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TRADE UNIONS IN ACTION
As
globalisation throws up problems for workers that do
not respond to purely national solutions, international
co-operation and solidarity between trade unionists,
unions, national centres (such as the TUC) and international
trade union organisations play an increasingly crucial
role in safeguarding workers' rights.
On
this page, you'll find a few examples of how the trade
union movement is tackling some of the key problems
arising from, or intensified by globalisation.
The TUC is actively involved in supporting activities
in all these areas. Find
out more here.
 Tackling
trade union and human rights abuses
Several
hundred trade unionists are killed each year. Several
thousands more are imprisoned, beaten in demonstrations,
tortured by security forces or others, and often sentenced
to long prison terms.
Each
year, hundreds of thousands of workers lose their jobs
merely for attempting to organise a trade union. Throughout
the world, millions of workers, often women and children,
are forced to work against their will.
The ICFTU's campaign for trade union and human rights
Together with its affiliates, its regional organisations,
the International Trade Secretariats, and non-governmental
organisations from all over the world, the ICFTU wages
a permanent campaign for the universal respect of trade
union rights, as guaranteed by the Conventions of the
International Labour Organisation.
Every
year, it produces an Annual
Survey of Violations of Trade Union Rights; makes
appeals to its affiliates for urgent action on behalf
of persecuted trade unionists; lodges complaints at
the ILO against countries violating trade union rights,
either alone or in association with national trade unions
and International Trade Secretariats, and draws media
attention to the abuses suffered by workers.
For more information, click
here.
Global Union Federations
An Individual union will usually belong to a national
union centre (e.g. the TUC) in its country. The national
centre will then affiliate to a world body such as the
International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU).
The same individual union will also usually affiliate
to the Global Union Federation(s) relevant to the union's
members. The Global Union Federations are therefore
the International representatives of unions organising
in specific industry sectors or occupational groups.
They work closely with the ICFTU and the Trade Union
Advisory Committee to the OECD (TUAC) in the Global
Unions Family to promote trade union rights globally.
The
Global Union Federations are:
For
more information on the work of the Global Unions, see
www.global-unions.org
Balancing
the power of multinationals
The
role of multinational enterprises in the world economy
has increased steadily in the decades following the
Second World War.
The
conduct of multinational enterprises is not necessarily
better or worse than that found in purely national or
local companies. They are, at times, better placed to
carry improvements in working conditions and development.
However, they can also help drive a race to the bottom.
One
aspect of globalisation is the increasing power of multinationals
to disrupt collective bargaining agreements or bargaining
structures.
Multinational
enterprises also operate in countries where external
control of their practices is difficult if not impossible
(China, for example). Add to this a very complex structure
of subcontractors, sub-subcontractors (often with steps
further down the line), suppliers, outsourcing, networks,
etc., and the need for strong international trade union
structures becomes apparent.
The
growing role of multinational enterprises in the world
economy has also affected the behaviour of national
and local governments.
Sometimes
it seems as if there is as much or more competition
among governments for investment from multinationals
than there is among companies for market share. Incentives
to attract investment can range from tax holidays and
infrastructure construction to special laws and the
denial of workers' rights.
A
key trade union tool for addressing the growth of corporate
power is the framework agreement.
Framework
agreements are signed by Global Union Federations and
multinational companies. As the global-level representatives
of workers in a particular company or industry, the
Global Union Federations have the mandate to negotiate
agreemets with multinational companies. Such agreements
establish frameworks of principles. They are not detailed
collective bargaining agreements and are not intended
to compete with agreements at the national level. Framework
agreements are intended to help create the space for
workers to organise and bargain at the local level.
These agreements cover trade union and other workers'
rights. In some cases, they cover other issues as well,
including those concerned with suppliers. They establish
a relationship with a company that makes it possible
to resolve problems, often before conflicts become serious.
Further
information on framework agreements is available from
the website of the Global Union Federation.
 The
OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises
There
is no shortage of codes of conduct or guidelines covering
the operations of multinational companies. If anything,
there has been a proliferation of voluntary instruments
in recent years.
Many companies now have codes - often unilateral ones
which have not been developed with trade union participation
and which don't have effective monitoring and verification
systems. NGOs have also been developing codes of conduct.
What
makes the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises
('the Guidelines') significant is the fact that they
have been adopted by all 30 OECD governments as well
as some non-OECD countries, including Argentina, Brazil
and Chile.
They
are endorsed by these governments and represent their
shared expectation as to how multinationals should behave.
The
Guidelines go beyond employment and industrial relations
to cover broader issues like human rights, disclosure
of information, environmental protection, corruption,
and taxation. They also benefit from having an implementation
process in which governments, through a National Contact
Point, play a central role.
Each
government which has adopted the OECD Guidelines is
obliged to set up a National Contact Point (NCP) who
is responsible for promoting, implementing and overseeing
the application of the Guidelines in that country. This
includes dealing with complaints brought against multinational
companies under the provisions of the Guidelines.
The
NCP is required to report and feed back to the OECD
on at least an annual basis. In some OECD countries,
the NCP is a tripartite body. In the UK, he is a DTI
civil servant.
The
Guidelines are not just limited to the OECD countries-
they have a global reach. They can be used as a tool
both to promote responsible corporate behaviour and
to address negative behaviour through the complaints
procedure.
For
more information, see the Guide for trade unions produced
by the Trade Union Advisory Committee to the OECD (TUAC),
and the UK National Contact Point Information Booklet
below.
