By Doug Cunningham

As Wednesday’s session of the AFL-CIO Chicago convention drew to a close the delegates were told that there was a bulletin from Capitol Hill on CAFTA. The Republican leadership in the House was pushing for a vote Wednesday night on the Central American Free Trade agreement. In a defeat for workers the U.S. House approved CAFTA by a 217-215 vote just after midnight Wednesday. That was despite a huge effort by labor and allied progressive groups to stop it.