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| State Rep. (and 10-year Teamster) Rob Nosse. |
Brother Nosse is a labor representative with the Oregon Nurses Association and a member of Teamster Local 223.
Oregon is a key battleground in the fight to stop fast track because of one man: U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden. Wyden, an Oregon Democrat, hasn't said whether he supports a fast-track bill that Republican leaders say they'll file in April.
The rally was organized to pressure Wyden to oppose fast track. The Oregonian reported:
Top Republicans are negotiating with Wyden, ranking Democrat on the Senate Finance Committee, over the terms of the bill in the hopes he can bring enough Democratic support to win congressional passage.
"We need to call Sen. Wyden and tell him, 'Vote no.' Fast track is not a way to do trade deals," said Morgan Gratz-Weiser of the Oregon Sierra Club, at a rally held in Director Park in downtown Portland...
"We got NAFTA, we got CAFTA and the way I see it, workers got the 'shaft-a,'" said Oregon AFL-CIO President Tom Chamberlain, referring to the North American and Central American trade pacts that were among several that have been staunchly opposed by organized labor.If we beat fast track, we beat the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) and other job-killing trade deals.
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| Monday night's rally against fast track in Portland. |
