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THE IMPACT OF GLOBALISATION AND ITS IMPACT ON WORKERS

THE IMPACT OF GLOBALISATION AND ITS IMPACT ON WORKERS. Main Challenges for the Labour Movement . QUOTE…No.1. “Globalization reduces poverty because integrated economies tend to grow faster and this growth is usually widely diffused” By World Bank WB Report in 2001. QUOTE…No.2.

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THE IMPACT OF GLOBALISATION AND ITS IMPACT ON WORKERS

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  1. THE IMPACT OF GLOBALISATION AND ITS IMPACT ON WORKERS Main Challenges for the Labour Movement

  2. QUOTE…No.1 “Globalization reduces poverty because integrated economies tend to grow faster and this growth is usually widely diffused” By World Bank WB Report in 2001

  3. QUOTE…No.2 “To allow the market mechanism to be sole director of the fate of human beings and their natural environment…would result in the demolition of society” By Karl Polanyi in 1944

  4. AGENDA FOR DISCUSSION How do you change “globalization” to better serve for workers and ordinary people in the world?

  5. Activity 1 • Take a piece of paper, and write a list of FIVE THINGS (reforms) you will implement as President or Prime Minister of your country to improve “globalization”

  6. Activity 2 • For each of the five things you identified in Activity 1, list THREE THINGS you should do to achieve the best success

  7. GLOBALISATION: HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENT • Continuous and radical changes in: • Means of Transportation • Information Technology • Political (Regulatory) Framework.

  8. GLOBALISATION OF: • Trade • Production • Finance (investment, capital) • Company (MNEs) • Cultures • Politics

  9. GLOBALISATION IS… Process of economic, social, political and cultural integration of nation-states into a global market/community/standard, with much increased inter-dependence

  10. CHANGE OF WHEELS and ENGINES for GLOBALIZATION 1980 TRADE FDI Exchange of goods and services between nation state Creation of productive assets and purchase of assets by foreigners GOLD STD/FIXED RATE US$/FLOATING RATE MANAGED MARKET ECONOMY FREE MARKET ECONOMY LARGE GOVERNMENTfor WELFARE STATE SMALL GOVERNMENTfor PRIVATE INITIATIVE COLD WARPOWER POLITICS NEW-LIBERALECONOMIC POLITICS

  11. NEO-LIBERALISM “If you free up the flow of private capital, goods and services across national borders then this will lead to raised levels of productivity, GDP growth, employment and real income.”

  12. GLOBALISATION OFTRADE • Increase in trade volume (1950-2001): • International trade grew twice as fast as GDP, or world production • However, the growth rate was much higher during 1950’s and 1960’s than in 1990’s • Until 1980’s, production was still based in few industrialised countries: • Fordism (mass production system) • Standardisation of products.

  13. GLOBAL ASSEMBLY LINE • Garments designed in the USA - • Manufactured under contract in China • By a company owned in Hong Kong • With raw materials from all around the world • Transported to the UK in container ships carrying a flag of convenience and crewed by Filipino seafarers • Payroll and other data tasks carried out in Asia • And, the profits accounted in a tax haven (to avoid tax)

  14. GLOBALISATION OF FINANCE • Political decisions to liberalise capital’s circulation; • Creation of a global financial network; • Daily transactions: more than 2 trillion US $ (1/4 of total world trade value). Source: WTO (Annual DG Report 2001)

  15. GLOBALISATION OFCOMPANY • Trans-national Corporations developed: • Regional markets • World market • More than 60,000 trans-national corporations (TNCs) with over 800,000 affiliates abroad. Source: UNCTAD

  16. GLOBALISATION OF CULTURES • Development of the media via satellites; • Global media concentration; • Advertising; • English has become a de facto global language for business although there exist 6,000 languages in the world (95% of world population speak around 100 languages): One person in five speaks English.

  17. GLOBALISATION OF POLITICS • End of cold war – proliferation of the democratic values and market rules of the winner (U.S.); • Development of democracy (but with a huge gap between the idea and reality); • Threat to, and huge limit on, sovereignty of nation-states (e.g. social and economic policies); • Increasing impact of international institutions on social and economic policies of countries.

  18. GLOBALISATION… or POLARISATION? [TRADE] • Percentage in World Trade • Share of Africa = 1% “While world trade has increased ten times since 1970 and more food is produced per person than ever before, the number of people going hungry in Africa has doubled…”

  19. GLOBALISATION… orPOLARLIZATION? [FDI] • The world’s top 30 host countries account for 95% of total world FDI inflows and 90% of stocks; • The world’s top 30 home countries account for around 99% of outward FDI flows and stocks; • 49 LDC receive 0.7% of FDI; • Below 1% = African share in FDI inflows. Source: UNCTAD

  20. GLOBALISATION… orPOLARLIZATION? [TNCs] • Fifty-one of the world's top 100 economies are corporations (in 2000); • TNCs control 2/3 of all world trade and 80 % of foreign investment; • TNCs employ only 3% of the total world labour force (2.5 billion) and less than half of them are in the South; • The 200 largest TNCs employ 1% of the total labour force and have a turnover equal to 28.3% of the world GNP; • About 90 of the world’s largest 100 non-financial TNCs are headquartered in the Triad (US, EU and Japan). Source: Institute for Policy Studies Source: W. Anfreff, “Le multinazionali globali”, Trieste 2000 Source: Oneworld.net Source: Globalpolicy.org Source: UNCTAD

