TUC response to Select Committee Fair Trade Report

TUC response to Commons Select Committee report

Fair Trade and Development

14 June 2007

Responding to the Commons International Development Select Committee report on Fair Trade and Development, published today (Thursday), TUC General Secretary Brendan Barber said:

'Trade unions will welcome the emphasis on paying workers in developing countries a decent wage. Fair trade is one way that consumers in Britain can make sure people who work in developing countries get a fair day's pay for a fair day's work - so that everyone benefits from globalisation.

'But the Select Committee is right also to emphasise that consumers can do little about countries like China where the right to join a trade union doesn't exist. The only way to ensure that people can work their way out of poverty is to give them the power to set their own wages, through the human right to free collective bargaining and the right to join a union.

'The Select Committee has made clear that fundamental labour rights - the core labour standards of the International Labour Organisation - must not be a luxury only available in the richest nations. They are universal human rights, and employers and governments all over the world should abide by them.'

The TUC was one of the organisations that gave evidence to the Select Committee Enquiry into Fair Trade which led to the report. The report is available at www.parliament.uk/indcom

Among the recommendations of the Select Committee, the TUC draws particular attention to the following:

3. The drive for cheaper produce is neither desirable nor sustainable if such low prices involve the exploitation of labour abroad. We accept that developing countries have a competitive advantage in cheaper labour and they should be able to take advantage of this, but we do not accept that workers should be paid less than the national minimum wage where one exists. Nor should fundamental labour rights be dependent on levels of economic development. (Paragraph 33)