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Chapter 13 - International

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Chapter 13

International

13.1 Introduction

The General Council have continued to campaign together with other organisations in the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions and the Trade Union Advisory Committee to the OECD for policies to promote demand-led growth, for the enforcement of core workers' rights, and for the inclusion of social policy by governments as well as international institutions as a response to the financial and economic crisis in some regions of the world. Violations of trade union rights world-wide have increased, with flashpoints between workers and governments or employers frequently arising when workers protest against government austerity measures or job layoffs brought about by the crisis. The ICFTU and TUAC celebrated their 50th anniversary in 1999 and 1998 respectively.

The campaigning leadership of the new ILO Director General, Dr Juan Somavia, is very welcome. No other international organisation stands better placed to construct the social pillar required in the new world economic order than the ILO, with its unique tripartite structure. A major step forward this year was the adoption of a new convention on the elimination of the worst forms of child labour.

The General Council have given high priority to international development issues, and have lent full support to the Jubilee 2000 Coalition campaign aimed at the cancellation of international debt of the poorest countries. Contacts with the Department for International Development have developed and the General Council are keen to build further on joint approaches in advancing human rights, particularly in respect of core labour standards and strengthening democratic civil society.

The General Council have extended solidarity within the means available to them in response to a wide range of appeals for trade union cooperation with educational projects and for humanitarian relief. They promoted the Birthday Appeal of the Commonwealth Trade Union Council on the occasion of its 20th Anniversary this year.

13.2 International Confederation of Free Trade Unions

The ICFTU has 124 million members, of whom 43 million are women, in 213 affiliated organisations in 143 countries and territories. 43 million

General Secretary: Bill Jordan

President: LeRoy Trotman

General Council representatives in the Executive Board: John Monks with Rita Donaghy as substitute and Ken Jackson with Bill Morris and Bill Brett as substitutes.

John Monks is a Vice-President and member of the Steering Committee, Economic and Social Committee, Peace, Security and Disarmament Committee, and Human and Trade Union Rights Committee.

Helen McGrath was a member of the Women's Committee until her retirement from the General Council in April. She was succeeded by Jenny Ainsley of the Communications Workers' Union.

This year marks the 50th Anniversary of the founding, in London, of the ICFTU. The General Council have continued to work with the ICFTU in defending trade union rights around the world, campaigning for implementation of international labour standards, tackling multinational companies, assisting trade union recruitment and organisation, and promoting equality. The Executive Board meeting in Elsinore, Denmark, in November discussed the international economic situation and agreed a programme of representations to take advantage of the perceptible movement in the approaches of governments towards ICFTU positions on the need to regulate international financial markets; to introduce measures of social protection at national level; and to guarantee the exercise of basic rights in employment. The Director-General Elect of the ILO, Dr Juan Somavia, addressed the Board and said that he would seek to establish the ILO as a significant force with the IMF, the World Bank and the World Trade Organisation in deliberations about achieving high levels of employment and social development. The Board were informed that the 1997 budget strategy - reducing staffing levels and strengthening regional organisations - had been accomplished and with an increase of fees in 1999 of 1.5 per cent there was expected to be a small surplus in 1999.

In December, the Board welcomed six organisations into ICFTU membership from Angola, Mauritania, Namibia, Hungary and Canada. The ICFTU Steering Committee met in Brussels in June. They agreed to look into the future structureof the international trade union movement, with a view to holding a wide-rangingdebate at the forthcoming ICFTU Congress. The Executive Board has agreed tohold its next meeting in Seattle, USA, in November, 1999, immediately before themeeting of the World Trade Organisation Ministerial meeting there.

The ICFTU dedicated the fourth International Day of Mourning on 28 April to women workers who are affected by at least 60 per cent of work-related accidents and illnesses. In June, the ICFTU published its Annual Survey of Violations Trade Union Rights inciting a record number of 119 countries. The increases in violations are a direct reflection of world events, as the world economic recession impacts on workers.

17th ICFTU World Congress

The Executive Board agreed to accept the invitation of the South African affiliates to hold the 17th World Congress in Durban in April 2000, as a tribute to the South African trade unions' fight against apartheid and a recognition of the role played by the whole international democratic trade union movement. The TUC is represented in a Working Party preparing the Congress agenda.

ICFTU World Women's Conference

The ICFTU 7th World Women's Conference took place in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, 18-21 May. The TUC was represented by Jenny Ainsley, CWU; Louisa Bull, GPMU; General Council members Pat Hawkes, Maureen Rooney and Alison Shepherd; and Kay Carberry of the Equal Rights Department. The conference theme was Working Women in the 21st Century: Demanding our Space, Taking our Place and the main sub theme transforming the global market through equality and justice.

The ICFTU has 124 million members, of whom 43 million are women, in 213 affiliated organisations in 143 countries and territories. 43 million

General Secretary: Bill Jordan

President: LeRoy Trotman

General Council representatives in the Executive Board: John Monks with Rita Donaghy as substitute and Ken Jackson with Bill Morris and Bill Brett as substitutes.

John Monks is a Vice-President and member of the Steering Committee, Economic and Social Committee, Peace, Security and Disarmament Committee, and Human and Trade Union Rights Committee.

Helen McGrath was a member of the Women's Committee until her retirement from the General Council in April. She was succeeded by Jenny Ainsley of the Communications Workers' Union.

