Preview: A social clause for labour’s cause: global trade and labour standards

A SOCIAL CLAUSE FOR LABOUR’S CAUSE: GLOBAL TRADE AND LABOUR STANDARDS – A CHALLENGE FOR THE NEW MILLENNIUM

BY DAVID CHIN

David Chin is a solicitor with the Sydney labour law firm Jones Staff & Co. He is an Executive Member of the Australian National Committee of the International Centre for Trade Union Rights (ANC-ICTUR), and co-ordinator of the ANC-ICTUR’s Labour Standards Committee and China Committee.

The author wishes to acknowledge the editorial assistance of the Labour Standards Committee of the ANC-ICTUR, as well as the helpful suggestions provided by John Hendy QC in respect of an earlier draft of this paper. The members of the above mentioned Labour Standards Committee were, in addition to the author: Ronald McCallum, Breen Creighton, Anthony Forsyth, Glenn Fredericks, Alan Matheson, Tim Pallas and Joe Riordan. Nevertheless, the author accepts responsibility for the end result.

This publication, like all publications of the Institute, represents not the collective views of the Institute but only the views of the author. The responsibility of the Institute is limited to approving its publication as worthy of consideration within the labour movement.

ISBN 1 8732 71 64 6 July 1998 published by the Institute of Employment Rights 160 Falcon Road London SW11 2LN 0171 738 9511 e-mail ier@gn.apc.org designed by Megan Dobney 0181 761 7532 printed by Upstream (TU) 0171 358 1344 £6.50 for trade unions and students £20 others THE

INSTITUTE OF

EMPLOYMENT RIGHTS

a social clause for labour’s cause: global trade and labour standards – a challenge for the new millennium

executive summary

by David Chin

i

contents

abbreviations

iv

FROM THE INSTITUTE

Carolyn Jones

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PREFACE

Michael Walton

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FOREWORD

Jennie George

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CHAPTER 1

introduction

1

CHAPTER 2

a social clause for labour’s cause

a snapshot of the international labour standards scene

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International Labour Organisation United Nations Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development European Union United States NAFTA/NAALC Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Forum World Trade Organisation

7 8 10 11 11 12 13 14 15

CHAPTER 3

the social clause what is a social clause? the core labour standards background on ILO conventions the “core” conventions Convention 87 – freedom of association Convention 98 – right to organise and collective bargain Conventions 29 and 105 – forced labour Conventions 100 and 111 – discrimination Convention 138 – minimum age revising and expanding the “core” standards/conventions? the ILO supervisory system

17 17 19 21 24 24 26 26 27 27 30 34

CHAPTER 4

the fallacy of the social dumping defence the evidence core standards v cheap labour

38 40 43

CHAPTER 5

an instrumental view of the social clause the free global market dealing with recalcitrant governments

47 47 49

the ways forward

52

bibliography

56

about the International Centre for Trade Union Rights

61

recent publications

62

contents

CHAPTER 6

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abbreviations

ACFTU ACTU APEC APLN BGMEA EPZ EU FDI GATT ICFTU ICTUR ILO IPEC

a social clause for labour’s cause

NAALC NAFTA NGO OECD

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SCCI UNCHR UNICEF WTO

All-China Federation of Trade Unions Australian Council of Trade Unions Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum Asia-Pacific Labour Network Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association export-processing zone European Union foreign direct investment General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade International Confederation of Free Trade Unions International Centre for Trade Union Rights International Labour Organisation International Program on the Elimination of Child Labour North American Agreement on Labour Cooperation North American Free Trade Agreement non-governmental organisation Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development Sialkot Chamber of Commerce and Industry United Nations Commission on Human Rights United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund World Trade Organisation

from the Institute

This publication is the first to be produced by the Institute in partnership with another organisation – the International Centre for Trade Union Rights (ICTUR). It is fitting therefore that the subject under discussion should concern global labour rights.

The International Centre for Trade Union Rights is an international body whose aim is to defend and extend the rights of trade unions and trade unionists around the world. The author of this report is a member of the Australian National Committee – one of the most active of ICTUR’s global network of National Committees. Working with ICTUR will enable the ideas developed in this booklet to be disseminated throughout both the UK and Australian labour movements.

