says that Clinton vacillated before finally presenting NAFTA to Congress because he "knew that backing it would alienate organized labor" (55).
Political Lineup of Interest Groups and Key Players. The President quickly discovered that not only organized labor, but also other major elements of the Democratic coalition opposed NAFTA. Labor was out front on the issue during the spring and summer of 1993, organizing opposition at grassroots levels. Lane Kirkland, President of AFL-CIO, said in mid-September, 1993 that "a vote for NAFTA will be regarded as an unfriendly act . . . by American workers" (Drew 297-298). The decline in American manufacturing employment and of blue collar wages, corporate downsizing, a recession and a general fear of the effects of low wage competition by countries such as Mexico cut across class lines. Johnson said that "as America's industrial and service sectors retrench, fear over the future intensifies. It is a fear that ripples through the ranks of factory workers, farmers and professionals alike"
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