
Issue No 5		19 March 1999

News

FIET Takes Hammer To Debt Wall

Mallet-wielding unionists destroyed a symbolic "debt wall" to support a campaign for the cancellation of Third World debt, at a rally in Sydney this week.


	The Debt Wall

The rally, to coincide with the FIET World Congress, provided a colourful backdrop for a serious issue - the impact on developing countries of unsustainable debt burdens.

The idea of deferring Third World debt to coincide with the millennium has been gaining support for some time. British PM Tony Blair is one of a line of leaders who have given in-principle support for the proposal.

The theory behind the campaign is that Developing Countries would have a better opportunity to overcome their poverty troubles, if they were not forced to pay millions servicing huge debts to the World Bank representing developed nations.

Delegates from Zimbabwe, Indonesia, Honduras and South Korea addressed the rally, giving a human face to the debt burden their countries face.

Joyce Nombe from Zimbabwe said the money owed to the IMF and other lending institutions would be better spent relieving poverty at home.

Instead, the African nations were forced to cut government services continually to meet debt repayments, only to need foreign aid -- which often leads to further debt -- when the nation slips into crisis.

FIET general secretary Phillip Jennings said this vicious cycle had to stop, to ensure that 1.3 billion people living in poverty had a future.

"The result is that the poor get poorer and millions die from starvation or diseases that can be treated successfully in richer countries," he said.

"More than a billion people could be helped overnight with the removal of the enormous burden on their countries."

The FIET campaign complements an international push for the deferral under the banner Jubilee2000 which calls for the "cancellation of the unpayable debts of the worlds' poorest countries by the year 2000 under a fair and transparent process."

   Link to Jubilee2000

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  Issue 5 contents

Interview: Towards An Information International
FIET general secretary Phillip Jennings talks about the development of the Union Network International and its potential to organise globally.

Unions: The Integral Price of Loyalty
Workers at Integral Energy are asking for their share of the fruits of power reform.

History: A Very Public History
Historian Ray Markey and Public Service Association General Secretary Janet Good take a look at the unionďż˝s first 100 years.

Review: Bullworth - Beattyďż˝s Political Rap
Warren Beatty makes some gutsy calls in his new film about a politician who, when all else fails, tries the truth.

Campaign Diary: The Ultimate Punt
As the leaders slug it through the final weeks of the campaign, the armchair critics get their chance to work their pet election theories.

» Streamlined ILO To Focus On ďż˝Decentďż˝ Work

» Kelty Sees Global Minimum Wage On Horizon

» International Superunion Given Go-Ahead

» FIET Takes Hammer To Debt Wall

» Is The World Bank Anti-Union?

» Lectures Cancelled Over University Pay Claim

» 100 Reasons Why Public Sector Unionism Will Survive

» Maccas Death Call

» Cleaners Time Out Hours Cut