
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: MONDAY, November 8, 1993                   TAG: 9311080122
SECTION: NATL/INTL                    PAGE: A-1   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: WASHINGTON                                LENGTH: Short

CLINTON ATTACKS UNIONS NAFTA STANCE BLASTED

Using harsh language against an old ally, President Clinton said organized labor is strong-arming lawmakers with "roughshod, musclebound tactics" to scuttle the North American Free Trade Agreement.

A top AFL-CIO official called the assertion "a cheap shot" and "simply not true."

Aides said Clinton's attack on labor was not scripted, but his remarks were astonishing for a Democratic president, even on a free-trade issue that has spawned an odd menagerie of political coalitions.

"At least for the undecided Democrats, our big problem is the raw muscle, the sort of naked pressure that the labor forces have put on," Clinton said.

He said unions are privately threatening to cut financial support and field opponents if lawmakers support the free-trade deal with Mexico and Canada.

Interviewed on "CNN Late Edition," AFL-CIO Secretary-Treasurer Thomas Donahue said his "gut response" when he heard Clinton's characterization "was to be angry. I thought it was a cheap shot. No need for it. It is simply not true."

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by CNB