
Issue No 72		06 October 2000

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International

The White Knights

By Peter Lewis

The International Labour Organisation has become the great hope for those fighting to give globalisation a human face. Australian Bob Kyloh is one of those working with trade unions within the ILO to make it happen.

The profile of the ILO has increased in recent times as people seek practical solutions to the problems of globalisation. But what is actually going on within the organisation?

There is a general feeling around the world of widening inequality. Globalisation is producing a few big winners but lots of losers, both within countries and between countries. In that context a lot of people are looking for reforms within the international organizations to improve the governance of globalisation and give everyone a fair go. For the international trade union movement part of this is trying to raise the status of the ILO, to put it on a more equal footing with the WTO, IMF and World Bank. These other organisation that deal with trade, finance and economic development have incredible clout in the developing countries. But there's the missing social dimension - and that's where the ILO is seen as having a role to play, to even things up a bit when decisions are made on the big economic and social issues. I wouldn't say the ILO is opposed to globalisation - for that matter neither is the international trade union movement - what we want is to see the rules changed so it is fairer and the benefits are spread more widely.

How has that changed the way that you do business in the ILO?

A lot of the change has come through the new head of the ILO Juan Somavia, who is a former Chilean ambassador to the United Nations and has been head of the organisation for the last 18 months. He's a high profile individual who through his own contacts with the media and with world leaders has been able to get the organisation a foothold in some of the big policy debates. At the highest level, things have changed - you see much more reference to the ILO in both the financial press and general coverage of globalisation issues. We are giving a different perspective on globalisation from what they'd get from the IMF, WTO and World Bank. What Somavia does is to highlight the concerns about increasing inequality, insecurity and how the whole globalisation thing could fall apart if these issues are not addressed. Somavia is also trying to promote a more integrated approach to economic and social policy across the entire UN system. That hasn't come to fruition yet, but that's the objective.

So what are the concrete steps that can be taken at an international level to address the inequalities?

One of the issues we are most interested in here at the ILO is increasing disparities between countries. The fact that poverty levels are soaring in Africa and in many other countries. In the ILO we have to work with these countries to help them get a stake in this global economy, particularly through improving their human capital, to help them compete. This also involves helping them build industrial relations and social protection systems that are efficient and fair. But this is only part of the solution and other reforms outside the ILO mandate are necessary. This is why the international trade unions are campaigning for international debt relief for developing countries; more resources for education, health and social expenditure in the poorest countries; and better access for developing country exports to the rich countries.

The ILO focus is also on establishing and promoting international labour standards. In recent years we have gone back to the basics, emphasising what we call our core labour standards, the basic rights - stopping child labour, stopping bonded labour, eliminating the most basic forms of discrimination, providing a framework for trade unions to organise workers and the promotion of collective bargaining. Two years ago we adopted a new Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work whereby every country that is a member of the ILO committed themselves to addressing these core issues, regardless of whether they have ratified individual conventions. They also agreed to establish a system to monitor the implementation of these commitments.

Having got this far, the ILO is using the Declaration as a trigger to provide technical assistance to countries in breach to improve their performance. We are using the carrot approach first up, running programs often funded by countries in the developed world. For example, the ILO is now running a major program to address child labour, to get the kids out of the factories and construction sites and back into education. This is a not a solution in itself to the ills of globalisation, but they are concrete steps to stop the exploitation of people that unfortunately is generated by intense competition between countries for foreign investment and a bigger slice of the export market.

The international trade union movement would like to take this one step further. They argue that the new ILO Declaration and increased technical assistance in these areas are important steps in the right direction, but a more rigorous and consistent approach is required across the entire UN system. Consequently unions are fighting to have the international financial institutions adopt policies and incentives to stop infringements of this new ILO Declaration.

The push from Australia is to have core labour standards incorporated into the WTO. How realistic is that?

It's actually not a new call, the international trade union movement has been arguing for binding labour standards for as long as this organisation has existed. When the ILO was first being created at the end of WWI there were a lot of people saying its great to produce an organisation that's going to influence national legislation and practise in the labour field through the adoption of Conventions, but it needs to have some real teeth. That debate was lost. So apart from the technical assistance I mentioned previously the ILO basically relies on moral suasion and international shame to embarrass countries that are engaging in the most outrageous labour practices. Examples in recent years have been Burma, the previous regime in Nigeria, and Colombia, where there's been more than 160 trade unionists murdered in the last couple of years. The ILO has investigated and focussed international attention on the situation in these countries and through criticism of government encouraged them to change their practices.