  21. GLOBALISATION… or POLARISATION? [INCOME] • 20% of the world’s population consumes 86% of goods produced; • The richest 20% of the world’s population had at their disposal 86% of the world GDP while the poorest 20% had access to a mere 1%. • Income gap between the top 10% and the bottom 10% = 77:1 in 1980 and 122:1 in 1999 • Maximum daily consumption of the world’s poorest 400 million = $0.75 in 1998 Various sources

  22. GLOBALISATION… or POLARISATION? [SOCIAL] • More than 250 million children at work; • 120 million working children have no access to school; • Number of “official” unemployment is 160 million and 500 million new jobs needed over the next decade; • 500 million workers are unable to keep their families above the $1 poverty line (of the 1.3 billion people living in poverty worldwide, more than 70% of them are women and girls) . Source: ILO World Employment Report 2001 (www.ilo.org) - ICFTUConference of women trade union leaders, Rio di Janeiro, 18-21 May 1999

  23. CONCEPTUAL BACKBONE OF GLOBALISATION “Neo-liberal Economic Policy” • Thatcherism since ‘79 / Reaganomics since ‘81; • Role of IMF/WB & WTO (Washington Consensus); • “Competition, competition and competition!”; • Liberalization of markets; • Privatisation of public enterprises and services; • New Zealand’s Experiment in Asia and the Pacific • “Integrationist Strategy” for development

  24. OTHER FACTORS OF GLOBALISATION • Fiscal crises in nation states; • Reduction of tariffs & trade barriers (GATT and WTO) Integration of national markets into a global market and the emergence of global competition; • Concentration of capital (mergers & acquisitions); • Development of new products (New Economy): services and information.

  25. IMPACT of GLOBALIZATION on TRADE UNIONS (1) • Decrease of trade union density; • From national agreements/negotiations to enterprise/individual agreements (NZ shock); • Abolition of, or pressure on, check-off systems; • Increase of the informal employment (most of the workers employed are women and children) where no social protection is ensured and organizing is extremely difficult.

  26. IMPACT or GLOBALISATION on TRADE UNIONS (2) • Increase of atypical forms of labour (contract labour). These form are more common among women than among men (90% of home workers in EU are women); • Increase of EPZs (from 850 in 1999); • Global attack against workers’ rights; • Weaker tripartite machinery. Source: ICFTU Annual Survey

  27. IMPACT of GLOBALISATION on WORKERS’ RIGHTS (1) • Over 300 strikes repressed by employers or the police, in nearly 90 countries; • About 8,500 arrested or detained; • 209 trade unionists killed or disappeared; • Over 100,000 harassed ; • 20,000 dismissed because of their trade union activities. Source: ICFTU Survey of Violations of Trade Union Rights 2001 (http://www.icftu.org/survey).

  28. IMPACT of GLOBALISATION on WORKERS’ RIGHTS (2) • 20 million bounded labourers worldwide; • 700.000 women and children victims of cross-border human trafficking each year; • Worldwide women are paid anything between 10-50% less than men for doing similar job or different job of equal value. Source:PSI Women - N.14- January 2002 (www.world-psi.org) ICFTU:www.icftu.org/survey

  29. THE CHALLENGE:GOVERN OR FIGHT? (1) • Organising / Global unions; • Framework Agreements; • Alliance on MNEs; • Extension of the European Works Councils into Global Works Council.

  30. THE CHALLENGE:GOVERN OR FIGHT? (2) • Trade union networking and global solidarity; • Globalisation of workers’ rights: ILO Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work; • Social Clause.

  31. THE CHALLENGE:GOVERN OR FIGHT? (3) • Co-ordination of economic, trade, and social policies; • Social dimension of globalisation and the role of the ILO in the world agenda (G8 and relationships with IMF/WB/WTO.

  32. FUNDAMENTAL GOALS of TRADE UNIONS are… • To give globalization “human face” that benefits us all, eradicate poverty, eliminates social exclusion and reduce inequality; • To take workers’ rights out of competition by establishing fundamental common standards.

  33. HOW TO ACHIEVE THE GOALS? • Promote “pluralism” in international decision-makings; • Reform IMF/WB/WTO; • Establish international rules negotiated with the social partners; • Control capital flow (short term, speculative) to redirect investment into real economies; • Internationalize trade union programmes, activities, campaigns and solidarity.

  34. What is Role of ILO?

  35. THE ILO AGENDA:TO ACHIEVE “DECENT WORK FOR ALL • “Decent Work” composed of: • Workers’ rights • Productive employment • Social protection • Social dialogue

  36. WORKERS’RIGHTS • Ratification and implementation of core labour standards (eight core conventions); • Ratification and implementation of international labour standards; • Participation to the ILS supervisory system and to the follow-up of the Declaration.

  37. PRODUCTIVE EMPLOYMENT • Productive employment with dignity; • Employment policies should be core part of national economic/social policy, with equal opportunities and treatments guaranteed; • Development of small and medium-size enterprises.

  38. SOCIAL PROTECTION • Development of social security systems that cover the entire population; • Pension schemes to guarantee a decent life after retirement; • Other welfare benefits; • Special attention to vulnerable groups (women, youth, migrants, the informal sector, minorities, etc.); • O.S.H. and the Environment.

  39. SOCIAL DIALOGUE • Promotion and institutionalization of tripartism; • Strengthening workers’ and employers’ organisations; • Strengthening negotiations between social partners at all levels (enterprise, industry, national, regional and international).

  40. Decent WorkFor Better Tomorrow

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