ABSTRACT
When the NAFTA agreement was being debated, labor organizations were among its strongest opponents in the United States. Realizing that the NAFTA agreement would significantly lower and eventually eliminate restrictions on trade with Mexico, and would provide a more favorable investment climate there, organized labor feared adverse effects on both wage levels and employment rates in the United States. These fears were magnified by statements of politicians such as Pat Buchanan alleging harmful effects of expanded trade with Mexico, and those of Ross Perot predicting a "giant sucking sound" of capital being drained to Mexico to be combined with low-cost labor there.
