chose to make no recommendation in these races today, despite some of these candidates’ excellent records on other working family issues, demonstrates how strongly the labor movement feels about improving U.S. trade policies,” he said.
Sen. Murray’s office could not be reached for comment.
Labor organizations have long opposed most free-trade deals, arguing that many domestic businesses do not need the additional competition and that they spur others to engage in off-shoring labor. Proponents argue the deals benefit the economy overall by opening up overseas markets.
Murray has a long history of backing pro-trade policies stretching back to the North American Free Trade Agreement in 1993, one of her first votes after getting elected to the Senate. She was instrumental last year in rounding up Democratic votes to pass Trade Promotion Authority, legislation backed by President Obama that only allows Congress to approve or reject trade deals, but not amend them.
TPA is a traditional tool used to prevent Congress from meddling with agreements struck overseas with other countries, and supporters say it’s needed because without TPA, any deal reached would only get bogged down with endless changes from lawmakers.
“I am glad to see bipartisan support for a trade and worker protection bill that gives President Obama the authority to negotiate agreements that are good for Washington state, create jobs and help American businesses sell their goods overseas,” Murray said after TPA passed.
TPA’s passage was widely seen as crucial to TPP’s chances. That deal, which lowers tariffs and other trade barriers in 12 Pacific Rim nations, is expected to be brought up in the Senate later this year, though Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., has said it’s far too controversial to bring up prior to the fall election.
