Opening Address to the 6th ITF Asia/Pacific Regional Conference

by Mr Shinichi Hasegawa, Regional Director of ILO Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific

Statement | New Delhi | 26 September 2005

Distinguished Guests
Delegates
Ladies and Gentlemen

I am greatly honored for the invitation to the ILO to participate in your Conference and also to speak at your opening session. Unfortunately I am unable to be present in person.

My fraternal greetings to all of you!

It is also my pleasure to extend you best wishes from Mr. Juan Somavia, the Director General of the ILO.

Delegates, I share with you the importance of this Conference. I understand this is the most important gathering of the affiliates of the ITF from the and the Pacific region. I was also told that such gathering takes place only once every four years. At this Conference, I presume you will review the work of the ITF carried out in the past four years and more importantly discuss and adopt policies and plans for the future. This will charter a path for the future development of your organization and the women and men employed in the transport industry. It is also an opportunity for you to reflect upon challenges facing workers particularly those in the transport industry.

Allow me to take advantage of this platform and raise some issues that you may want to consider in your discussions this week.

Trade unions and workers globally are facing mounting challenges as a result of globalization. Your Conference theme of “Organizing Globally-Strategy for the Asia/Pacific Region” is about meeting some of these challenges. Organizing is about building your capacity and your solidarity.

These are also common issues for both of us -the ITF and the ILO. Making the unions stronger and more representative is one such challenge of the ILO.

The ILO believes that union organizing is a key issue in making unions stronger and representative. ILO instruments such as the Conventions particularly those related to the right to freedom of association and the right to collectively bargain is important in this regard. Ratification of these Conventions are poor compared to other regions in the world. Thirteen countries in and the Pacific have ratified the Freedom of Association Convention (No.87) and 16 countries have ratified the Right to Organize and Collective Bargaining Convention (No.98). But ratification is not the same thing as effective implementation, and we cannot ignore the fact that there are still many cases of violations of this fundamental principle. To deal with such violations, the ILO has been pro-active in terms of helping to promote legal frameworks and national environments where joining and taking part in trade union activities is respected and upheld for what it is – a human right at work and a critical element of economic, social and political progress.

I urge you to consider the ratification issue in your discussions.

Employment and employment creation is of utmost importance in the Asia/Pacific region. Women and men cannot be employed if there are no jobs. The ILO believes that it is not only about more jobs but it is also about better jobs. It is about jobs that provide decent wages and those that are carried out in decent working conditions. In the Asia Pacific region there are many cases of workers working under poor conditions, children instead of going to school they work in factories, women work long hours in difficult conditions. The Asia Pacific region also has the highest number of working poor. It is estimated that around 767 million workers receive less then US$ one dollar a day. Thus creation of employment opportunities is vital.

The ILO believes that while jobs are important it is equally important that these are carried out under healthy and safe environment. Also it is important that workers are covered by proper social security.

In short, we should pursue Decent Work as a global agenda.

However this cannot be achieved unless women and men who are directly affected by it are involved in the promotion of the agenda. They can be involved if workers have the right to form unions and they have the right to collective bargaining. Workers need to be involved at national, sectoral and enterprise levels in tripartite and bipartite structures. Thus organizing and strengthening the capacity of unions is necessary. It is in this regard I find your Conference theme very appropriate. It is also in this regard I find that we-the ITF and the ILO have common aspirations.

I look forward to the outcome of your Conference. Moreover I look forward to discussions with the ITF leadership to see where the ITF and the ILO can work together on common themes arising out of the Conference.