ILO minimum labour standards

1. ILO minimum labour standards • Non-Compliance with the core labour standards is resulting in international competition to reduce social standards. • US has ratified two ILO core labour standards. (Abolition of Forced Labour Convention and the ban on Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention) • Not ratified: • Freedom of Association and the Protection of the Right to Organise Convention. • Right to Organise and Bargaining Convention. • Forced Labour Convention. • Equal Remuneration Convention. • Discrimination Convention. • Minimum Age Convention.

2. Anti-union campaign by several multinationals (EU) • “Companies are removing union literature, prohibiting workers from talking about the union, conducting surveillance of union supporters, withholding wage increases, circulating anti-union petitions. In their campaign a climate of fear and intimidation is created in the workplace”. • Multinationals are using a double standard in the treatment of its American employees.

3. The “right to work” laws • Regard the finances of trade unions. • All contributions shall be voluntary payments. The number of members is declining. Wages and employers` health insurance and pension contributions are falling. The protection of employees is diminishing. Rising international competitive pressure to reduce social standards and wages

4. Demands by Austrian Trade Union Federation • All eight ILO Core Labour Standards have to be ratified, implemented into national law and complied with. In the case of violations of these standards, the general dispute settlement procedure of the FTA has to be applied. • Also other standards from the ILO should be included. • Non-lowering of Standards clause.

5. Sustainability chapter is proposed by European Commission • ÖGB is opposing the proposals from the EU. • No effective enforcement provisions are included. • No effective monitoring. • The participation of the Trade Unions is not ensured? • No sanctions = acceptance of violations.

6. Social Standards in Sustainability Chapters of Bilateral Free Trade Agreements Karin Lukas, Astrid Steinkellner Ludwig Boltzmann Institute of Human Rights Editor Éva Dessewffy, Chamber of Labour Vienna

7. Reduction of policy space • Provisions and obligations on market access, national treatment, monopolies, subsidies and government procurement. • “regulatory chill” effect. • “lock in” effect of current liberalisation level.

8. „Positive list“-approach • Sectors must be specifically included in list of scheduled to be subject to specific obligations. • Horizontal and sector-specific limitations leave regulatory space. • GATS and all existing EU FTAs.

9. „Negative list“-approach • All sectors are subject to obligations unless specifically excluded. • Annex I: Existing non-conforming measures. • „Ratchet mechanism“: Lock-in of future liberalisation measures. • Annex II: Existing and future measures. • Retains policy space . • NAFTA und North American FTAs; CETA.

10. How are public services excluded? • Art I.3 (b): Services „supplied in the exercise of governmental authority“ are exempted from GATS • Art I.3 (c) defines these services as those, which are “supplied neither on a commercial basis, nor in competition with one or more service suppliers” • excludes only typical governmental functions (law enforcement, general administration, judicial system).

11. How are public services excluded? • Horizontal exemption clauses • In all EC Member States services considered as public utilities at a national or local level may be subject to public monopolies or to exclusive rights granted to private operators.* • Explanatory Note: Public utilities exist in sectors such as related scientific and technical consulting services, R&D services on social sciences and humanities, technical testing and analysis services, environmental services, health services, transport services and services auxiliary to all modes of transport……. • Proposal for a new classification: to exclude so called “network industries”

12. How are public services excluded? • Sector-specific limitations • EDUCATIONAL SERVICES (…only privately funded services)

13. Prospects for a better protection of public services • “The high quality of the EU's public utilities should be preserved in accordance with the TFEU and in particular Protocol N° 26 on Services of General Interest, and taking into account the EU's commitments in this area, including the GATS.” • But the EU has got strong interests obtaining market access in several public services sectors.

14. What are we demanding? • Public services have to be clearly excluded from the scope of the Agreement. • Negotiations about services on the basis of positive list approach. • The EU offer on new obligations should be discussed and decided by the parliaments.

15. PUBLIC SERVICES IN EU TRADE AND INVESTMENT AGREEMENTS Prof. Dr. Markus Krajewski University of Erlangen-Nürnberg Draft version for the meeting on 14 November 2013 The politics of Globalization and public services: putting EU´s trade and investment agenda in its place Seminar organised by the European Federation of Public Service Unions (EPSU), the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC), the Austrian Trade Union Federation (ÖGB) and the Austrian Federal Chamber of Labour (AK)