13.3 Africa

The 1998 Congress emergency resolution on Angola called on the General Council to urge the British Government to use its influence to avert a full-scale civil war in Angola following the resumption of hostilities between UNITA and government forces. The General Secretary expressed deep concern to the Foreign and Commonwealth Secretary Robin Cook over the non-compliance of the 1994 Lusaka Peace Protocol by UNITA, pointing out that a solution to the crisis was central to the peace and security in the region ravaged by war in the past. He asked the British Government to play a leading role in bringing pressure to bear on UNITA to comply with the requirements of the Protocol.

In June, following the sentencing of Dr Taye Woldesmiate, President of the Ethiopian Teachers' Association (ETA), the General Secretary expressed his deep concern to the Foreign Secretary, and asked the Government to use its influence with the Ethiopian authorities to persuade them to hold an impartial judicial review of the trial. The TUC had raised the issue with Tony Lloyd, Minister of State at the Foreign Commonwealth Office, and made representations to the Ethiopian authorities on a number of occasions.

In November, Frank Kokori, General Secretary of National Union of Petroleum and Gas Employees (NUPENG) and Milton Dabibi, General Secretary of the Petroleum and National Gas Staff Association (PENGASSAN) in Nigeria were received in Congress House during their tour of Europe after their release from prison. The TUC had made representations to the Nigerian Government as well as to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office on their behalf on a number of occasions and backed the ICFTU campaign for their release and restoration of democracy in Nigeria. The two trade unionists expressed their gratitude for the support they received from the British trade union movement. The General Secretary sent a message of congratulations to Adams Oshiomhole, General Secretary of the National Union of Textile and Garment Workers, who was elected President of the Nigerian Labour Congress in the first trade union elections to be held in the country since the ban on trade union activity imposed by the military junta in 1994. The General Council continued to monitor the developments in Nigeria and welcomed the general and presidential elections which resulted in the installation of democratic government.

Shepard Mdladlana, South African Minister of Labour, was received in Congress House in March during his visit to London. In July, the General Secretary met a South African delegation led by James Motlatsi, President of the National Union of Mineworkers and Bobby Godsell, President of the Chamber of Mines of South Africa, during their visit to the UK to seek to persuade the British Government to review its decision to sell part of the gold reserves held by the Bank of England. The General Secretary raised, with the Chancellor of the Exchequer, his concern over the employment impact of gold sales in South Africa and other developing countries and the General Council subsequently adopted a statement asking the Government to bear in mind the economic and social consequences in the countries concerned when considering further sales.

The TUC wrote to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office expressing concern about Moroccan obstructions to the UN peace plan for the referendum in Western Sahara following the visit to the territory by the UN Secretary General. Derek Fatchett , Minister of State, replied that the Government was working together with the UN and the other European Union governments to encourage the Moroccan Government to accept all of the UN proposals.

13.4 The Americas

John Edmonds represented the General Council at the 22nd Constitutional Convention of the Canadian Labour Congress (CLC) held in Toronto on 3-7 May, 1999. Michael Walsh, former head of the TUC International Department, also attended the Convention. Ken Georgetti was elected CLC President, following the resignation of Bob White who was declared President Emeritus.

The CUT in Chile and the TUC welcomed the assertion of accountability in international law for appalling crimes which led to the arrest in October in London of General Pinochet. The ICFTU Executive Board welcomed the decision of the Law Lords in March to lift General Pinochet's claimed immunity from criminal prosecution as a major step towards establishing justice as a leading principle for the international community. On the proposal of John Monks, the Board wrote a letter signed by him and Bill Jordan to the Home Secretary expressing the hopethat justice would follow its course and that General Pinochet would be extradited. Recalling the memories of all the Chilean trade unionists who had suffered torture and death at the hands of Pinochet's henchmen, the Board said that the Law Lords' ruling brought an honourable tribute to all those who had sacrificed their lives in the name of democracy and justice and that Pinochet's trial would be of direct and outstanding interest to the international trade union movement. The Executive Board also welcomed the launch of an ICFTU civil suit against Pinochet and others, including a former Chilean navy captain accused of ordering a stevedores' union chief and three of his colleagues to be shot in September 1973.

The General Council have continued to support the international trade union campaign for trade union rights in Colombia, where union officials and members have been under relentless attack from paramilitary groups. John Monks wrote on several occasions to President Pastrana to register profound concern about the safety of Colombian trade unionists - many had been murdered or received death threats despite the obligation to protect basic trade union rights arising from Colombia's ratification of the ILO freedom of association conventions. According to ICFTU figures, 156 trade unionists were murdered in Colombia in 1997 alone, mostly during negotiations. Six more were murdered in October 1998, when civil servants began a strike for pay rises and tax reforms, including CUT vice-President, Jorge Ortega, whose assassination created an international storm of protest. The ICFTU launched a new world campaign to press the Government to take effective measures to protect the life of trade unionists and bring the assassins to justice. The Attorney General reported that over two hundred arrest warrants against members of paramilitary groups - illegal since 1989 - had not been acted on. In January, another trade union leader was assassinated in Medellin and four human rights investigators with the People's Training Institute there were kidnapped by a group of armed paramilitaries. In Bogota, the President of the Colombian teachers' federation was attacked, as was the President of the department workers' union in Cali.

In March, the ILO Governing Body received an extensive report of cases involving death threats, murders, detentions and disappearances of trade unionists in Colombia. It concluded that there was still a major discrepancy between the requirements of the Conventions and the facts and the willingness of the Colombian Government to comply. The Workers' Group demanded the establishment of an ILO Commission of Enquiry and the Governing Body decided that, unless there was a significant improvement by November, a Commission would immediately begin work.

