WASHINGTON (Reuters) - To protest a key pact with China, AFL-CIO labor federation President John Sweeney and two other union leaders resigned from a White House panel that advises President Clinton on trade policy, the group said on Friday.
The move came before the Advisory Committee on Trade Policy and Negotiations was expected to endorse the trade agreement, which calls on Beijing to open a wide range of markets, from agriculture to telecommunications.
The pact is a crucial step for China to join the World Trade Organization (WTO), which sets global trading rules.
The AFL-CIO and other labor unions, traditionally allied with Clinton's Democratic Party, have singled out the landmark trade agreement for attack, demanding that China improve labor and human rights before joining the Geneva-based WTO.
In his resignation letter, Sweeney accused business leaders on the panel of pushing through a pro-China agenda over the objections of labor and consumer groups.
"We are not willing to put up with a role that consists entirely of writing minority dissents to reports that do not give adequate weight to workers' legitimate and urgent concerns," Sweeney said.
Business leaders on the advisory committee support the trade pact with China and said they expected the panel to endorse it. The committee includes 27 corporate representatives, far outnumbering three from labor unions, and one each for environmental and consumer causes.
Two other labor leaders resigned along with Sweeney -- President Jay Mazur of UNITE! and President Lenore Miller of the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union.
Sweeney's resignation comes despite improved ties with the White House on other trade issues.
At Sweeney's urging, Clinton proposed during global trade talks in Seattle that the WTO take worker rights into account in trade negotiations. The proposal drew fire from developing nations, and contributed to the collapse of the Seattle talks.
Vice President Al Gore, the front-runner for the Democratic presidential nomination, won AFL-CIO support by promising to include labor and environmental provisions in future trade accords if elected president.
In exchange for China's reduction of trade barriers, the White House says the Republican-controlled Congress must grant Beijing favorable access to U.S. markets through the so-called permanent normal trade relations status.
Permanent NTR would guarantee Chinese goods the same low-tariff access to U.S. markets as products from nearly every other nation. China currently benefits from this status only on a year-by-year basis.:
