Economy & Trade, Europe, Headlines, Labour

LABOUR: World’s Big Two Aim At Getting Bigger

John Vandaele

BRUSSELS, Oct 26 2004 (IPS) - In a historic move, WCL has decided to start negotiations with ICFTU, the world’s largest trade union, for setting up a new international labour organisation.

The long awaited initiative is intended to protect labour rights in the face of globalisation and counter the growing clout of multilateral corporations in the political arena.

WCL, the World Confederation of Labour, comprises of 144 autonomous and democratic trade unions from 116 countries around the globe, with more than 26 million members, mainly from Third World countries.

ICFTU, the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions, represents 148 million workers worldwide and is by far the biggest confederation consisting of 234 affiliated organisations in 152 countries and territories on all five continents.

The drive towards a combined organisational structure stems from the relative powerlessness labour unions are experiencing in a globalised economy. Corporations can easily play unions against one another by threatening to move business operations from one country to another.

”Society has undergone a radical change in recent years and the workers’ rights are increasingly violated under the pressure of neo-liberal globalisation,” says WCL Secretary General Willy Thys. ”It is essential for the trade unions to protect in the best possible way the workers’ rights and to advance social justice.”

Until the confederal board meeting last week in Morocco, WCL had ruled out the idea of a ”merger” proposed by the ICFTU, saying that social democrats would have a greater say in a combined international organisation.

”Since Guy Ryder took office as the new Secretary General at the ICFTU, those fears have been quelled,” Luc Cortebeeck, vice-president of WCL told IPS.

Cortebeeck who is also president of the Christian Workers Movement (ACV) said: ”Ryder has made an appeal for the creation of a new worldwide union, which is not to be confused with a merger.”

The new international trade union organisation will be open to other democratic and independent organisations affiliated neither to WCL nor to ICFTU, he said.

”That makes all the difference. The ICFTU acknowledges the importance of pluralism. It is no longer their objective to have one union per country,” Cortebeeck said.

The ICFTU has a large membership in industrialised countries and can exert its weight when negotiating with multinational corporations on social issues that can only be dealt with at the international level.

But the ICFTU’s stronger position has led to the exclusion of WCL at the Global Compact, an international network of corporations, UN agencies, trade unions and non-governmental organisations that pledge to voluntarily adhere to nine principles, which include workers’ rights.

”International labour unions that focus on particular economic sectors are more crucial than ever. Workers have a lot to gain if they are made stronger through cooperation,” Cortebeeck said.

The ICFTU has still to take a formal decision on starting negotiations with the WCL. ”But the chances for a positive decision are very high indeed,” Tim Noonan, the campaign director of ICFTU told IPS. ”There is a very positive attitude towards the idea in our Board of Directors,” he said.

This is because the two labour confederations have come closer in recent years by launching joint actions on specific issues. ”We are already working together when negotiating with international financial institutions and we have set up a campaign against child labour,” Noonan said.

”We have realised that there is more that binds us, than divides us. The ICFTU has always heeded pluralism in the international labour movement, but it is probably true that this has been communicated more efficiently in recent years. After all, globalisation exerts a tremendous pressure on workers’ rights,” the ICFTU campaign director said.

ICFTU has three major regional organisations, APRO for Asia and the Pacific, AFRO for Africa, and ORIT for the Americas. It also maintains close links with the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC). This includes all ICFTU European affiliates, and Global Union Federations. They link together national unions from a particular trade or industry at international level.