Why trade unionists should get involved

Why trade unionists should get involved

For the Trades Union Congress (TUC) and the wider trade union movement, getting involved in MAKE POVERTYHISTORY followed naturally from our work in the international development field. Trade union core values - the struggle for social and economic justice - are the same as those for MAKE POVERTYHISTORY and the Global Call To Action Against Poverty, and so it's important to be involved in the Global Month of Action and activity in autumn 2006.

The key message, that the structures of the current global economic system are rigged against the developing world in relation to trade, debt and aid, is a straightforward one for trade unionists used to negotiating in their own workplaces. We also know from our own struggles that there is nothing natural or inevitable about millions living in want.

The moral argument for international trade union solidarity has always existed. However, in an age of ever-increasing globalisation, the direct economic consequences to British workers of unfair patterns of development and underdevelopment are increasingly clear. When countries desperate to attract foreign investment set up Economic Processing Zones in which national laws and standards are waived (including Core Labour Standards [1] ) workers in these countries lose out as do others, including workers in developed countries who try to maintain decent standards. For trade unions in the UK, this also poses a threat to our hard fought for rights in what is termed a 'race to the bottom'.

Never has the International Labour Organisation's maxim, 'poverty anywhere is a threat to prosperity everywhere', been more true. We now know that the increases in global trade have not led to an equal reduction in global poverty. Workers' self-organisation is vital in the long term to ensure a fairer distribution of wealth.

Trade unions and their members formed a crucial part of the MAKE POVERTYHISTORY coalition last year, with tens of thousands in Edinburgh and many more involved in other ways. We have found as we work with development agencies that together we are stronger. We believe that our continued involvement in various ways will be important to the success of global economic justice campaigning in the UK.

[1] In 1997 the ILO designated 8 conventions as fundamental workers rights/core labour standards these were to be regarded as basic human rights and were applicable to all ILO member countries regardless of levels of development. They can be summed up as freedom from child labour, freedom from forced labour, the right to non-discrimination in the work place and the right to join and a union and bargain collectively