WASHINGTON (FNS) -- The union representing 1.4 million retail employees is calling on Congress to block the sale of Chinese goods in the United States -- including fish widely used in fast-food restaurants -- exported by businesses owned or invested in by the country's military.
plans to ask businesses to stop selling goods from these operations, or face a grassroots consumer protest.
The union's plea came on the eve of the vote -- and eventual passage -- in the House on whether to renew China's most-favored-nation trade status. However, UFCW international President Douglas Dority said the two events were unrelated. Organized labor has been fiercely lobbying against the annual renewal of China's trade benefits.
"For the UFCW, this fight is a matter of principle. We take our position not because of self-interest, but because of human interest in the basic rights of all people," Dority said. "Why should those who trade in human oppression, misery and murder be free to trade their products on American soil?"
