Read this article in:
13 February, 2001Trade unions are victorious but the reaction against globalisation will speed up with such unacceptable employer attitudes.
GENEVA: Although not involving the metal industry, it may be of interest and also concern to note the attitude of the employers' group at last week's ILO Tripartite Meeting on the Employment Impact of Mergers and Acquisitions in the Banking and Financial Services Sector, for which the main point of discussion was the impact of globalisation on the world of work.
A member of the ILO's Bureau for Workers' Activities reported that as with all tripartite meetings of this nature, the International Labour Office drafted a set of conclusions based on the comments made by employer, union and government representatives at the meeting. These draft conclusions were then subject to tripartite negotiation, which is standard practice. But after protracted negotiations, the employer representatives rejected every aspect of the draft conclusions, including many things they had previously agreed to in a working party. In the concluding session of the five-day meeting, the employers rejected all 14 paragraphs in the conclusions and called for a vote on each and every paragraph, even rejecting many statements of fact and other uncontroversial statements.
The result? Not one government represented at the meeting --and they were from wide-ranging backgrounds such as Belgium, Luxembourg, Switzerland, Canada, Russia, Thailand, India, Nigeria and Republic of Korea -- supported the employers' group on any issue. When both the chair of the meeting and the spokesperson for the government group strongly defended the trade union representatives and criticised the employers for reneging on undertakings which they had previously supported, the employers simply walked out.
Even if the trade unions came out victorious, with a majority vote adopting the conclusions, one can still expect the backlash against globalisation to speed up if such attitudes and actions of employers continue.
A member of the ILO's Bureau for Workers' Activities reported that as with all tripartite meetings of this nature, the International Labour Office drafted a set of conclusions based on the comments made by employer, union and government representatives at the meeting. These draft conclusions were then subject to tripartite negotiation, which is standard practice. But after protracted negotiations, the employer representatives rejected every aspect of the draft conclusions, including many things they had previously agreed to in a working party. In the concluding session of the five-day meeting, the employers rejected all 14 paragraphs in the conclusions and called for a vote on each and every paragraph, even rejecting many statements of fact and other uncontroversial statements.
The result? Not one government represented at the meeting --and they were from wide-ranging backgrounds such as Belgium, Luxembourg, Switzerland, Canada, Russia, Thailand, India, Nigeria and Republic of Korea -- supported the employers' group on any issue. When both the chair of the meeting and the spokesperson for the government group strongly defended the trade union representatives and criticised the employers for reneging on undertakings which they had previously supported, the employers simply walked out.
Even if the trade unions came out victorious, with a majority vote adopting the conclusions, one can still expect the backlash against globalisation to speed up if such attitudes and actions of employers continue.