Citing thousands of job losses in central New York, Democratic congressional candidate Can Maffei has called for an end to NAFTA. With the backing of around 100 labor unions, Maffei contends that that "Free trade doesn't work," while his opponent Dale Sweetland calls for renegotiations rather than repeal. The Trade agreement, which removed trade barriers between the U.S., Mexico and Canada, is blamed for much of the job loss in the central New York region, despite a Manufacturers Association of Central New York claim that NAFTA has actually helped manufacturers. Syracuse labor unions are endorsing Maffei, hoping for a removal of NAFTA.
See "Maffei proposes to kill NAFTA", Mike McAndrew, The Post-Standard, October 8, 2008