Four people were killed in Ecuador in October in clashes during strikes and protests called by the Ecuadorean Confederation of Free Trade Unions and other national trade union centres grouped in the United Workers' Front against economic measures decreed by the government. Organisers of the strike denounced the repression orchestrated by the police and the army who used guns to end demonstrations. The ICFTU wrote to President Mahuad to demand an end to police provocation during strikes and demonstrations and protested at the attack on the President of the CEOSL, José Chavez, by men in police uniforms. The government responded brutally to demonstrations during the national strike inJuly, organised with the support of the ICFTU affiliate CEOSL. The ICFTU and members of the ICFTU's Trade Union Rights Committee wrote to the government supporting the trade unions, protesting at the brutal treatment of the demonstrators, calling for the release of arrested trade unionists, and requesting the end of harassment of trade union leaders.

The Caribbean

The TUC convened two meetings of London-based High Commissioners from the Commonwealth countries in the Caribbean region for an exchange of views over a wide range of issues, notably the trade dispute over the Lomé arrangements for banana exports to the EU, economic vulnerability of small nations, access to educational opportunities for students from the region and ethnic minorities in the UK. The General Secretary, members of the Race Relations Committee, TUC staff members and the CTUC Director, Annie Watson, took part in the discussions.

The General Secretary wrote to the Foreign and Commonwealth Secretary and the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry, expressing concern over the trade dispute and supporting preferential access for banana exports from ACP countries. He also raised the issue with the US Ambassador in London, stressing the need to link human rights issues and trade. It was reported that the AFL-CIO President had taken the same line and had called on the US Government to reverse its decision to apply sanctions against a range of EU products as part of the dispute. The Foreign Secretary, in his reply, reaffirmed the Government's commitment to protect the livelihood of Caribbean producers and to abide by WTO rules. The Secretary of State for Trade and Industry replied that the Government would make every effort to safeguard the interests of British firms affected by the dispute while being mindful of the needs of the countries in the region. The General Secretary also wrote to a number of retail companies drawing their attention to the wide concern in the TUC about the issue; expressing the view that many consumers would prefer to continue to buy bananas from ACP countries; and suggesting a consultation between representatives of the retailers, the high commissions of the countries concerned, and appropriate trade union representatives.

The General Secretary wrote to Alistair Darling, Secretary of State for Social Security, raising the sense of injustice felt by the people whose pensions are not uprated, when they retire to live in the Caribbean, in line with upward adjustments paid to those who stay in Britain.

The TUC offered its good offices to the Guyana Trades Union Congress in an effort to ease the growing tension between the Government and the trade union movement and avert social unrest in the country. In April, the General Secretary discussed the situation with the British High Commissioner in Georgetown in a meeting at Congress House and explored avenues of co-operation between the TUC and the High Commission in order to foster dialogue between the GTUC and the Government of Guyana and promote social cohesion.

13.5 Asia and the Pacific

In April, a high-level delegation from Australia headed by Greg Combet, Assistant Secretary, Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU) was received inCongress House. The mission, which also included Greg Sword, General Secretary, National Union of Workers and Vice President of ACTU, Joe De Bruyn, National Secretary of the Shop, Distributive and Allied Employees' Union, Doug Cameron, National Secretary, Australian Manufacturing Workers' Union, Vice President of ACTU, Jeff Lawrence, National Secretary, Liquor, Hospitality and Miscellaneous Workers' Union and Marion Gaynor, ACTU National Research Officer, was part of an overseas tour by senior officials from ACTU and its affiliates in order to gather information on union responses to new challenges facing the trade union movement. They had discussions with the General Secretary, Deputy General Secretary, senior General Council members and TUC officials over a broad range of issues. In their meeting with Ian McCartney, Minister of State, at the DTI, the delegation had the opportunity to discuss the implementation of the Working Time and European Works Councils directives, and the Minimum Wage. The delegation also held meetings with Bill Morris, Ken Jackson, and senior officials at UNISON.

Following talks in London in February between the Australian Construction Forestry Mining Energy Union, the International Chemical, Energy, Mine and General Workers' Union and its UK affiliates, and the TUC, about the trade union and other human rights record of Rio Tinto, John Maitland, National Secretary of the CFMEU led a delegation to London in May to the company's annual general meeting. Supported by the TUC, the CFMEU pressed the Rio Tinto Board to reinstate miners illegally sacked by the previous owners of its Gordonstone mine in Australia. The TUC urged Rio Tinto to accept the good offices of ICEM in seeking a settlement of the dispute, and, following ACTU complaints that Rio Tinto had breached the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises, drew these concerns to the attention of the British Government's OECD National Contact Point.

In June the General Secretary met Mr Arch Bevis, Shadow Minister for Industrial Relations and Federal Member for Brisbane, Australia. Also in June Mr Peter Reith, Minister of Labour, Australia, accompanied by the Australian High Commissioner met the General Secretary in Congress House.

The TUC has been in the forefront of critics of the regime in Burma for the widespread use of forced labour - often accompanied by gross violence and abuse -with total disregard for the human dignity, safety and health, and basic needs of the people. The ICFTU and the ETUC wrote to European Commissioner Sir Leon Brittan, protesting at the EU complaint under WTO rules over the State of Massachusetts' refusal to deal with companies which do business in Burma because of human rights' violations. The trade union organisations asserted that if the actions of Massachusetts did not comply with WTO rules, then the WTO rules needed changing. They called on the EU to ban investment in Burma by EU multinational companies.

