New labels to bring more union dues

By Jeanette Colville

Bringing the Chicago Way to the White House, President Obama is wasting no time in paying back consumer groups and Big Labor friends who helped him get elected.

Obama's handpicked Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack tells consumer groups that he plans to trash the food labeling rules worked out with consumers, producers and North American trade partners, Mexico and Canada, during last year's Farm Bill negotiations and institute new and more demanding rules.

Consumer groups continue to demand detailed and costly food labeling mandates while producers and retailers protest the burden of administrative and management costs on top of already strict regulations in food handling.

Charles Abbott at Reuters reports

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack's proposal for unofficial changes to country-of-origin labels on meat sold in U.S. stores may re-ignite a cattle trade dispute with Canada, two farm lobbyists said on Wednesday.

President Barack Obama was scheduled to meet Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper on Thursday in Ottawa on his first foreign trip since taking office last month. The discussions were expected to include the global recession, trade and energy.

Vilsack asked meatpackers during a meeting on Tuesday to voluntarily put more details on meat labels. The Agriculture Department delayed a public unveiling of the plan on Wednesday but a spokesman said Vilsack was going ahead with the idea.

What's in it for Big Labor? Giant markets like Safeway, WalMart, and all the others get their inventories from massive warehouses, not individual suppliers. Detailing information, keeping batches separate, and then producing in-store labels would be a nightmare. New mandates applied to the labeling of fresh meat and perishable fruits and vegetables means an increase in the cost of warehouse management, inventory tracking, and employee payroll. The increased burden on companies to comply with Obama's demands, implemented through Secretary Vilsack, will boost Obama's payback promises to environmental consumer groups, while adding fresh blood to the Big Labor's union dues ranks.

And what happens when the cost of doing business rises? In order to survive, the business must pass these costs along to you and your family. The next time you feel like a steak for dinner, thanks to The Chicago Way, you may have to settle for mac and cheese.