
Issue No 79		24 November 2000

LaborNET	Ask Neale	Tool of the Week

News

Life After Seattle: A Citizen's Guide to the WTO

The first anniversary of the Seattle protests will be marked in Sydney will be marked by the launch of a book that explains the World Trade Organisation to the punters.

The Case for Fair Trade: a Citizen's Guide to the WTO will be launched by Sharan Burrow, ACTU President Thursday 7 December at 12.30pm in the Waratah Room at Parliament House in Macquarie Street. All are welcome.

The booklet is written by Dr Patricia Ranald of the Public Interest Advocacy Centre for the Australian Fair Trade and Investment Network, which is a network of forty community organisations. It includes major peak bodies, like the ACTU, the National Council of Churches, the Australian Conservation Foundation the Australian Council of Social Service, as well as state and local organisations from a wide range of areas.

The network supports the development of trading relationships with all countries and recognises the need for regulation of trade through the negotiation of international rules.

The first week of December is the anniversary of the World Trade Organisation meeting in Seattle which was abandoned in the face of massive demonstrations and the refusal of developing country governments to agree to an agenda in which they had had no voice. Since Seattle, there is a growing movement for change but governments have not yet responded.

This booklet explains the WTO, and how its agreements impact on our lives. The WTO sets global rules for trade and investment between countries. It is run by governments that we elect. And yet WTO meetings are held behind closed doors, and often there is no public debate about its policies. There is growing criticism of WTO rules which can define environmental regulation, food safety regulation and local industry development policies as barriers to trade. This booklet contributes to the debate for fair and accountable trade policies, consistent with human rights and conservation of the environment.

Booklets can be ordered from Sarah Mitchell ph 92997833 or email [email protected] $3 for up to 50 copies, $2.50 for 50-100 and $2 for more than 100.

View entire issue - print all of the articles!

Issue 79 contents

Interview: Back on Track
After blowing the whistle on rail privatization, NSW Transport Minister Carl Scully is rebuilding bridges with the trade union movement.

Unions: The Problem with Organising
It may be the new mantra, but Brisbane Institute director Peter Botsman argues that organising may be the wrong to go for a movement attempting to attract a new breed of workers.

International: Burma: Workers Act on ILO Ruling
Energy workers' trade unions across the Asia-Pacific have urged Western oil and gas companies to "cease investment in Burma while the use of forced labour continues".

Economics: Rethinking Incomes Policy
While many have thrown incomes policy out with the Acoord bathwater, Graham White argues it still has a role to play.

History: What Goes Around Comes Around
Labor Council's Mark Lennon argues that while trade unions - and labour history - might be unfashionable, there's life left in both of them.

Education: Peas in a Pod
Both sides of politics must take blame for funding levels in our public schools, argues NSW Teachers Federation president Sue Simpson.

Satire: Hurley Rebukes Actors' Guild: I'm No Actor!
Liz Hurley has responded angrily to claims by actors that she crossed a picket line by filming an Estee Lauder ad.

Review: It's Only a Job
In a stunning new book, author Phil Thornton and photographer Paul Jones have combined to portray working life in all its diversity through the eyes of ordinary people like process worker Sharonak Shannon

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» Deadline Approaches for Organiser of the Year

» Training Crisis - Carr Called to Action

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» Shaw's Man Aims for Canberra

» Life After Seattle: A Citizen's Guide to the WTO

» Sinn Fein Deputy in Sydney