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On November 17 Steve Turner, TUC spokesperson on Europe and Assistant General Secretary of Unite delivered a speech on TTIP and securing social rights and labour standards at the conference ‘TTIP: What’s in it for social partners?’ in Brussels.  Also speaking at the conference was the European trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmstrӧm, President of the European Parliament Martin Schulz and Prime Minister of Luxembourg Xavier Bettel.  The conference was organised jointly by the European Economic and Social Committee, the European Parliament, the European Commission and the government of Luxembourg which currently has the Presidency of the Council of the European Union.

More information about the conference can be found here: http://www.eesc.europa.eu/?i=portal.en.events-and-activities-ttip-socia…;


‘Securing social rights and labour standards’

Speech  by Steve Turner, TUC spokesperson on Europe at the conference ‘TTIP: What’s in it for social partners?’

Brussels

17 November 2015

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The TUC isn’t against trade, we have a long history of being a successful trading nation and we know jobs and growth depend on trade.  However trade must be fair, we don’t want trade at any cost. 

The TUC is opposed to TTIP, CETA and TiSA because they represent a power grab by global corporations, are against the interests of citizens, consumers and workers and look set to undermine developing countries' economies.

China

The TUC has voiced opposition to China dumping cheap steel on the UK market which has resulted in severe job losses in steel as production plants find they can’t compete. The TUC now estimates one in six workers risks losing their job, causing real hardship to communities across the country.  The TUC has called for David Cameron to raise this issue with China and not support China being granted Market Economy Status, which would make it harder to defend our industries against such aggressive dumping practices.

TTIP and labour rights

Unions are concerned about TTIP due to the negative impact that it will have on workers’ rights. Nothing we have seen in TTIP gives us confidence that the objective us to raise standards.  The US has significantly lower labour standards than those found in Europe.  It has not ratified all of the ILO core conventions and in some ‘right to work’ states like Tennessee, it is effectively impossible for trade unions to operate normally. 

For TTIP to level up the playing field on workers’ rights, it would need to contain enforceable labour standards backed up by sanctions.  But unfortunately the text of the sustainable development chapter of TTIP at the moment recommends ILO labour standards are followed but hasn't put forward any enforcement mechanisms to ensure they are.  

A voluntary approach towards workers' rights hasn’t worked with trade deals the EU has signed in the past. Since Korea signed a trade agreement with the EU in 2011, more workers and union leaders have been thrown in prison.  Since the EU-Colombia/Peru agreement in 2013, more workers have been gunned down with impunity.

Even if TTIP did contain commitments to respect labour standards at the federal level in the USA, meanwhile, it would not mean they had to be respected at sub-federal level.  This would mean states still wouldn’t be compelled to respect workers’ rights.

ISDS

It seems odd that while workers’ rights are under threat across the world, the group whose rights the Commission seems to be working hardest to protect are multinational investors with its proposals for investment protection in TTIP.

It is encouraging that the European Commission has acknowledged the level of public concern about Investor-State Dispute Settlement and proposed modifications to ISDS in TTIP with the new ‘Investment Court System’.

But this new Investment Court System still provides special courts for foreign investors to claim their rights.  No other group, not domestic investors, workers or civil society group has an equivalent route to justice. 

As with ISDS, the proposed new Investment Court would also grant foreign investors wide-ranging scope to sue governments for compensation for actions that threaten their future profits. 

Across the EU we are already seeing workers' rights undermined, with the Trade Union Bill in Britain threatening to introduce severe restrictions on unions’ right to strike, while the European court rulings in Viking and Laval have undermined collective bargaining in recent times.  ISDS in TTIP would mean that workers could find collective agreements challenged by foreign investors in special courts, crucially undermining meaningful collective bargaining.

Threats to public services

Public services are included in the investment chapter of TTIP.  This means foreign investors would be able to sue governments for compensation for bringing part-privatised services back in-house. 

There are many examples of ISDS being used in this way in the past, eg. a Dutch company called Achmea used ISDS to sue Slovakia before it joined the EU for renationalising its health service - this has resulted in Slovakia being forced to pay 1.32 million Euros in arbitration costs so far.

In Britain this poses a great threat to our National Health Service which has been hollowed out by privatisation.

We would support a future government renationalising parts of the NHS, but with a multi-million, or even billion, euro ISDS case hanging over their heads, many governments would be too scared to attempt it.

This ‘chilling effect’ of our democracies is unacceptable. Our governments must not be held in handcuffs by investment protection measures. 

Our message to representatives of the European Commission here today is clear: if you wish to protect European social standards, you must get rid of all special courts for foreign investors in TTIP and all trade agreements and completely carve out public services from the investment chapter.

We need a positive list approach taken for public services in the market access chapter of TTIP to prevent further privatisation of services

We need to scrap the ‘ratchet clause’ currently in the negotiating text of TTIP that means all privatisation of public services that takes place after the deal is concluded is irreversible.

These protections for public services clearly written into the TTIP text.

Nice as it was for the Commissioner Malmstrom to take the time to write to British MPs saying our public services are safe, only written text in the treaty is legally binding, and only this will convince us our public services would be safe in TTIP.

The European Commission should listen to the democratic representatives of Europe in its approach to TTIP too. The European Parliament resolution on TTIP passed in the summer called for a positive list approach to listing public services as well as enforceable ILO labour standards in TTIP. 

CETA

The most immediate concern of the TUC and unions across Europe and Canada is CETA, the EU-Canada agreement soon to come before the European Parliament.  This deal contains many of the same dangers as TTIP - ISDS, inadequate carve outs for public services, the ratchet clause and no enforceable labour standards.

American investors based in Canada will even be able to sue EU governments through the ISDS clause in CETA.

The TUC will be campaigning for MEPs to oppose the EU-Canada agreement when it reaches parliament.  Opposition amongst MEPs is growing. The Socialist and Democrat group in the European Parliament have said that they will reject and the EU-Canada agreement if it contains its current form of ISDS, while Germany, France and Greece have voiced concerns about ratifying the deal.

Conclusion

The Commission should heed the warnings voiced by unions, MEPs and national parliaments and reopen the CETA text, renegotiate a deal in the people’s interest that protects workers’ rights and social standards. That means no special court for foreign investors, a positive list to completely exclude public services from the deal and a labour chapter which makes clear that labour rights are enforceable and backed up by sanctions for any violations.  

Unions across Europe and America are united in calling for such protections and enforceable workers rights in TTIP too.

Negotiators and government must engage with social partners to ensure our health, democracy and rights are protected in trade deals. These are not commodities, they are core values, and they cannot be traded away.

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