AFL-CIO President John Sweeney has vowed an all out effort to defeat the new Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA) when it comes before Congress next spring. The CAFTA agreement was reached last week with Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras and Nicaragua. Unions and their supporters claim that it lacks labor protections for workers in those countries and that it does not do enough to protect U.S. textile and sugar manufacturing.
See "Labor Unions to Fight Free Trade Deal", Associated Press, The New York Times, December 18, 2003