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Brief Report of the
Workshop on Trade and Decent Work
Organised by International Trade Union Confederation
- Asia Pacific (ITUC/AP)
17-18 September 2008, Lalitpur
Introduction
South Asia shares one
fifth of the world population but has only 2 percent of the
world's GDP. The daily per capita income is $1. Only 29 percent
of people live in urban areas. Slow economic growth has delayed
the democratic transformation of societies towards freedom,
justice and peace. The workers' remittance of over $65 billion
annually has given life to its rural economy. But, South
Asian workers have suffered so many of the same misfortunes
due to their disunity and ignorance of trade union rights and
liberalization of through bilateral, regional and multi-lateral
trade agreements. Every year, some parts of the region suffer
from food crisis. In many regions agricultural workers live
in miserable existence. At the core of this development crisis
is the failure of South Asian leaders to implement human rights,
constitutional commitment and ILO core labor standards, fashion
suitable public policies, create economic surplus for gainful
employment and provide effective governance.
The state, trade unions, civil society and
private sectors should invent alternative mechanism to transform
unskilled and semi-skilled workforce into entrepreneurial class
and give them a compelling sense of responsibility and accountability
to struggle for fair bilateral, regional and multilateral trade
agreements, strike a balance between labor rights and trade
benefits and realize the goals of Millennium Development Goals
and decent work. To build better future unions have to overcome
the barriers to collective action through inter-movement solidarity
and can ensure workers participation in political decisions.
The creation of a legitimate and just global system is possible
where the North and the South can seek mutual adjustment to
common survival, freedom and well-beings. These are pre-conditions
for a sustainable regional cooperation and peace. The WTO has
agreed to take note of the study of International Labor Organization
(ILO) on "social dimension of globalization" that
espouses creating just and favorable condition of employment,
respect for ILO Core labor standards, social protection and
social dialogue, corporate social responsibility, health and
safety and gender mainstreaming. There is, however, a need for
a Global Code of Conduct for the sending and receiving governments
to protect the migrant workers rights. The stronger passion
of South Asian leaders for upward integration of economy through
South Asian Free Trade Area (SAFTA) by reducing tariff and non-tariff
barriers in the short-run and Customs Unions and Economic Union
in the medium term has to be balanced with the implementation
of social charter so that level playing field is created at
the bottom of society. This helps to avoid the historical pitfalls
of unilateral adjustment of workers as mere consumer of decisions
and enable them to exercise collective choice on public issues.
The Hong Kong meet accepted the "aid for trade." The
aid discussion has begun to include the legal empowerment of
workers, freedom of unions, free collective bargaining and access
of the workers in the markets.
Competition in global market requires competing
ability of the workers and countries and fair rules of the game
so that market becomes a meeting point for all. Seen from this
perspective, acceptance of LDCs duty-free and tariff-free access
to the markets of developed countries, allowing them to protect
their market, granting them incentives to rise up not just in
commodity production but manufacturing are by no means a mean
gains for LDCs. This has ignited the hope of LDCs from the multi-lateral
trading arrangement. Only a mutual accountability of developed
and developing countries to their workers can improve the working
condition of workers and shape a common future.
Objectives:
The objectives of the workshop are:
- to understand the relations between trade
and employment;
- to familiarize trade agreements in the
region;
- to study Trade Unions' engagements and
actions with international trade; and
- outline regional follow-up and actions.
Participation: 19 participants from Bangladesh (3), India
(3), Pakistan (2), Sri Lanka (3), Nepal (8) including 7 women
took part.
Resource Persons and Methodology: FES Nepal
1, ITUC Singapore 1, Geneva 1 and ILO 1. There was one women
trainer. The workshop adopted lecture presentation, familiarization
about the toolkit, slide show and group interactions. The ITUC
office came with adequate amount of literature.
Themes: The main theme discussed were trade
and decent work: an international and regional perspective,
relevance of trade for trade unions, WTO basics: objectives
and structure, agreements, dispute settlements and trade policy
review, issues about agriculture, National Agri-Marketing Association
(NAMA), services, development and rules, bilateral and regional
trade agreements, trade and labor rights, trade agreements and
trade union rights in Gulf countries, and consultation mechanism
and best practices. The comparative experience of European Union,
Association of Southeast Asian Nations and North Atlantic Free
Trade Area and South Asian Free Trade Area were also debated.
Remarks
This was for the first time the effects of
liberalization of trade on the workers and trade unions were
discussed at length. The participants agreed to identify experts
on trade matters from within the unions and establish a committee
at the regional level to familiarize the workers about the implications
of trade liberalization, social charter, consultation mechanism,
dispute settlement and the changing power balance within the
states caused by liberalization. They agreed that there should
be close coordination between trade Unions, ILO, FES and ITSes
so that workers are informed before the governments sign bilateral,
regional and multi-lateral trade agreement. They also agreed
to do follow up activities to engage trade unions actively in
trade negotiations to reflect their concern especially pertaining
to decent work, full and productive employment, recognition
of trade unions in social dialogue, setting up of national and
regional contact points and their inclusion in the global network
of trade unions, monitor various trade agreements with the government
and ensure the inclusion of decent work and core labor standards
including development concerns. Some participants viewed that
the workshop should have been week-long so that they are fully
known about the implications of various new concepts, they are
not familiar with in the past, to their life, freedom, work
and solidarity. The workshop was highly interactive and participants
appreciated FES for its support in organizing it.
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