The hit parade for TNCs

The latest statistics from UNCTAD, the UN agency for trade and development, show that 29 transnational companies are larger, in terms of economic comparison, than many countries (see IMF website news of August 14, 2002). Most of the wealth which TNCs have been able to build up comes from the exploitation of natural and human resources in developing countries. The total resources of the 29 TNCs represented on the list amount to $US 784 billion - that's more than the entire Canadian economy, which is the 8th largest in the world. One can argue against the idea of putting all TNCs together. On the other hand, I believe that in spite of the fact that many of them actually compete in the same market segment, they have many common points:

• They usually aim to make the maximum profit regardless of the social or environmental cost.
• They do not like state or government interference, in any form. Consequently, they use their enormous economic and financial influence to try to control democratically-elected institutions.
• Although most of these companies bargain with unions where the unions are strong, their true attitude is shown by the fact that they resist organising attempts wherever they can.

They might not have any formal organisation to coordinate their actions, but they don't need it. Their business associations and roundtable discussions, conferences and meetings, such as the one in Davos under the auspices of the World Economic Forum (WEF), give them plenty of opportunity to elaborate their strategies to undermine democratic systems and democratic organisations such as trade unions and other NGOs. This is one of the reasons why the IMF has decided not to participate in formalising relations with such forums as the WEF. But even more important, the global labour movement must become part of the counterweight to the powerful corporations, which want moneymaking to be the overarching goal of human activity. Obviously, we must engage the corporations, but we do not want to become part of the process in which global corporations seek to shape the world according to their priorities. The IMF believes that the best way forward for the global unions is through collective bargaining and by adding our voice to those who demand a social dimension to globalisation, at Porto Allegre and elsewhere.