Agenda

1. Responding to Globalisation:The Role of Labour Standards, Trade Union Strategies & Capacity BuildingTrade union training in ILS and the ILO Declaration on fundamental principles and rights at work and its follow-upTurin, 29 January – 23 February 2007Kristian Weise, ITUC

2. Agenda • Globalisation, its challenges and trade union responses: an overview • Main issues in globalisation: trade, finance, work and development in depth • Labour standards, trade union strategies and capacity building: discussion of possibilities

3. What is globalisation? • Global economic integration through trade, financial flows and production systems • The consequence that all parts of the world are much more interconnected and vulnerable to developments far away from them (economic cycles and production shifts) • The consequence that all ‘markets’ have become global; both for products and for labour (doubling of the world’s labour force)

4. How has globalisation occurred? • Transport and communication technologies have connected the world • Political transformations – the end of the cold war, introduction of capitalism in India and China – has meant that the world has become one • Global rules, primarily in trade (GATT and WTO) and under the influence of the IMF and the World Bank has facilitated free flows of trade, investment and production

5. What is wrong with globalisation? • Globalisation has the potential to bring along development and poverty eradication but it is not being managed in the right way • It is the wrong global institutions that set the agenda for globalisation and they are being used in the wrong way. They are promoting the wrong policies (see map) • These institutions have 1) let workers compete internally in a negative way which decreases wages and working conditions – China as the main example, and 2) taken away the opportunity of many countries to follow employment-creating and welfare promoting policies – debt burden and structural reforms

6. Global Governance WTO World Bank IMF G8 and regional groupings like APEC UN Family Including ILO UNDP UNEP UNTAD etc.

7. The result: a crisis in the world of work • Rising unemployment • High levels of under-employment and under-paid employment • Stagnating wages and diminishing share of income going to workers • Declining welfare, particularly where it is employer provided • Increasing pressure on organising and collective bargaining • Growing ’casualisation’ of work • Rising informal economy • Spread of Export Processing Zones

8. Trade union strategies • Overall, to promote the creation of Decent Work worldwide and in all institutions: ensures both the right development in rich countries and development in the poor ones • Promote the Core Labour Standards wherever possible • Enabling national affiliates to combat these things nationally and to fight for the rights and policies that will change their situation • Securing that the international political environment works towards the right priorities: Lobbying and campaigning G8, EU, US, AU, APEC etc.

9. Trade union strategies • Working to ensure the right architecture of global institutions and more coherence between them (UN and ILO vs. IMF, WB and WTO) • Working for pro-poor and pro-workers policies in the international institutions, primarily the WTO, the IMF and the World Bank • Ensuring better practices among multinational corporations and in Export Processing Zones • Securing a stronger, united international trade union movement

10. How do we implementthe strategies? • Support national centres with analysis, policy advice and campaigns • Lobby and campaign the international organisations from day to day and at special occasions • Make publications that highlight the problems, get media attention and point to political answers • Create new alliances, take advantage of mutual strengths and campaign together

11. Trade

12. International Trade • International trade: from 1% of World GDP in 1820 to 5.5% in 1950 and 17.2 % in 1998 – even more today… • From triangular patterns to global inter-connectedness - in 1965: 59% between developed; 32 % between developed and developing; 4% between developing - in 1995: 47% between developed; 38% between developed and developing; 14% between developing

13. International Trade

14. International Trade Agreements Bilateral Regional EU MERCOSUR ASEAN APEC Etc. Multilateral WTO

15. History of the Multilateral System • Already in 1948, there was a failed attempt to create an “International Trade Organisation”. • From 1948 to 1994, the GATT (General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade) provided the rules for world trade: 8 negotiation rounds. • WTO established in 1995. Based in Geneva, small secretariat. Today: 149 countries; more than¾ are developing countries and countries in transition to market economies.

16. WTO: How does it work? • Primarily a platform for negotiations – different from IMF and World Bank. • A set of agreements are at the core. They are negotiated and agreed by consensus, and provide the legal framework for global commerce. • Division of tasks: WTO Staff, General Councils and Ministerials

17. Alliances

18. Problems with the WTO • Democratic deficit even though it supposedly is one of the most democratic international organisations… • Special provisions for developing countries but advantages for large and rich countries… (market size, special negotiations, resources) • A blind fait and belief in trade: no impact assessments on development, employment or the environment • No voice for trade unions…

19. Trade union demands for reform Transparent and democratic structures Prioritising employment Integrating labour standards Coherence with the ILO & the UN Transition programmes & aid Non-interference in non-core issues

20. Areas of negotiation at the WTO Agriculture Services Manufacturing

21. Agriculture • What’s at stake? - Market Acces: tariff and other barriers - Domestic Support: subsidies and other programmes - Export Subsidies • What are the problems? - The agricultural sector of developing countries - the most important sector for many of them - is losing ground because of the cheap, subsidised products from developed countries - On average, 70% of the workers in developing countries work in agriculture

22. Agriculture – two examples • The EU exports wheat at two-thirds of its production cost, and sugar at only 25%. The EU subsidises each cow by more than US$2 per day while 3 billion people in developing countries have to survive on less than this amount. • The US’ annual subsidies of US$ 4 billion for its cotton production cause a reduction in world prices of 26%, directly affecting the income of the more than 10 million people in West and Central Africa dependant on cotton production.