In August 1998 a report of an ILO Commission of Enquiry on Burma accused the junta of systematic use of forced labour, and in September, the Austrian Government, then holding the EU Presidency, issued a statement condemning Burma. The formal ILO Commission of Enquiry condemned widespread and systematic exploitation of forced labour as part of a pattern of human rights abuse throughout Burma. The regime, at the end of November, purported to accept thedemand of the Commission that legislation be brought in line with the Convention by May and no more forced labour imposed. The ILO Governing Body asked the Government to report in March on measures taken to give effect to the recommendations.

No progress could be registered by the ILO, and Burma was excluded from almost all ILO activities when trade unions and employers submitted a resolution to its June Conference, strongly supported by the US and UK governments, saying that the attitude and behaviour of the Government of Burma were grossly incompatible with the principles governing ILO membership. Burma was refused all ILO technical assistance and banned from attending meetings except where they were intended to ensure compliance with the recommendations of the Commission. Burma's violation of the forced labour and freedom of association Conventions was also the subject of a special paragraph in the report of the Conference Committee on application of Conventions by member States.

The Thai and Indian governments banned two conferences planned, with ICFTU support and to which independent Burmese trade unionists had been invited, to discuss the situation in Burma. The ICFTU said that the banning of the conferences was a menacing sign for those working to promote peace, justice and social progress in the region.

In June, the General Secretary congratulated Prime Minister Mahendra Chaudhry of Fiji, former General Secretary of the Fiji Trades Union Congress, on his accession to high office following the electoral success of the Fiji Labour Party.

Indonesia experienced a year both of economic crisis, following the financial collapse in Asia, and of some political optimism, and the Government completed ratification of all seven ILO core Conventions. The first democratic elections gave the largest single vote to the main opposition party, and there was hope of some movement towards a peace settlement in East Timor. However, the Indonesian authorities still hold a number of political prisoners. Wilson bin Nurtiyas, a trade union activist and member of the Legislation Committee of the People's Democratic Party and coordinator of Indonesian Solidarity with the Struggle of the East Timorese People, released from prison in July 1998, visited the TUC in October. His main concern was the continued imprisonment of Dita Sari and Ignatius Pranowo Wilson. He also reported that 14 people had disappeared in recent months and one - a trade union leader, Leonardo - had been murdered. The TUC and ICFTU renewed representations to secure the release of Ditah Indah Sari, the leader of the pro-trade union PPBI students organisation, imprisoned since 1996. She was finally released in July. Industrial protests grew in intensity as the economic and social position worsened. While an ILO mission was visiting Jakarta in August 1998 to help the Government adapt labour legislation to international standards, security forces attacked textile workers marching to the ILO office to press demands for payment of minimum wage increases.

National trade union organisations have fragmented during the year and there are concerns that new federations will be established along political party lines, encouraging further fragmentation. The top-down structures of the official unions have hindered the development of representative, independent and democraticunion organisation in the workplace. Supporting such development through trade union education is one of the main aims of the major ILO capacity-building project which is being led by Pat Quinn, former Director of the Commonwealth Trade Union Council, which was reported to Congress last year.

The TUC has followed closely developments in Korea through direct contacts with the Federation of Korean Trade Unions (FKTU) and the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU) and through the ICFTU, TUAC, and the ILO. The Korean economy has continued to be affected by the Asian economic crisis and there has been a significant increase in unemployment. The Korean Government made a formal commitment to observe trade union rights when it joined the OECD in 1996 and since 1998 the Employment Labour and Social Affairs Committee (ELSAC) of the OECD has been monitoring the progress of labour law reform. In September, an ELSAC delegation visited Korea and reported that while progress had been made, a number of additional steps needed to be taken by the Korean authorities in order to live up to their commitments, particularly in respect of freedom of association and collective bargaining rights. They welcomed the willingness of the President and the Government to continue the process of reform and introduce new legislation to which it has already committed itself and called on them to review all cases of arrested trade union members and officials and to drop charges against those detained on account of trade union activities which are regarded as lawful in other OECD countries. The Korean Government enacted legislation early in 1999 legalising teachers' unions but the KCTU remains an illegal organisation. This spring the industrial relations climate in Korea deteriorated further and both trade union organisations pulled out of the Tripartite Commission which was set up by the Government in 1998. They said that the latest round of lay-offs showed that the Government and employers had failed to fulfil their commitments to working people. During strikes in the underground, hospitals, and in the engineering industry there had been a renewed crackdown on trade unions and 61 trade unionists were imprisoned or detained. In June a TUAC delegation including representatives of the FKTU and the KCTU met ELSAC and called on the Korean authorities to release immediately the imprisoned trade unionists, to legalise the KCTU, and to meet accepted principles of freedom of association enshrined in ILO Conventions.

John Monks has accepted an invitation to join the Board of the Anglo-Korean Economic Institute which is based in London.

13.6 Europe

The General Council have continued to maintain strong contacts with other national trade union organisations in all parts of Europe, both bilaterally and through international affiliations. Work to assist trade union organisations in central and eastern Europe has been coordinated by the ICFTU and reviewed by the Co-ordinating Committee on Central and Eastern Europe, in which the TUC was represented by TUC staff member Mary Barber in Prague in March. Also in March, the TUC submitted written evidence on the Transcausasus and Central Asia to the Foreign Affairs Committee of the House of Commons.

The ICFTU protested strongly to the authorities in Belarus demanding the immediate release of trade unionists arrested early in November as they wereabout to hand over a letter to the authorities in Minsk setting out pay claims and demands for better working conditions following a demonstration. The 2,000 or so workers who took part also called for the resignation of President Lukashenko. A presidential decree issued in 1995 severely limits trade union activity, banning the collection of dues, the signing of collective agreements and the use of workplace premises for trade union meetings. In a report published earlier this year the ICFTU denounced the systematic violation of trade union rights in the country, pointing to arrests, repression and harassment against independent trade unionists.

