TRADE: Europeans Move on Labour Question at WTO Conference

By Gustavo Capdevila Reprint | | Print |

Gustavo Capdevila

DOHA, Nov 14 2001 (IPS) - The European Union (EU) has thrown its support behind a proposal on the social dimension of the globalisation process adopted by the International Labour Organisation (ILO), a move seen as a bid to improve relations with the region’s unions.

EU delegates presented an announcement by the ILO about the creation of a global commission to oversee the social aspects of globalisation, a response to union demands that international trade must be bound by workers’ rights.

“It’s what we needed,” said Anthony Gooch, an EU spokesman at the Fourth Ministerial Conference of the World Trade Organisation (WTO), which began last Friday in the Qatar capital, and is expected to conclude in the early morning hours on Wednesday with the signing of the meet’s final declaration.

The international labour unions had been exerting pressure on the governments of European countries and the United States to make sure that the WTO takes into consideration the social issues that are related to global trade.

The world’s trade ministers had avoided the labour question at the last ministerial conference, held in the US city of Seattle in late 1999.

Many developing countries oppose WTO interference in such social matters because they fear that it would ultimately favour the existing protectionist policies of the industrialised nations.

The draft text of the ministerial declaration for the Doha conference, drawn up in Geneva at the WTO headquarters, included only a mention of the issue in its preamble.

The unions and some European governments want to set up a WTO body that would be entrusted with oversight and policies intended to ensure compliance with basic labour standards in the world trade arena.

One version of the proposal that had gained an edge among negotiators stated that the WTO should join forces in such efforts with the ILO, an institution that is governed by a tripartite council made up of governments, employers and workers.

But the text of the first two drafts of the declaration proved disappointing to the unionists because they merely repeated concepts extracted from prior documents that had not had any political impact, they said.

The announcement of the creation of the commission turned out to be a lifesaver for relations between EU union activists and government representatives.

Gooch indicated that the European bloc had participated in drawing up the ILO plan for establishing a reference point for the social side of the globalisation process.

EU Trade Commissioner Pascal Lamy has maintained frequent meetings on this matter with ILO director-general Juan Somavía, said a diplomatic source.

The World Confederation of Labour (WCL) issued a statement saying that such a commission “constitutes a positive step toward developing a social pillar of globalisation.”

But the Brussels-based WCL chastised the ministers gathered in Doha for “refusing an effective link between the ILO and the WTO as a means of promoting social development.”

The governments are hypocritical in their actions, and their lack of coherence is “unacceptable and against the interests of the working population,” said the international labour union.

The latest revised version of the ministerial declaration, to be signed by the more than 140 trade ministers meeting in Doha, contains one short paragraph on the question of labour rights and trade.

The text says that the ministers reaffirm the declaration made at the Singapore Ministerial Conference, in 1996, regarding internationally recognised core labour standards.

The draft of the declaration also states that the WTO member countries “take note of work under way in the ILO on the social dimension of globalisation.”

But the latest version eliminates a paragraph from the original draft, which expressly stated that “the ILO provides the appropriate forum for substantive dialogue in various aspects of the issue” of trade and labour standards.

EU spokesman Gooch said the newest draft was an improvement because it leaves open the possibility that other institutions, such as the WTO, could serve as forums for handling disputes related to labour rights.

During the last sessions of the Doha conference Tuesday, India’s trade minister, Murasoli Maran, laid out his country’s “strong objections to making any reference to labour issues in the Doha Ministerial Declaration.”

The core standards demanded by the ILO refer to collective bargaining rights, the elimination of discriminatory practices, and ending abuse in the workplace, particularly forced labour and the exploitation of minors.