23. Manufacturing • What’s at stake? - Market Acces: tariffs and non-tariff barriers • What are the problems? - Employment - Sustainable industries - Essential income for many countries - What kind of formula? - Preferecence erosion …textiles is the example of how it shouldn’t be done!

24. Services …the inclusion of services is relatively new in the WTO • Services represent the fastest growing sector of the economy, accounts for 60% of global output, 30% of global employment and nearly 20% of global trade. • The General Agreement on Trade in Servicescovers all internationally-traded services. For example, banking, telecommunications, tourism, professional services, …

25. Services • What’s at stake? - Offers and Access • What are the problems? - The negotiating method - Essential services included – irreversability of liberalisations - Human beings – a tradable commodity? - What is ’more burdensome than necessary’ and who decides it?

26. What is happening right now? • The Doha Development Round has never been a real development round • No place for employment or labour standards • At a stalemate but ready to take off… • Unsure whether the round will be finalised in 2007

27. What is the international trade union movement doing? • International coordination and lobbying • Getting media attention • Alliances and political pressure • Trade Policy Reviews …but it all starts at the national level!

28. Issues for discussion • International trade and workers – what should trade union priorities be? • The value of a multilateral trade system? • Trade and labour standards – compatible? • Other ways of achieving fair trade – i.e. labelling? • What can you do at the national level?

29. Regional co-operationAn example of the wrong model: APEC

30. APEC in brief • 21 Member Economies: Australia, Brunei Darussalam, Canada, Chile, the People's Republic of China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Peru, the Philippines, the Russian Federation, Singapore, Chinese Taipei, Thailand, the United States of America and Viet Nam. • Accounts for 46% the world's population, 46% of world trade and 57% of world GDP. • APEC was established in 1989 with the stated objective of enhancing economic growth and prosperity for the region and strengthening the Asia-Pacific community.

31. APEC in brief • Focus is on growth, cooperation, trade and investment. Key tool is reduction of tariffs and trade barriers as well as trade facilitation. • Cooperation is based on non-binding commitments, open dialogue and decisions made by consensus. • Bogor Goals adopted in 1994 are the main guide: free and open trade in developed APEC economies by 2010; in all of APEC by 2020. • From ‘trade only’ to a more to ‘trade and’

32. Trade union considerations • Bogor Goals – how far in achieving these: what will be done to speed up the process? • Scope of activities – lip service or a real interest in a broader agenda; openness to new policy measures or ‘traditional’ ways of working? • Will the HRDWG (1 out of 11 WGs) as well as the SSN-CBN and GFPN (2 out of 5 speical task groups) remain on the fringes? • How to get labour issues into APEC?

33. Finance, work and developmentThe work of the IMF and the World Bank

34. The IMF and the World Bank • The World Bank (WB) and International Monetary Fund (IMF) were founded in 1944 in Bretton Woods, USA. • They were created as companion organisations to the United Nations. • The IFIs are meant to contribute to financial stability and economic growth, leading to a more stable and prosperous global economy.

35. IMF and WB: roles and tasks IMF: surveillance, technical assistance and financial assistance to ensure stability World Bank: long-term development and poverty reduction through lending The same undemocratic governance, flawed policy understanding and neo-liberal ideology ►

36. IMF and WB: SAPs • Starting in early 1980s, IMF, WB and regional development banks required the application of Structural Adjustment Programs (SAPs) as loan conditions. • During the 1980s, more than 70 developing countries apply SAPs designed by the IFIs on the pretext of reducing or avoiding indebtedness. • During the 1990s, most of former centrally-planned economies apply SAPs recommended by IFIs, claimed to be necessary steps for building a market economy.

37. From failure to failure • The SAPs failed but their legacy lives on… - The IFIs have not succeeded in preventing an increase of poverty and inequality - In general, there has been slower growth and more inequality after the introduction of SAPs in the 1980s - During the 1990s, the number of people living in extreme poverty has increased in all regions except Asia - In most developing/transition countries, real wages have fallen - Responsibility for Asian financial crisis • The same policy prescriptions continue today

38. IMF and WB Policies Privatisation Liberalisation Deregulation Austerity in public spending

39. Trade union demands • Make a U-turn in policies • Change loan conditionality • Provide financing of public services and state-run pensions without demanding their privatisation • Extend debt relief to a greater number of countries • Support labour reforms only when they respect ILO conventions and promote the core labour standards …some optimism!

40. Changing globalisation Placing Decent Work at the heart of global governance

41. Labour standards, trade union strategies and capacity building:Discussion of possibilities

42. Trade union strategies • Promoting Decent Work • Promote the Core Labour Standards wherever possible • Enabling national affiliates to work on the issues • Securing that the international political environment works towards the right priorities • Ensuring the right architecture of global institutions and more coherence between them • Working for pro-poor and pro-workers policies in the international institutions • Ensuring better practices among multinational corporations and in Export Processing Zones • Securing a stronger, united international trade union movement