Senate Agrees to Debate `Fast Track’ Bill Unions Fear Would Endanger Worker Safety

One day after Senate Democrats blocked a bill that would have given the president sweeping trade authority, Senate leaders reached a deal May 13 to continue debating the measure.

Worker advocates fear that the Bipartisan Congressional Trade Priorities and Accountability Act (S. 995) will erode safety and health protections both in the U.S. and abroad.

On May 12, the bill fell eight votes shy, by a 52 to 45 margin, of overcoming a filibuster, temporarily cheering worker groups.

Now, however, the Senate will take up the so-called “fast track” bill “in relatively short order,” Orrin Hatch (R-Utah), chairman of the ...