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12 August, 2005ICEM News release No. 85/1998
Even at the best of times, the World Trade Organisation (WTO) is not everybody's favourite policeman.
Set up to promote free trade and to rule on disputes over alleged trade restrictions, the WTO mechanisms beg a crucial question about the new world order. Is the "free" movement of goods, services and capital more important than democratic decision-making, human rights, social justice, public health and the environment?
The WTO is already in trouble for its decision this Monday to overturn a US law designed to save sea turtles from inappropriate shrimping nets.
But now, the WTO itself is becoming ensnared in its most damaging test case to date. And this time, it is all about scrapping a law intended to save people from thugs.
The WTO is being asked to rule that the US State of Massachusetts must rescind measures aimed against one of the world's most brutal and corrupt dictatorships - the military junta in Burma.
Worse still, the case has been brought by the European Commission. The Commission is the powerful civil service of the European Union.
After strong campaigning by US rights activists, including trade unions, Massachusetts and various US local authorities decided that public contracts should not go to companies that are still doing business with or in Burma. That rule, now commonly known as the Massachusetts Law, applies to all companies alike - whether US-based or otherwise. But the EU says the measure violates the WTO Agreement on Government Procurement. So it has taken the US government to a WTO disputes panel and is insisting that Massachusetts and others should be ordered to rescind the measure.
The European Commission's attitude has drawn strong protests from trade unions and other campaigning organisations.
In a letter faxed to Commission Vice-President Sir Leon Brittan today, the 20-million-strong International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and General Workers' Unions (ICEM) urges him to withdraw the EU's complaint.
The ICEM's members include unions in both the EU and the USA, and it is in contact with unions working clandestinely inside Burma.
"Any move by the European Union to restrict economic action against the Burmese junta would seriously damage the EU's reputation worldwide," the ICEM warns. "There can longer be any doubt that the Burmese economy runs on forced labour, including child labour."
To back up this statement, the ICEM cites the very thorough report on Burma issued this August by the UN's International Labour Organisation. A special ILO Commission found the Burmese regime's use of forced labour to be "widespread and systematic." Women, children and the elderly are among those who are forced into work which is "almost never remunerated or compensated," the ILO reported. "Forced labourers, including those sick or injured, are frequently beaten or otherwise physically abused by the soldiers, resulting in serious injuries. Some are killed, and women performing compulsory labour are raped or otherwise sexually abused by soldiers."
The Burmese junta is also one of the world's biggest suppliers of illicit heroin, the ICEM tells Sir Leon.
And the regime tramples freedom of association under foot. The ICEM letter cites the cases of Burmese trade unionists U Myo Aung Thant and U Khin Kyaw, who have been under arrest for more than a year now. U Myo Aung Thant was recently sentenced to life imprisonment after he was found guilty of "high treason" for attempting to form a trade union in his workplace, the All-Burma Petrochemical Corporation. Both men are reported to have been tortured in prison.
People everywhere have a democratic right to decide that their taxes should be spent in line with their principles, the ICEM tells Sir Leon. Therefore, "even if one concludes that the Massachusetts law violates WTO rules (and we do not believe that it does), then it is the WTO rules that should be changed, not the Massachusetts law."
In fact, the EU has already acknowledged the nature of the Burmese regime, and the effectiveness of trade sanctions in bringing democracy back to Burma. The EU scrapped preferential status for Burmese imports, after a sustained trade union campaign on the issues of forced labour and child labour.
"The EU should now move urgently to sever all trading links with Burma until democracy is restored there," the ICEM insists. "In this way, the WTO case would become irrelevant and the European Union would be seen to be taking serious action of its own against the Burmese dictatorship, rather than undermining the action of others."
Set up to promote free trade and to rule on disputes over alleged trade restrictions, the WTO mechanisms beg a crucial question about the new world order. Is the "free" movement of goods, services and capital more important than democratic decision-making, human rights, social justice, public health and the environment?
The WTO is already in trouble for its decision this Monday to overturn a US law designed to save sea turtles from inappropriate shrimping nets.
But now, the WTO itself is becoming ensnared in its most damaging test case to date. And this time, it is all about scrapping a law intended to save people from thugs.
The WTO is being asked to rule that the US State of Massachusetts must rescind measures aimed against one of the world's most brutal and corrupt dictatorships - the military junta in Burma.
Worse still, the case has been brought by the European Commission. The Commission is the powerful civil service of the European Union.
After strong campaigning by US rights activists, including trade unions, Massachusetts and various US local authorities decided that public contracts should not go to companies that are still doing business with or in Burma. That rule, now commonly known as the Massachusetts Law, applies to all companies alike - whether US-based or otherwise. But the EU says the measure violates the WTO Agreement on Government Procurement. So it has taken the US government to a WTO disputes panel and is insisting that Massachusetts and others should be ordered to rescind the measure.
The European Commission's attitude has drawn strong protests from trade unions and other campaigning organisations.
In a letter faxed to Commission Vice-President Sir Leon Brittan today, the 20-million-strong International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and General Workers' Unions (ICEM) urges him to withdraw the EU's complaint.
The ICEM's members include unions in both the EU and the USA, and it is in contact with unions working clandestinely inside Burma.
"Any move by the European Union to restrict economic action against the Burmese junta would seriously damage the EU's reputation worldwide," the ICEM warns. "There can longer be any doubt that the Burmese economy runs on forced labour, including child labour."
To back up this statement, the ICEM cites the very thorough report on Burma issued this August by the UN's International Labour Organisation. A special ILO Commission found the Burmese regime's use of forced labour to be "widespread and systematic." Women, children and the elderly are among those who are forced into work which is "almost never remunerated or compensated," the ILO reported. "Forced labourers, including those sick or injured, are frequently beaten or otherwise physically abused by the soldiers, resulting in serious injuries. Some are killed, and women performing compulsory labour are raped or otherwise sexually abused by soldiers."
The Burmese junta is also one of the world's biggest suppliers of illicit heroin, the ICEM tells Sir Leon.
And the regime tramples freedom of association under foot. The ICEM letter cites the cases of Burmese trade unionists U Myo Aung Thant and U Khin Kyaw, who have been under arrest for more than a year now. U Myo Aung Thant was recently sentenced to life imprisonment after he was found guilty of "high treason" for attempting to form a trade union in his workplace, the All-Burma Petrochemical Corporation. Both men are reported to have been tortured in prison.
People everywhere have a democratic right to decide that their taxes should be spent in line with their principles, the ICEM tells Sir Leon. Therefore, "even if one concludes that the Massachusetts law violates WTO rules (and we do not believe that it does), then it is the WTO rules that should be changed, not the Massachusetts law."
In fact, the EU has already acknowledged the nature of the Burmese regime, and the effectiveness of trade sanctions in bringing democracy back to Burma. The EU scrapped preferential status for Burmese imports, after a sustained trade union campaign on the issues of forced labour and child labour.
"The EU should now move urgently to sever all trading links with Burma until democracy is restored there," the ICEM insists. "In this way, the WTO case would become irrelevant and the European Union would be seen to be taking serious action of its own against the Burmese dictatorship, rather than undermining the action of others."