Workers Online
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  Issue No 5 Official Organ of LaborNet 19 March 1999  

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News

Is The World Bank Anti-Union?



The World Bank has been asked to clarify its stance on trade unions amidst allegations it advised the Bangladeshi Government to prevent bank workers from organising a trade union.

FIET general secretary Phillip Jennings this week wrote to World Bank President James Woolfensohn after Bangladeshi delegates at the FIET World Congress raised the issue.

The delegates informed FIET that a World Bank advisory team in Bangladesh had advised the government that they should take legislative measures to block a union for the finance sector.

In the letter, Jennings seeks confirmation of the advice as well as clarification of the World Bank's commitment to labour standards, including the ILO Declaration of Fundamental Rights.

In a response from the World Bank, Robert Holzmann, director of its Social Protection Unit, said he was unable to verify the specific claims in the short time frame but it "is not standard Bank policy to advise a government to take legislative measures to prevent workers from organising".

On the more general issue, he said "I would like to assure you that the Bank places great emphasis on the importance of good working conditions for workers."

"We recognise the prominence of labour standards in the current debate and we have made this an important issue for consideration internally within the Bank as well as in our external dialogue with stakeholders".


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*   Issue 5 contents

In this issue
Features
*  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.
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*  Unions: The Integral Price of Loyalty
Workers at Integral Energy are asking for their share of the fruits of power reform.
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*  History: A Very Public History
Historian Ray Markey and Public Service Association General Secretary Janet Good take a look at the union�s first 100 years.
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*  Review: Bullworth - Beatty�s Political Rap
Warren Beatty makes some gutsy calls in his new film about a politician who, when all else fails, tries the truth.
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*  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.
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News
»  Streamlined ILO To Focus On �Decent� Work
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»  Kelty Sees Global Minimum Wage On Horizon
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»  International Superunion Given Go-Ahead
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»  FIET Takes Hammer To Debt Wall
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»  Is The World Bank Anti-Union?
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»  Lectures Cancelled Over University Pay Claim
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»  100 Reasons Why Public Sector Unionism Will Survive
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»  Maccas Death Call
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»  Cleaners Time Out Hours Cut
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Columns
»  Guest Report
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»  Sport
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»  Trades Hall
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»  Piers Watch
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Letters to the editor
»  Plenty More History
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»  Time For Fresh Look
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»  A Pat On The Back
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