Geneva 2000

Trade Union Panel on Globalizing Social Justice and Promoting Sustainable Social Development

Mr. Jordan, General Secretary of the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU), opened the panel discussion by confirming that globalizing social justice would be the primary mission of the international trade union movement in the years to come. According to Mr. Jordan "this would not be an easy task by any means and it would not be achieved rapidly, but the trade union movement was prepared for a long fight". Five years ago the Social Summit had put social issues on the international political agenda and the ten commitments adopted at Copenhagen had provided a way forward. Unfortunately a dangerous complacency had over taken the international political debate surrounding globalization in the last few years despite the warnings provided by the Asian economic crises. As a result important indicators of social and economic well-being, such as income equality, poverty levels, child labour, and the number of people suffering from Aids had deteriorated significantly in the last half decade.

Many participants took up this theme arguing that the current social summit taking place in Geneva should be renamed Copenhagen minus five because social concerns were being given less prominence today by the key policy makers than was the case a few years ago.

Mr. Willy Thys, General Secretary of the World Confederation of Trade Unions, stated that the recently released booklet "2000: A Better World for All" which had been produced by the United Nations, IMF, World Bank and OECD had tarnished the reputation of the UN by linking that organisation with the institutions promoting a neo-liberal approach to economic policy. Mr. Thys argued that globalization was increasing inequalities within and between countries and also contributing to the growth of the informal sector and child labour. He strongly supported the campaign to significantly expand international debt relief and called for a concerted effort to provide universal access to basic services like clean drinking water; education, health and social protection. Increased government expenditure in these areas would help to reduce unemployment.

Ms. Nancy Riche, from the Canadian Labour Congress, reminded participants that little or no progress on been made on gender equality since Copenhagen. She noted that two-thirds of the worlds’ illiterate are women; seventy percent of the worlds’ poor are women; no progress had been made on equal pay; and, female participation in the workforce had increased but most women were in poorly paid atypical forms of employment. She recalled that several years ago the UN Secretary General had described the Beijing Platform as the "great political project of the twentieth first century" but according to Riche, due to inaction on implementation, this had become the great political shame. Ms. Riche called for internal reform within the trade union movement to better represent the interest of women, youth, and people with disabilities.

The topic of internal trade union reform was taken up by many participants. Mr. Bill Jordan had explained that the ICFTU had initiated a major review of the international trade union structure. He felt that greater unity within the union movement was required and that closer cooperation with groups outside the unions who were promoting social justice were essential if we were to achieve the objective of globalizing social justice. Other speakers such as Mr. Marcello Malentacchi, from the International Metal Workers, supported this theme and called on unions to take their message to a new and vastly expanded audience. Other participants, such as Ms. Betty Cortez, focussed on ways to strengthen unity on the trade union "doorstep" and she elaborated on some successful organising strategies at the local level.

The panel concluded with an interesting debate between representatives of the Bretton Woods institutions and the trade union representatives. The representatives of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank explained some of the reforms taking place in their institutions in order to focus more attention on poverty and social issues. The trade union participants responded by calling for more far reaching and rapid reform in these institutions. The possibility of a joint widespread campaign by the international trade union movement and the Bretton Woods institutions to encourage governments to transfer scarce financial resources from military to social expenditure was raised. Mr. Zahoor Awan, from Pakistan, had pointed out that the financial resources to fund universal education and an end to child labour represented a tiny fraction of annual global military expenditure.