Union Caravan Drives to Stop Free Trade Pact : Labor: The procession of vans and motor homes makes 18th of 60 stops in California to warn against loss of U.S. jobs.

SANTA ANA — A caravan sponsored by labor unions rolled into Orange County on Wednesday to rally local sentiment against the North American Free Trade Agreement, which labor leaders say threatens U.S. jobs.

“We don’t need George Bush to paint a rosy picture of the free-trade agreement,” said David Sickler, West Coast director of the AFL-CIO.

“Just look at the jobs leaving (for Mexico) and plants shutting down,” he told 100 union members who gathered in Santa Ana at midday, despite heat near 100 degrees. The battle cry of organized labor was flashed on placards brought to the rally: “Don’t send my job to Mexico.”

Steve Klippert, 34, a forklift operator at a Nabisco Brands distribution center in Buena Park, took the day off work to attend. He said he is concerned that the trade pact would prompt more U.S. companies to move their operations to Mexico, where labor costs and environmental standards are far lower than in the United States.

“I’m for fair trade, and this means that the Mexican government bring up their labor standards to our standards, which include health care and other benefits,” he said.

Mexican immigrants Saulo and Alfonso Perez of Costa Mesa said the trade pact could mean a bleak future for them and their families. The brothers, both carpenters, have been in the United States for 20 years. Both lost their jobs six months ago, however, and they view low-cost Mexican labor as a threat to their livelihood.

“I have everything here--a house, a car and my family. I have nothing and no one in Mexico, and I can lose everything if this agreement passes,” Saulo Perez said.

During the hourlong rally, union leaders handed out a list of 10 Orange County companies that have moved or plan to move manufacturing operations to Mexico. Orange County is the 18th stop in the Teamsters’ journey to rally opposition to the trade pact. Ten labor officials traveling in five trucks and motor homes plan to make 60 stops in California. They will be in downtown Los Angeles today and in Compton on Friday.

The caravan, which set out from Bakersfield on Labor Day, will end just before Election Day. Similar groups are traveling in other parts of the country.

“We’re going to the polls and send a strong message to Bush: No free trade,” Bob Hahn, a truck driver, said at Wednesday’s rally.