MSNBC reports that Hillary Clinton met with the Communications Workers of America (CWA) today and said she would oppose the Colombia trade deal and fix NAFTA:

“As I have been saying for some time, no trade deal with Colombia while violence against trade unionists continues. I was very disappointed that President Bush decided yesterday to try to push the Colombian deal through Congress. Well, I have news for President Bush. As I have said for months. I oppose the deal. I have spoken out against the deal. I will vote against the deal, and I will do everything I can to urge the Congress to reject the Colombian free trade deal.”

In a further story on the CWA event, MSNBC noted that Barack Obama also declared his opposition to a Colombia FTA, noting that “because when organizing workers puts an organizer’s life at risk, as it does in Colombia, it makes a mockery of our labor protections. We’ve got news for White House, we’ve got news for America. It’s not the Department of Management, it’s the Department of Labor, and we are here to take it back!”

A funny thing: a quick check of U.S. Census Bureau data shows that the U.S. trade deficit with Colombia in 2007 was $880 million. That’s a relatively miniscule amount when compared to the $256 BILLION trade deficit that the U.S. racked up with China last year. And so we ask, why aren’t the candidates mentioning China as well, another country where labor organizers are often brutally represed?

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