From Deseret News archives:
Matheson vote irks unions
Democrat defends his support of trade pact
"We have withheld our endorsement from Democratic candidates before," said Utah AFL-CIO president Ed Mayne, who is also a Democratic state senator from West Valley.
Speaking from Chicago, where the annual AFL-CIO convention is in an uproar over several large unions dropping out of the umbrella labor group, Mayne said: "There are more than a few (union leaders) back here who are very, very disappointed in Rep. Matheson."
Mayne said he spoke with Matheson Wednesday night just before the vote, which saw CAFTA pass by only two votes in the U.S. House. "It was a tough vote for him, he was on the fence a long time." But he jumped the wrong way, said Mayne.
Matheson issued a long press release Thursday morning explaining his vote.
Utah's lone Democratic U.S. House member said: "The bottom line for me is that CAFTA will create jobs here in Utah by boosting opportunities for our exporters. Removing trade barriers to Utah products is a good thing for our state's economy and employees."
But Mayne says that is not true.
Like NAFTA, Fast Track and other so-called "free trade" agreements, said Mayne, CAFTA will only cost "hard-working American families more jobs."
No Republican has yet announced he's running against Matheson next year. And Mayne said local Utah union PAC leaders "will wait and see who runs against him" before making any decisions on whether to endorse Matheson, give money to his campaign, or even more importantly, organize union families to get out and volunteer in his campaign.
"We didn't endorse (Salt Lake mayor) Rocky Anderson the last time he ran. And we haven't endorsed (some Democratic) legislative and county candidates," said Mayne. But Mayne admitted that local labor unions have endorsed and worked for all recent U.S. House and Senate Democratic candidates in Utah.
Matheson's latest campaign finance filing shows he's raised $255,000 since April, with more than $66,000 of that coming from labor PACs.
Will labor endorse and support him now?
"I take nothing for granted," Matheson said Thursday afternoon. "Since I got in this job I've been an advocate for free trade and everyone knows that. I value my relations with so many groups, including labor. But as I say every campaign season, I'm not a rubber stamp for anyone. I do the right thing for the state. That's the way I am. You never want anyone disappointed in you, but in this job that happens sometimes."
E-mail: bbjr@desnews.com
