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24 November, 1999Many activities are planned alongside the WTO conference in order for trade unions to make known their own agenda.
USA/GLOBAL: Trade unionists are gearing up for the World Trade Organisation's Third Ministerial Meeting, to take place in Seattle, Washington, on November 30-December 3, 1999. Trade ministry officials and many other representatives from the 135 member countries will gather in an attempt to fix an international trade agenda for years to come and launch a new round of trade liberalisation.
The many thousands of protesters who will descend on Seattle with their various messages are all concerned that, with the further trade and investment liberalisation in the world economy under current WTO rules, inequality, injustice, social depredation and environmental destruction will continue to worsen. There is a growing concern about the lack of social dimension, growing income gaps, child labour, violation of basic human and workers' rights.
Major activities with trade union involvement being planned simultaneously in Seattle during this period include:
- November 28-29: a conference organised by the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions on "Globalisation and Workers' Rights";
- November 30: a huge Peoples' March and Rally, organised by the AFL-CIO;
- December 1: Seminar on "Workers' Rights, Trade, Development, and the WTO", organised by the AFL-CIO together with the Seattle host organisation;
- December 2: an ICFTU/Solidar seminar on the impact of trade liberalisation and globalisation on workers and their communities.
- November 30-December 3: twice-daily briefing and information sessions by the ICFTU for the trade union representatives in Seattle.
Over 100 top trade union leaders, including from the IMF, from all five continents will participate in these activities directed at the WTO.
The task in Seattle should be to construct a comprehensive system to regulate the global market based on multilateral rules which command popular support. And the only way to make some progress in this sense is to put trade policy into a wider perspective so that it takes into account environmental, development and social issues, including the respect of basic workers' rights, as agreed internationally in ILO core labour standards.
The challenge for the WTO should be to set up a mechanism to examine how links between basic labour standards and the international trading system can be established and make recommendations for achieving respect for workers' rights in the world trading system.
The many thousands of protesters who will descend on Seattle with their various messages are all concerned that, with the further trade and investment liberalisation in the world economy under current WTO rules, inequality, injustice, social depredation and environmental destruction will continue to worsen. There is a growing concern about the lack of social dimension, growing income gaps, child labour, violation of basic human and workers' rights.
Major activities with trade union involvement being planned simultaneously in Seattle during this period include:
- November 28-29: a conference organised by the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions on "Globalisation and Workers' Rights";
- November 30: a huge Peoples' March and Rally, organised by the AFL-CIO;
- December 1: Seminar on "Workers' Rights, Trade, Development, and the WTO", organised by the AFL-CIO together with the Seattle host organisation;
- December 2: an ICFTU/Solidar seminar on the impact of trade liberalisation and globalisation on workers and their communities.
- November 30-December 3: twice-daily briefing and information sessions by the ICFTU for the trade union representatives in Seattle.
Over 100 top trade union leaders, including from the IMF, from all five continents will participate in these activities directed at the WTO.
The task in Seattle should be to construct a comprehensive system to regulate the global market based on multilateral rules which command popular support. And the only way to make some progress in this sense is to put trade policy into a wider perspective so that it takes into account environmental, development and social issues, including the respect of basic workers' rights, as agreed internationally in ILO core labour standards.
The challenge for the WTO should be to set up a mechanism to examine how links between basic labour standards and the international trading system can be established and make recommendations for achieving respect for workers' rights in the world trading system.