At the request of Cranfield University, the TUC delivered a three week training course to a group of seven Bulgarian trade union officers from the Confederation of Labour, PODKREPA. The TUC, in designing the programme, sought to deliver material and practical exercises on a range of trade union issues including negotiating skills, health and safety at work, employment law and disciplinary and grievance procedures, and presentation skills.

In August 1998, the TUC received a group of full-time trade union officers from the Union of Autonomous Trade Unions of Croatia (UATUC) who spent a week in the National Education Centre on a training course in educational methods. They found the visit useful to the UATUC in developing its contribution to the creation of democratic structures in Croatia. The UATUC, which is a member of the ICFTU, is being hard-pressed by the neo-liberal Government of Croatia which is promoting the development of rival organisations in attempts to undermine independent trade union organisations. Anne Gibson attended the Women's Conference of the UATUC in Zagreb in December, immediately preceding the UATUC Congress which she also attended. At a meeting in Zagreb, in February, UATUC President Davor Juric asked Tom Jenkins, TUC Europe Unit, for assistance with campaigning in the forthcoming general election in Croatia, and, after consultations with the Labour Party it has been agreed that the TUC will participate in a Labour Party project to provide training in election campaigns for leaders and officers of the UATUC.

The TUC has successfully applied to the Know How Fund for funding for a project in Georgia which will begin later in the year with the Georgian Trade Unions Amalgamation (GTUA), with which the ICFTU has close relations and which has applied for affiliation. The social situation in Georgia is serious and violations of human rights are common. Earlier this year a court ruled - in the absence of any GTUA representative - that a former President of the GTUA, had been made the legal owner of trade union assets. The ruling contradicted a previous ruling of the Constitutional Court in July 1998 and appeared to be a direct illegal attack on the trade union movement of Georgia and its present leadership. The TUC wrote to President Shevardnadze questioning the court decision and pointing out that an independent and representative trade union movement was a vital component of a democratic society. The ICFTU and the GTUA are considering the submission of a complaint against the Georgian Government to the International Labour Organisation.

At the request of the ICFTU, Michael Walsh of the TUC visited Lithuania in April in order to assist in seeking a solution to the problem of the distribution of trade union assets. There had been disagreement over the division of the assets -inherited from the days of the Soviet Union - which had embittered relationsbetween the four Lithuanian national centres. Mr Walsh met all four confederations, as well as ministers and parliamentary leaders, and drew up a statement which the four presidents signed on 30 April, agreeing to use the assets to establish a trade union foundation which would provide services to all four.

The TUC sent two of its tutors, Sean Bamford and Alison McGarry, to Poland in October to conduct a workshop for NSZZ Solidarnosc representatives on vocational training for trade union officers. The costs were covered under an EU project being managed by Solidarnosc. In May the TUC secured funding from the Know How Fund for Poland through the British Embassy in Warsaw to pay for Peter Try, a trade union tutor at Sandwell College, to run a seminar in Gdansk set up by the European Trade Union College (ETUCO) and co-financed by the European Union's Phare Democracy programme. The seminar was part of a project aimed at strengthening trade union organisations in Central and Eastern Europe by emphasising the importance of trade union education through maintaining closer co-operation between their education departments, enabling them to enlarge their training possibilities and improve the skills of their trainers.

The TUC supported the Day of Action called by the Federation of Independent Trade Unions of Russia (FITUR) and its constituent unions in December as part of the continuing campaign against the non-payment of wages in Russia. The TUC drew to the attention of President Yeltsin an ICFTU statement prepared for meetings with the IMF and the World Bank, asking those bodies to help Russian undertakings to pay arrears of wages as a priority. In April, TUC representatives met the Head of the International Department of the General Confederation of Trade Unions - the international trade union organisation of the Commonwealth of Independent States - Valery Kravtsov, and the Head of the International Department of FITUR, Yevgeny Siderov, in Congress House and agreed to continue to co-operate in international trade union activities. FITUR informed the TUC that they had applied for affiliation to the ICFTU.

In January, the TUC was represented at a conference in Istanbul, Turkey, organised by DISK and sponsored by the European Commission, to launch a report which they had prepared on the discrepancies between Turkish labour law and ILO Conventions on freedom of association.

A wide range of bilateral meetings were held during the year, a number of them in the context of ETUC Executive Committee meetings in Brussels. In February, a delegation from the civil service trade union confederation, PASYDY, in Cyprus visited Congress House to call on the TUC to support efforts to improve communications between the North and South in Cyprus in order to enable communications between trade union organisations in both sectors to be facilitated. In March the General Secretary met the General Secretary of the CFDT, France, Nicole Notat, in Paris for discussions on European issues and in May he addressed a Congress of the CNV, Netherlands. He called on delegates at the Congress to consider the future of the international trade union movement with regard to securing closer co-operation between the ICFTU and the World Confederation of Labour, to which the CNV is affiliated. In April the TUC received the President of the Basque Trade Union Confederation, STV-ELA, Jose Miguel Leunda, in Congress House for discussions on the situation in the Basque Country.The TUC representatives raised the poor state of relations between the STV-ELA and the main national centres in Spain, UGT and CC.OO, with whom the TUC has also held discussions. Close contacts have been maintained with the Irish Congress of Trade Unions and its Northern Ireland Committee.