Note:
TUAC is an international trade union organisation which
has consultative status with the OECD. It represents
organised labour's views to that organisation. As the
OECD is taking in new members and becoming the forum
for intergovernmental discussions on globalisation,
TUAC's role is now one of ensuring that global markets
are balanced by an effective social dimension.
http://www.dti.gov.uk/worldtrade/ukncp.htm
Eliminating child
labour
Today,
250 million children are working. 125 million of them
have never seen the inside of a classroom.
More
than two-thirds of all working children are found in
the agricultural sector followed by manufacturing, the
wholesale and retail trade, restaurants and hotels,
domestic and other 'personal services'. While at work,
a large number of children are affected by numerous
hazards.
The
ILO's International Programme on the Elimination of
Child Labour (IPEC)
IPEC's
aim is to work towards the progressive elimination of
child labour by strengthening national capacities to
address child labour problems, and by creating a worldwide
movement to combat it.
IPEC's
priority target groups are bonded child labourers, children
in hazardous working conditions and occupations and
children who are particularly vulnerable, i.e. very
young working children (below 12 years of age), and
working girls.
The
political will and commitment of individual governments
to address child labour in cooperation with employers'
and workers' organizations, other NGOs and relevant
parties in society - such as universities and the media
- is the starting point for all IPEC action.
Trade
unions, large and small, throughout the world are working
with IPEC. Find out more here.
Protecting
public services
The
form of globalisation we have seen in recent decades
has been characterised by the relentless drive to liberalise
trade i.e. to remove trade barriers, promote privatisation,
and reduce regulation.
Many
developing countries have been forced to adopt harsh
structural adjustment programmes in return for loans
from the World Bank and IMF. As a result of these programmes,
they have had to orientate their economies towards producing
exports and to reduce already inadequate spending on
public services such as health and education.
The
liberalisation of trade in services has also been on
the agenda at the WTO, giving rise to public concern
in both developing and industrialised countries over
the privatisation of public services.
Public Services International
Public
Services International, or PSI, is an international
trade union federation for public sector unions.
More
than 500 public service trade unions in more than 140
countries make up PSI. Together these unions represent
more than 20 million public sector workers.
Since
1907, PSI has organised public sector workers in many
different occupations. Today, health workers, fire-fighters,
workers in public utilities, child minders, civil servants,
judges, food inspectors, social workers and a large
number of other professional groups make up PSI's membership.
PSI has been part of the international struggle to
bring to account the World Bank, the IMF, the WTO, multinational
enterprises and governments which make decisions about
global trade, production, investment and structural
adjustment. Find out more about PSI's work on international
trade, economy and finance here.
PSI
has worked on the WTO's General Agreement on Trade in
Services (GATS) treaty for a number of years. It has
engaged in discussions with the WTO and governments
and has raised awareness of the issue both within and
beyond the trade union movement.
PSI
has produced a number of briefings on the impact of
the trade in services on the public sector. Click here
for more information.
PSI
collaborates with Education International (see below)
on the GATS issue.
Education International - Global Campaign for Education
Education
International is a world-wide trade union organisation
of education personnel, whose 24 million members in
304 national trade unions and associations in 155 countries
and territories represent all sectors of education from
pre-school to university.
Education
has in recent years become an important issue for many
NGOs, like teachers' unions, in their advocacy work
at the national and international level.
There
is a growing conviction that basic education is one
of the key factors in the eradication of poverty and
that it is the cornerstone of freedom, democracy and
sustainable human development. Also, in eliminating
the worst forms of child labour, education plays a vital
role.
The
Global Campaign for Education (GCE) brings together
organisations working in 180 countries, and aims to
hold governments accountable for the fact that 125 million
children are denied an education.
The
GCE was launched by three international organisations
- Education International, Action Aid and Oxfam International
- in partnership with civil society networks throughout
the developing world and the Global
March Against Child Labour.
Read
more about the Global
Campaign for Education.
 Unions
Unite Against HIV/AIDS
HIV/AIDS is one of the most serious social and economic
challenges of our time and trade unions are alarmed
at the devastating effects of the disease on workers,
their families and the community at large. At the ICFTU’s
17th World Congress in Durban, South Africa in 2000,
the international trade union movement made a commitment
to raise general awareness of the epidemic and to seek
immediate, strong and effective action to control and
eradicate this terrible disease.
Three
priorities for action were identified: to adopt preventive
measures; to mobilise against any form of discrimination
against people living with HIV/AIDS; and to campaign
to make HIV/AIDS treatment affordable, particularly
for those in developing countries.
 The
spread of HIV/AIDS in developing countries has been
exacerbated by poverty; structural adjustment programmes,
which starve key sectors such as health and education
of vital resources; and limited access to treatment.
95% of people living with HIV/AIDS are to be found in
this part of the world. However, it would be wrong to
see HIV/AIDS as a problem primarily for developing countries.
It is a global problem, undermining economic progress
and development and requiring an integrated, co-ordinated
and sustained international response.
Trade
unions play a key role in the fight against HIV/AIDS.
The workplace is an important point of focus for initiatives
to tackle the disastrous effects of the pandemic as
it provides access to a large, yet captive audience.
Consequently, the TUC, ICFTU and other trade union organisations
are promoting the ILO’s Code of Practice on HIV/AIDS
and the World of Work as a practical guide for formulating
appropriate workplace policies, prevention and care
programmes.
 Trade
unions also form national and international networks
which have been effective in promoting campaigns for
social rights. These are being mobilised in the struggle
against HIV/AIDS.
Further
information:
 Action
for Southern Africa on HIV/AIDS
TUC
Written Submission to the UK Parliament Select Committee
on International Development’s inquiry on HIV/AIDS
in developing countries
The
ILO on HIV/AIDS
Congress of South
African Trade Unions
PSI
Campaign to combat AIDS
Education
International on AIDS
ICFTU
on AIDS
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