Trade Unions of BRICS Countries Address Common Problems
Trade union leaders from Brazil, China, India, Russia and South Africa took part in the 4th Trade Union Forum of BRICS countries, which ended in Ufa, Russian Federation, on 9 July.
10 July 2015
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Representatives of International Trade Union Confederation and International Labour Organization have been invited to the Forum as guests of honour. The ILO was represented by Dimitrina Dimitrova, director of the Decent Work Team and Country Office for Eastern Europe and Central Asia. The participants have adopted a declaration, which was handed over to the President of Russian Federation Vladimir Putin during his meeting with the Russian delegation at the Forum led by chairman of the Federation of Independent Trade Unions of Russia Mikhail Shmakov.
The document points out, in particular, that «rapidly progressing neoliberal globalization leads to the destruction of jobs and of the Earth's ecosystem. In 2014, one percent of the planet's population owned 48 percent of the entire world's wealth; by 2016, this “golden one percent” will own more than half thereof. A huge number of workers have no job security and are facing the highest level of inequality within the memory of living generations. Over the past two years, half of all working families have experienced either unemployment or underemployment, and 1.2 billion people live in abject poverty. According to an ILO report, in 2014 there were 207 million unemployed with a forecast of reaching 220 million. This economic model further deepens inequality, weakens democracy and undermines justice for all».
The global trade union movement cannot accept that the austerity measures, which failed in Europe and the United States, are «a way out of the crisis». The participants in the Forum called for increased investment in real productive sector, infrastructure projects, health, education, science and technology, vocational and advanced training. Investments should be used to create decent jobs and higher wages, they insisted.
«Strengthening of BRICS plays a key role in promoting democratic international relations without violation of sovereignty and the right of peoples to self-determination, in improving a multipolar world political architecture without dictate and discriminatory economic sanctions», the Declaration emphasizes. «Workers of our countries see in BRICS a more equitable model of global relations, which should be built beyond and above traditional East-West and North-South watersheds», it adds.
The Declaration also called on the governments of BRICS countries «to do their utmost to reduce political tension in the world, to ensure global security and stability, cessation of hostilities wherever they occur, to contribute to an active and unconditional application of the rules of international law for the settlement of regional and local conflicts».
Having presented the Declaration of the Trade Union Forum to the President of Russia, the participants resumed the discussion on the current situation on the labour market in their countries and the prospects for further cooperation within BRICS.
The document points out, in particular, that «rapidly progressing neoliberal globalization leads to the destruction of jobs and of the Earth's ecosystem. In 2014, one percent of the planet's population owned 48 percent of the entire world's wealth; by 2016, this “golden one percent” will own more than half thereof. A huge number of workers have no job security and are facing the highest level of inequality within the memory of living generations. Over the past two years, half of all working families have experienced either unemployment or underemployment, and 1.2 billion people live in abject poverty. According to an ILO report, in 2014 there were 207 million unemployed with a forecast of reaching 220 million. This economic model further deepens inequality, weakens democracy and undermines justice for all».
The global trade union movement cannot accept that the austerity measures, which failed in Europe and the United States, are «a way out of the crisis». The participants in the Forum called for increased investment in real productive sector, infrastructure projects, health, education, science and technology, vocational and advanced training. Investments should be used to create decent jobs and higher wages, they insisted.
«Strengthening of BRICS plays a key role in promoting democratic international relations without violation of sovereignty and the right of peoples to self-determination, in improving a multipolar world political architecture without dictate and discriminatory economic sanctions», the Declaration emphasizes. «Workers of our countries see in BRICS a more equitable model of global relations, which should be built beyond and above traditional East-West and North-South watersheds», it adds.
The Declaration also called on the governments of BRICS countries «to do their utmost to reduce political tension in the world, to ensure global security and stability, cessation of hostilities wherever they occur, to contribute to an active and unconditional application of the rules of international law for the settlement of regional and local conflicts».
Having presented the Declaration of the Trade Union Forum to the President of Russia, the participants resumed the discussion on the current situation on the labour market in their countries and the prospects for further cooperation within BRICS.