The key question in a globalised economy with so much emphasis on economic competition between countries is whether moral suasion remains a sufficient basis to bring about real reforms. How valuable is international shame in a globalised economy? The trade union movement would say the currency of international shame has been devalued because of the increasing economic pressures. In that situation they would say there needs to be something more. Well we have something more in the form of the Declaration and increased assistance to those countries in breach of the core Conventions, the question is how much further can we go? If we can get the IMF, World Bank and other financial institutions to use their leverage to promote the Declaration that would be another step in the right direction. After all the governments that voted for the Declaration in the ILO are the same governments that sit on the boards of the international financial institutions. Therefore if governments are on the level they should be pushing for a consistent policy approach across all international organizations.

Back to your original question about how realistic is a push for core labour standards in trade negotiations - it is definitely on the agenda, at least to open up a debate about the pros and cons of this approach within the WTO. This was the objective of the union movement at the WTO meeting last year in Seattle, although there remains strong opposition to this. The best you could say is that it remains a key objective of the international trade union movement and we will see that campaign continue. It will be hard for many governments to sell any new WTO trade round within their countries, without something concrete to show their trade union movements by way of progress on labour standards.

The other point is that while the objective may not be achieved in the short term, the trade union movement may pick up other concessions along the way. For instance, without the pressure from the unions for a link between global trade and labour standards, no one would have pushed the strengthening of the ILO through the Declaration.

But at the end of the day, we still seem a long way away from seeing social considerations become part of the governance of globalisation?

Absolutely, if governments were genuinely interested in making globalisation benefit all there is a lot more that could be done to strengthen the social side. The same applies to the issues outside the ILO. We need more governments to support the trade union campaign for international debt relief and a fair go for economic and social development in the poorest countries.

But I think the trade unions can do a better job of explaining what they are about on these international economic issues. They need to build a stronger coalition with other groups concerned about the social and environmental impact of globalisation, a coalition to advance the interest of workers in all countries. And in respect of the core labour standards the ILO and the union movement can do more to explain to the general public exactly what these standards are about and why their universal implementation is essential for both the economic and social development of all countries.

Finally, what constructive role can trade unions in a country like Australia play in this debate?

The Australian trade unions have always been very actively involved in the international trade union debate about how we should responded to the challenges posed by globalisation and I am sure that will continue and probably even expand in the future. Also representatives from Australian unions who come to meetings at the ILO have made a major contribution to the quality of debates within the Organization. On the domestic front I understand there have been some lively and interesting debates recently about labour standards, trade and economic development. I see that as a positive development because it should lead to a broader public interest and understanding of the issues involved with globalisation and better understanding among all Australians about what is desirable and practical in responding to globalisation.

From an international perspective, and if resources could be found, one of the most constructive things Australian unions could do is to more actively promote similar debates about globalisation and labour standards in the Asia Pacific region. Some work is being done in this field but unfortunately it is within our own region where some of the strongest opponents to labour standards are.

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Issue 72 contents

Interview: Taking It To The Union Busters
ACTU Assistant Secretary Richard Marles talks to Workers Online about turning back the anti-union sentiment growing in the business community, responsible unionism and the sense of fun to be found at the ACTU.

International: The White Knights
The International Labour Organisation has become the great hope for those fighting to give globalisation a human face. Australian Bob Kyloh is one of those working with trade unions within the ILO to make it happen.

Politics: Industrial Democracy for Australia
Glenn Patmore argues we need new forms of employee representation in the workplace to broaden employee participation.

Unions: Behind The Scenes
In a small office at Homebush Bay, as the world focused on all that was positive about our games, Unions 2000 and SOCOG officials worked tirelessly to ensure that no worker was ripped off. Chris Christoudoulou reports.

Satire: Parade of Icons �Could Have Included Even More Ex-Aussies� Say Critics
The selection of Greg Norman, Paul Hogan and Elle Macpherson to represent Australia in the �Parade of Icons� during the Closing Ceremony of the Sydney Games last night has prompted a storm of complaints from other famous former Australians.

Review: Elliott Smiths Figure 8
Smith is basically the secret love child of the fab four and it�s so blatantly obvious. That�s not a bad thing because one thing Lennon and McCartney were reknown for was there ability to pen catchy tunes.

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