President George W. Bush and leaders of the GOP-run House formally introduced a new "fast track" bill June 13 and drew prompt opposition from top union leaders.

Bush's plan is silent on labor rights, and gives him "trade promotion authority" - his name for fast track - to send trade pacts to Congress for an up-or-down vote without amendments.

It lets the president "negotiate any other priority" in the pacts "as long as it is directly related to trade, consistent with U.S. sovereignty and trade-expanding and not protectionist," GOP lawmakers said in a fact sheet.

Neither AFL-CIO President John J. Sweeney nor Teamsters President James P. Hoffa like Bush's bill. Sweeney said the fast track bill "polarizes the already bitter trade debate" and ignores worker rights.

"Fast track will put American working families on track to lose even more jobs. Bush wants this trade authority so he can bypass the American people and negotiate the flawed Free Trade Area of the Americas agreement," Hoffa added. FTAA is modeled on NAFTA, which cost 766,000 U.S. jobs, he noted.

This article was written by Press Associates, Inc., news service. Used with permission.