13.7 Kosovo

In November, in response to the establishment of a verification mission of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe whose terms of reference called upon it to maintain close liaison with political parties and other organisations in Kosovo, the ICFTU Executive Board agreed to hold an international trade union conference in Kosovo to discuss the trade union role in building a democratic civil society based on equal rights for all citizens, nationalities, and ethnic communities. They condemned abuses of basic human rights by the Milosevic regime and said that they would continue to support the democratic forces in Serbia, represented by their affiliate, NEZAVISNOST. The ICFTU and the ETUC have been active for the past ten years in assisting the trade union movement of Kosovo, the BSPK, in its peaceful struggle for human and trade union rights. In 1989, the regime had abolished Kosovo's autonomous status and subsequently had sacked tens of thousands of ethnic Albanians in the public sector.

Following the failure of the Rambouillet talks and the commencement of NATO military action, the ETUC held a special meeting in Brussels on 8 April and issued an address to a meeting of EU Heads of State and Government who discussed the situation on 14 April. The General Council subsequently endorsed the statement which said that the military intervention had been rendered inevitable in the light of the repressive action of the Belgrade regime against the Kosovar people now escalated into an ethnic cleansing strategy; and that all possible steps should be taken and all possibilities explored to reopen negotiations with a view to finding a political solution to the conflict. The condition for such a solution would be the withdrawal of all military, police and para-military forces of the Federation Republic of Yugoslavia from Kosovo and their replacement by an international peace keeping force including Russia; and if that could be agreed the NATO intervention should be suspended immediately.

In May, the ETUC Executive Committee agreed a statement, which the General Council later endorsed, expressing full support for on-going initiatives within the framework of the United Nations, and calling on the EU to assume its responsibilities and reinforce its role in the search for a solution and in the preparation for reconstruction and development in the region. A draft UN Security Council Resolution was agreed by the G8 foreign ministers on 8 June and subsequently adopted, to which was annexed an agreement reached between the President of Finland, mandated by the EU, the Special envoy of the President of the Russian Federation, and the Yugoslav authorities, enabling the withdrawal of Yugoslav forces from Kosovo, the end of military action, and the creation of an international security force and the setting up of a provisional international civil administration under the control of a special UN representative.

The ETUC and the ICFTU have worked closely together to support trade unionists and their families in Kosovo as well as trade union organisations in the region. The TUC launched an urgent appeal for funds for humanitarian assistance for Kosovar refugees which would be channelled through the ICFTU to the Montenegrin Trade Union Confederation which was operating a continuous assistance service to Kosovars who fled across the border into Montenegro. The appeal had reached £50,000 by the end of July. An ICFTU representative in Albania was assisting the national trade union centres there to coordinate their relief activities. The ETUC is planning a trade union conference involving representatives from all countries in the region to discuss the EU reconstruction plan.

13.8 Middle East

The General Council have continued to support international trade union efforts to promote a just and lasting peace in the Middle East in line with the peace accords between Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organisation and with UN Security Council resolutions; and to extend trade union cooperation to the Palestine General Federation of Trade Unions and other independent trade union organisations in the region.

The TUC was represented at a meeting in October of the ICFTU Coordinating Committee for the Middle East, in Nablus, which assessed the challenges facing trade union organisations in Bahrain, Egypt, Jordan, Kuwait, the Lebanon, and Yemen, as well as Palestine, and the ICFTU programme for trade union development in Arab countries - coordinated by the ICFTU office in Amman. Shaher Sa'ad, PGFTU General Secretary, introduced the overseas representatives to President Yasser Arafat in Ramallah, who said that tragedy confronted the Palestinian and Israeli peoples as a result of the unwillingness of the Israeli Government to implement the land for peace provisions of the Oslo accords and because the authorities were blocking Palestinian development by preventing Palestine from exporting to Europe. Most Palestinian young people were unemployed and the President suggested that this was enhancing the attractions of Hamas and other extremist groups among Palestinian people. He said too that the frequent closure of the territories to commuters into Israel were causing major economic problems and did not have any value as security measures for Israel. The TUC representative briefly outlined the policies of Congress and was among ICFTU representatives who urged the Palestinian Authority to permit the PGFTU to work out a constitution and establish a system of industrial trade unions.

It was reported that the Israeli Minister of Labour - with the support of Histadrut which had an agreement with the PGFTU - had approved the remittance to the Palestinian trade unions of half of the dues paid by Palestinian working people in Israel. The PGFTU is increasing membership and extending activities on behalf of women workers, in dealing with the media, and in countering hazards to safety and health at work. Members of the ICFTU Coordinating Committee discussed with Shaher Sa'ad and other PGFTU representatives proposals for projects to strengthen the capacity of the Palestinian trade union movement and the TUC was able to announce that the second stage of a TUC/UNISON project to assist the development of the Palestinian Health Workers' Union would go ahead in 1999.

In December, the ICFTU expressed grave concern about civilian causalities in Iraq following US aerial attacks, which had been launched because the UN inspectionteam was being obstructed, and called for immediate negotiations to find a peaceful resolution to the conflict. The ICFTU called on Iraq to comply fully with UN Security Council resolutions on the elimination of weapons of mass destruction and commented that the Iraqi dictatorial regime was diverting resources to the military apparatus, which sustained it in power, from social priorities and thus causing great human suffering.

Hector MacKenzie attended the Egyptian Trade Union Movement Centennial Festival in Cairo in December.

