
Issue No 115		12 October 2001

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Economics

Global Alliances

Ray Marcelo reports from India that the ILO is arguing that globalisation needs a worker and employer alliance.


	Lord Bill Brett, Vice Chairman of the ILO

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At an employer-sponsored seminar in New Delhi last week, Lord Bill Brett, the Vice Chairman of the International Labour Organisation's governing body tackled the great question, "Capital and Labour in the 21st Century: Enemies or Friends?"

His answer borrowed from the strategic language of the moment: "We're not friends, we're not enemies. We're allies."

Just like America has the unlikely support of Russia, China and Pakistan in their bombing campaign of Afghanistan, Lord Brett says globalisation has forced labour and employers to become allies.

He acknowledged that globalisation as it stands is unfair. It is not spreading the benefits to many, it is something of a blank cheque for multinational companies, and it is diminishing the power of the nation state.

But he says workers have been left with little choice; "We can no more reverse globalisation than we can un-invent the cell phone. It is real and it is here to stay."

For workers and employers competing on an uneven global racetrack, it is futile to support developed country jobs in uncompetitive industries, he said.

"There is no way a British textile worker on 60 times the salary of an Indian textile worker can compete." Employers will obey competitive dynamics and shift manufacturing, he said.

Even benign employers, like IBM who offered lifetime employment as a condition of company policy, when faced with the tech-wreck, sacked their workers.

Events, fuelled by the process of globalisation have left workers with few alternatives. But it is right for workers to be sceptical of bodies like the WTO, he said.

Those who set the rules of the global race track - for instance making the race five kilometers long - knew that they were already three kilometres ahead. And the rules place developing countries at the start line.

To deal with this bias, Lord Brett suggested that workers and employers needed dialogue - such as European style tripartite talks- to ally in re-training and job creation.

In developing countries Lord Brett attacked the claim by employers for more flexible labour laws. Instead, it is stable government and a skilled workforce, not the ability to sack people that attracts foreign investment and development, he said.

But in India, although dialogue may be achievable in the organised employed sectors, poverty outweighs union-worker relations as an economic priority.

The official concept of poverty in India is based on a caloric value. Families that can't buy enough food to obtain a minimum amount of calories per capita per day (2400 calories per day in rural areas, and 2100 calories in urban areas) are below the poverty line.

Recent Indian government figures have calculated 193 million people in rural India and another 67 million in urban India living below the poverty line.

Lord Bill Brett conceded to insufficient knowledge of India's poverty problems but criticised the International Monetary Fund's poverty alleviation programs as "the same old wine in a new bottle".

If there is serious economic damage arising from the September 11 attacks, unions must pressure government and employers to ensure that poor people and workers in vulnerable industries do not bear the costs.

In Australia, the organising and political campaign by Ansett workers is a good example of a necessary resistance.

Lord Brett's argument that workers and capital are allies rests on the possibility of a global deal. Workers get social security improvements in return for more flexibility.

And workers get better use of foreign investment in return for citizens seeing industry move to areas where it hasn't invested in before.

For a capital-labour alliance to succeed, Lord Brett argued for national partnerships at a governmental level and internationally at the level of the multinational company. Workers, he says, need a multinational profile.

Lord Bill Brett was a former general secretary of a British version of APESMA, and presented the 1970's BBC radio show, "Union Scene".

He was made a Lord by New Labour in 1999 and is the author of the book, "International Labour in the 21st Century, a personal view on the ILO as a "monument to the past or a beacon for the future?"

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  Issue 115 contents

Interview: Connecting the State
NSW IT minister Kim Yeadon is the man responsible for enabling the people of NSW. Here's how he's doing it.

Workplace: The Enemy Within
In the IT industry it's the recruiters who are earning the workers' ire, as our special correspondent explains.

Unions: From the Virtual Coalface
Computer programmer Vince Caughley argues there is a place for unions in the IT industry.

History: Conditions Precedent
Frank Bongiorno writes that the recent events off the coast of Christmas Island recall a story once told by Paul Hasluck.

International: Victims of Terrorism
Repression against trade unionists on the increase world wide, with 209 trade unionists assassinated last year, reveals ICFTU 2001 Survey.

Campaign Diary: Week One: Get Shorty
Labor's first week of campaigning was as an effort to gain attention from a nation rocked by the telvised war on terrorism.

Economics: Global Alliances
Ray Marcelo reports from India that the ILO is arguing that globalisation needs a worker and employer alliance.

Health: The Phantom Menace
Trade unions made an impact this week at an international congress In Melbourne in the global fight against AIDS.

Review: Rings of Confidence
In his study on the 2000 Olympics, Tony Webb argues that the government and unions reached a new level of cooperation.

Satire: Greens 'Quietly Unconfident' of Forming Government
A leaked memo from a senior member of the Greens reveals the party is unconfident of winning government on November 10.

» Nauru Guards Under-Paid, Untrained

» IT Workers Flock to Join Alliance

» Freeloader Fees Get Green Light

» Stark Differences on Workers Rights

» Disbelief at Royal Commission Directions

» Abbott Flees Ansett Workers

» Union Support for ALP Climate Change Policy

» Nurses Savage Howard's Neglect Of Workforce

» Optus Workers Entitlements Are Safe

» Airports' Security Front Line Deserves Better

» Workers Rally to Stop NDC Cuts

» World Road Unions Unite To Deliver Decent Work

» Aid Groups Back Western Sahara

» Trade Union Assistance for Afghan Refugees

» Activists Notebook