
Issue No 70		07 September 2000

LaborNET	Ask Neale	Tool of the Week

Trades Hall

Keeping The Eye On the Ball

By Michael Gadiel

The World Economic Forum has the potential to be an opportunity to highlight some of the negative effects of Globalisation. The challenge, says Michael Gadiel, is to ensure that the important message is not lost amongst images and headlines of rioting and violence.

With the opening of the World Economic Forum unions, students and an assortment of left wing political groups will converge on the Crown Casino in Melbourne next Monday, 11 September.

Unions will hold their own rally on the Tuesday - voicing the concerns of many members, particularly in blue collar and manufacturing industries, worried by the devaluation of their skills and their job security.

The memory of the 1996 Canberra rally is ever present in the mind of the union movement. It gave a practical demonstration of how the media quickly turns their attention from the key message to stories of rioting and violence. It serves to underscore the importance of maintaining discipline - such as that displayed at the MUA picket lines and more recent union protests.

Reservations regarding the s11 protest, derive not as a result of the union involvement. There is every reason to believe that the union rally will be well managed and peaceful. The issue is that some of the rhetoric coming from groups associated with s11, such as "shut down" or "blockade" the conference or "bring Seattle to Melbourne" raise concerns about their true intentions. Any attempt to restrict access to and from the conference venue will inevitably result in clashes with the police and security - and these will be the images beamed into every lounge room in Australia.

Throughout the eighties and nineties the globalisation agenda has been dominated by big business - to suit its own purposes. A meeting like the WEF provides a unique opportunity to drive this point home. That's why it is so important that the people on the sharp end of these structural changes are given the opportunity to get their message through - loud and clear.

Globalisation has generated much wealth for Australia and Asia - the difficulty is that its effects have been uneven. The majority of the population have benefited from the opening of markets and the associated increased competition, destruction of monopolies, better access to goods and services, whilst a minority are worse off. The political backlash arising from this has manifested itself in groups such as the One Nation movement, whose agenda has largely been one of reversing the process. With their loss of support - the failure of their thinking is apparent.

We need to mend the social fabric that has been torn by the structural reform associated with globalisation. To do this we need to start taking seriously the concerns of people are feeling the impacts most harshly. Nobody has the answers - but if we are going to be taken seriously we need to look at options like compensation and safety nets and training.

It is not possible to stop globalisation in the same way that it wasn't possible to halt the aggregation of city-states and principalities of Europe into Nation States. Those that promise to stop globalisation are selling a false message.

We live in a democracy and most Australians have benefited from the wealth that globalisation brings. It is beyond the power of the unions or any government to halt the process - but we can shape it. We must recognise the benefits and make sure that enough of the extra wealth flows to those that miss out.

There appears to be disagreement amongst the various groups supporting the protest about they are protesting about - opposition to globalisation is the only unifying factor. Are they against a bunch of rich guys hegemony over the globalisation agenda? Are they pursuing an opportunity to highlight their various causes, or are they opposed, in principle, to globalisation per se? The progressive movement needs to raise itself from its entrenched outright opposition to the inextricable process of globalisation and start thinking about a vision for the kind of global society we want to build.

Clashes with the authorities at the s11 protest will inevitably undermine the efforts of those on the progressive side of politics who are seeking to exert a positive influence on the shape and direction of globalisation. Unions will maintain their discipline, but there are genuine concerns about some of the groups involved in the campaign; if there is violence, then message of those who have a genuine story to tell about the negative effects of globalisation be drowned out by outraged headlines and images of violence.

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  Issue 70 contents

Interview: New Internationalism
In its battle with Rio Tinto the CFMEU has pioneered global campaigning. National Secretary John Maitland talks to Workers Online about globalisation, a union response and using new technologies to organise .

History: Pickets and Police
S11 protestors would do well to be wary. Fred Paterson, CPA member of the Qld Parliament, was bashed by the Queensland police on St Patrick's Day 1948, when a Labor Government was in power in that state.

Education: The WEF -Why Should We Care?
An event like the World Economic Forum attracts all the spin doctors for every interest, often obscuring real issues. For educators the issues may seem remote but a closer look shows that services like public education could be dramatically affected by the unfolding agenda of global trade liberalisation says Rob Durbridge.

Economics: A Vandalised Economy
Since New Zealand was opened up to the forces of globalisation, it has performed dismally, both economically and socially. NZCTU Economist Peter Conway reports.

Unions: Our Vital Role in Society
Eight months into his new role as ACTU Secretary Greg Combet reflects on the challenges facing Australian unions.

International: Turning Up The Heat
John Sweeney of the AFL-CIO says the union movement can and will reform the global economy, for as Dr Martin Luther King taught us, the moral arc of history is long but it bends towards justice.

Satire: Threat to withhold pocket money derails S11 protest
MELBOURNE, Tuesday: Members of the activist collective S11 announced today that they had decided to cancel their protest at the upcoming World Economic Forum meeting at Crown Casino.

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