13.9 Trade Union Advisory Committee (TUAC) to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD)

1998 marked the fiftieth anniversary of the founding in Britain of the Trade Union Advisory Committee to the OECD. Rodney Bickerstaffe, with Roger Lyons as substitute, continued to represent the TUC in meetings of the Administrative Committee and in plenary sessions of the TUAC, and on 20 November TUAC held a seminar on international labour and globalisation to celebrate the anniversary. A short pamphlet on the history and work of TUAC was presented to participants at the seminar where speakers included Donald Johnston, OECD Secretary-General, Poul Nyrup Rasmussen, Prime Minister of Denmark, and Jacques Delors, former President of the European Commission. The main issues discussed in the plenary sessions were OECD developments, Korea, financial and Investment issues, employment issues, and the environment. The affiliation fees were increased from 78 to 79 French francs per thousand members for 1999.

The TUC was represented in expert meetings on economic and social issues convened by the OECD. In February, Bill Callaghan Head of the TUC Economic and Social Affairs Department was nominated by TUAC to speak at a Conference on Youth Employment in Washington DC. A joint ICFTU-TUAC delegation took part in a G8 employment conference also in February in Washington DC. The trade union group pressed the G8 ministers for policies to promote demand-led growth, for the enforcement of core workers' rights, and for the inclusion of social policy as a response to the financial crisis. They asked for better co-operation between the international financial institutions and the ILO, and pointed out the need for the reform process of the international financial architecture to be more democratically accountable.

In May, TUAC presented a trade union statement on the international economic situation to the OECD Ministerial Council, in which the British Government were represented by Ian McCartney, Margaret Hodge, and Patricia Hewitt. The statement called on governments to take concerted measures to restore balanced demand growth in the world economy to ward off the risk of deflation; to write off both multilateral and bilateral debts of the poorest developing countries on the condition of their respect for basic human rights; to develop broad-based social safety nets on a global basis; to establish an international commission of enquiry on the system of regulation which is required to govern international financial markets; to ensure in advance of the World Trade Organisation Ministerial Council in Seattle in November that the global trade and investment system and the International Financial Institutions reinforce the work of the ILO to guarantee core labour standards; to initiate at OECD and G8 levels an employmentdialogue with the social partners to agree on a socially acceptable approach to labour market adaptability; and to build a social and employment dimension to sustainable development. Also in May, Rodney Bickerstaffe attended a meeting in Bonn with Chancellor Schröder at which the Chancellor was presented with the statement ahead of the World Economic Summit in Bonn in June. He welcomed the statement and agreed to convey it to the other G8 heads of governments at the Summit.

The plenary session in Paris in May was informed that Bob White, President of the Canadian Labour Congress, had agreed to continue as President of TUAC until his fourth year term of office expired in May 2000. The main issues discussed were the OECD guidelines for Multinational Enterprises, the OECD Principles on Corporate Governance, OECD work on trade and labour standards before the Seattle World Trade Organisation Conference, and the situation in Korea. The session was addressed by OECD Director-General Donald Johnston.

The General Secretary took part in a seminar in Belfast in June on local partnerships and regional development, organised by the OECD and TUAC.

13.10 International Labour Organisation

Bill Brett has continued to represent the General Council on the Governing Body of the ILO and, in June, was re-elected as Chair of its trade union group for a third term. The new Governing Body has greater representation of women from the Workers' Group, which has continued to insist that at least one-third of trade union representatives at ILO sectoral meetings should be women.

The General Council supported the candidature of Juan Somavia, Chilean Ambassador to the UN, for the post of ILO Director General. He assumed office in March and is actively promoting the role and status of the ILO in the UN family and with the Bretton Woods Institutions and the WTO (see 7.5 on Trade and Labour Standards and Investment). He named Guy Ryder, formerly of the TUC International Department, as the head of his new Cabinet.

The Governing Body agreed that the ILO Conference in 2001 should discuss technical items on safety and health in agriculture; promotion of cooperatives; and the future of social security systems. It requested action on the Commission of Inquiry on Forced Labour in Burma (cf section on Asia); suspended the Commission of Enquiry on Nigeria in view of positive developments there (cf section on Africa); and agreed, following a Workers' Group resolution to the 1998 ILO Conference, to begin, in November, a Commission of Enquiry into gross violations of trade union rights in Colombia if there was no improvement by then (cf section on The Americas). The Governing Body also discussed the budget and programme for 2000-2001, agreeing a programme of sectoral meetings for the biennium; technical cooperation, in particular the work of the International Programme for the Elimination of Child Labour; and ILO work on corporate codes of labour practice.

It developed a two part follow-up to the 1998 ILO Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work: an annual review in the Governing Body of countries that have not ratified one or more of the ILO's core human rights Conventions; and an annual global review on one of the four categories offundamental human rights, to be examined in turn and regardless of ratification. The first global report in 2000 will be on freedom of association.

The Governing Body discussed in detail private sector social initiatives, in particular corporate codes of labour practice. The aim of the Workers' Group has been to encourage ILO technical support for initiatives which promote core labour standards, and it continues to press for the establishment of ILO benchmarks of competence for the growing industry of 'social auditing' and for provision of training. The example of the Ethical Trading Initiative in Britain was the subject of considerable interest and informed the position of the Workers' Group.

The Governing Body examined the ILO response to the Asian financial crisis on several occasions. The ILO noted the serious inadequacy of the social protection systems and lack of tripartism in most of the countries affected. The ILO seeks to develop employment promotion policies, including emergency job creation, strengthening of labour market and human resource development, enterprise promotion, particularly for the small enterprise sector, and increased social protection.

ILO Conference

The 1999 International Labour Conference was held in Geneva 1-17 June. The British trade union delegate, Bill Brett, chaired the ILO Worker's Group in the Conference, and his advisers were Brendan Fenelon, Pat Hawkes and Penny Holloway of the General Council, and Simon Steyne, TUC International Officer, who was also substitute delegate.

