From The Hill: "AFL-CIO opposed to Daschle’s new asbestos compromise," by Klaus Marre--
After months of wrangling, the Senate appears closer to an agreement on how much money should be poured into a trust fund that would be used to settle asbestos compensation cases.Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle (D-S.D.) yesterday informed Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-Tenn.) that he would accept a trust fund size of $140 billion, a figure Frist has pushed.
But organized labor, one of the Democrats’ core constituencies, will not support legislation that includes a trust fund of $140 billion.
AFL-CIO Director of Health and Safety Peg Seminario said organized labor would “strongly oppose” a $140 billion trust fund, pointing out that legislation on the issue that was passed out of the Judiciary Committee last year had earmarked $153 billion for the fund.
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