President Clinton became the first US President to address the Conference. He said that by giving life to core labour standards, by acting to lift the burden of debt, by putting a more human face on world trade and the global economy, and by ending the worst forms of child labour, the ILO would be giving the world's children the 21st century they deserved. The US Government has donated $25million for work on core labour standards and a further $30million to the ILO's International Programme for the Elimination of Child Labour. The Conference reached a unanimous decision to adopt a Convention and Recommendation banning the worst forms of child labour. It again received children of the Global March against Child Labour and was addressed by its Chairperson, Kailash Satyarthi. The Conference also adopted an unprecedented Resolution against Burma for consistent violations of the Forced Labour Convention. The Conference prepared a first draft of a revised Convention on maternity protection.

The Conference delegates adopted a US$467,470,000 budget for the biennium 2000-2001, increasing resources for regional programmes. The ILO's four strategic objectives at the turn of the century are to promote and realise fundamental principles and rights at work; to create greater opportunities for women and men to secure decent employment and income; to enhance the coverage and effectiveness of social protection for all; and to strengthen tripartism and social dialogue.

In a plenary speech on the Director-General's report ,Decent Work, Andrew Smith, Minister for Employment and Equal Opportunities, welcomed the ILO's strategicobjectives and said that effective mechanisms were needed to deliver them. He counselled that for globalisation to lead to greater sharing of economic growth required progress in social protection systems; active labour market programmes; and labour markets combining flexibility with security. An important element was securing universal implementation of core labour standards defined in the ILO Declaration. Referring to social exclusion, unemployment and the ratification by the UK of Convention 111 on discrimination, he said that creating jobs and equipping people with skills and knowledge were overriding priorities.

Bill Brett led the trade union side in a discussion of ILO technical cooperation and adopted conclusions and a resolution to guide ILO work. The resolution highlighted the need for strengthening partnerships with the UN system and the Bretton Woods institutions. The Conference urged further upgrading of the ILO's management, evaluation and monitoring mechanisms. In 1998, the ILO technical cooperation programme represented an expenditure of US$ 94 million and over 1,500 projects.

The Conference Committee on Maternity Protection, in which Penny Holloway represented the TUC, agreed that new international standards, revising the existing Maternity Protection instruments, were needed to take account of developments since their adoption in 1952. The adopted conclusions reflected changes regarding the scope of application, maternity leave, and additional leave in case of illness due to complications in connection with pregnancy or confinement. Cash benefits should be provided at not less than two-thirds of the woman's previous earnings or of earnings taken into account for benefit purposes; or by means of an appropriate flat rate benefit. Medical benefits should include prenatal, confinement and postnatal leave. The Committee agreed it should be unlawful for an employer to terminate employment of a woman who is pregnant, absent on maternity leave or additional leave except on grounds unrelated to the pregnancy or childbirth and its consequences or nursing. The burden of proof should be on the employer. Member States should adopt measures to ensure that maternity does not lead to discrimination in employment including a prohibition of requiring pregnancy tests or certificates when recruiting - except for work prohibited or restricted for pregnant and nursing women. The draft Recommendation contains a number of more specific provisions. A second discussion will be held next year.

Brendan Fenelon represented the General Council in the Committee on the Application of Standards which held a general discussion on the situation of migrant workers and their families, over 90 million of whom currently reside in a country other than their own. Focussing on the protection and measures to ensure equality of treatment contained in the Migration for Employment Convention, 1949, and the supplementary Convention, 1975, the Conference concluded it was necessary to review, and possibly revise, existing standards to provide adequate protection.

In reviewing the application of Conventions, the Conference cited, in special paragraphs, Burma for persistent gross violations of the freedom of association Conventions and the forced labour Convention, and Cameroon for continued violations of trade union rights.

In a debate on prison labour in Australia, which bears on the ongoing UK case on the application of Convention 29, the Conference noted the concerns of the ACTU that supervision of work of inmates in privatised prisons in Victoria had been delegated to private operators and stressed that the Convention requires that prisoners may not be hired to or placed at the disposal of private companies or individuals. The continuing widespread use of forced labour in Pakistan was again discussed. Actions to eliminate child and bonded labour such as an agreement with IPEC to eliminate child labour in carpet manufacturing were noted - but little had been done to collect reliable data on bonded child labour or to report on monitoring mechanisms.

The Conference urged the Government of Bangladesh to end prohibitions on the right to organize in export processing zones; the suspension of trade union activities in different sectors; and other restrictions on trade union organisation and activities, including in the public sector. In Canada, despite amendments to the Labour Code, restrictions on trade unions rights remained. The Conference was deeply concerned about the removal of elected trade union leaders in Ethiopia and the nomination by the authorities of those unions' executive committees, as well as the cancellation of registration of a trade union confederation and detention of trade unionists. It further deplored that the Government, despite a court order, had not re-registered the Ethiopian Teachers' Association and that union leaders had been detained without trial for over three years. TUC action in this connection is reported under the Africa section.

Despite an ILO mission to Guatemala in 1995 and many debates in the Conference over the last decade, there were still serious violations of trade union rights, and a grave lack of practical progress. The Conference again strongly urged the Government to end restrictions on the right to organise. After discussion, for the fourth successive year, of the case of Swaziland, in which the TUC had intervened on several occasions, the Conference regretted that legislation limiting the right of trade unions to organise had not yet been amended, and that restrictions on meetings and peaceful demonstrations continued. It again urged the Government to adopt its proposed Industrial Relations Bill and to end legal interference in the rights of trade unions to organise freely. The Conference urged

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