We are grateful for the support offered by Jennie George, the President of the Australian Council of Trade Unions (the equivalent

from the Institute

As trade unions and their members experience the reality of life in the deregulated global economy, it is appropriate that labour movement organisations throughout the world combine their resources in the best traditions of co-ordination, co-operation, and exchange of information. Developments around the Multinational Agreement on Investment and concerted attacks on the role of the International Labour Organisation suggest that employer organisations are actively combining to protect and promote the interests of international capital by entrenching neo-liberal economic policies on the global market. If this process is to be checked then international campaigns around issues like the Social Clause will take on increasing significance in the work of labour movement organisations.

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of the UK TUC) who has assisted in the promotion of the report. We are also grateful to Michael Walton, President of the Australian National Committee and to John Hendy QC who is an ICTUR Vice President and who was instrumental in developing this project.

a social clause for labour’s cause

Carolyn Jones Director Institute of Employment Rights.

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preface

This publication is the result of a project adopted by the Australian National Committee of the International Centre for Trade Union Rights (ANC-ICTUR) which is aimed at fostering and progressing debate on international labour standards. Whilst not necessarily representing policy formulated and agreed by the ICTUR, it is intended to stimulate deliberation on the vital link between trade and labour standards among trade unionists in particular. It is also intended to inform and promote debate among the broad community of people who are interested in what is perhaps the defining challenge of our age: civilising the phenomenon of globalisation.

The need for a publication of this kind to help maintain the momentum of support for the concept of the Social Clause is manifest. In view of the recent failure of the World Trade Organisation to adopt or meaningfully advance the concept, and having regard to the apparent inaction of the International Labour Organisation, we now face the real danger of letting the Social Clause concept slip from our grasp. It is the aim of the ANC-ICTUR to assist the international trade union movement in its efforts to ensure that this does not occur. To this end, I believe that this publication is a very significant contribution.

Michael Walton President ANC-ICTUR, Sydney, New South Wales

preface

Finally, I am very pleased that this publication has been produced by the Institute of Employment Rights in partnership with ICTUR. Such joint efforts in the dissemination of research and ideas for furthering the interests of international labour are to be commended.

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foreword

a social clause for labour’s cause

Since the inception of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade in 1948, the international trade union movement has attempted to place labour standards on the international trade agenda.

Traditionally, the rationale for this has been to avoid a scenario in which countries are drawn into a “race to the bottom� in terms of wages and working conditions in an effort to win a competitive advantage in world trade. Of course, it is incumbent upon trade unions around the world to examine critically the social and distributional consequences of unchecked economic globalisation. Trade unions have a responsibility to participate in the debate about globalisation with the purpose of protecting the interests and rights of the working people whom they represent and whose wages and conditions increasingly are of international concern.

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However, as the international trade union movement approaches the new millennium, there is a need to re-evaluate our approach to globalisation to ensure its continuing relevance and efficacy.

Indeed, it is vital for all advocates of labour standards to modernise their arguments in light of current research and contemporary institutional frameworks. The rapid globalisation of trade together with the emergence of sophisticated regional and global political/ economic institutions such as the WTO, APEC, the Europe Union and NAFTA have given rise to new challenges and opportunities for those engaged in the struggle to entrench a meaningful linkage between trade and labour standards. One of the most promising of these opportunities, undoubtedly, is the concept of the Social Clause.

In this publication the Institute of Employment Rights in partnership with the Australian National Committee of the International

Centre for Trade Union Rights has made an important contribution to the modernisation of the trade and labour standards debate. It is a fine example of international co-operation between a British based labour movement think-tank and the ICTUR which provides extensive and valued services to the trade union community, both internationally and in the many individual countries in which the ICTUR is active. This particular work highlights the way forward for the advancement of the Social Clause unburdened by the protectionist baggage of the past. In doing so, IER and ICTUR also raise the need for a fundamental re-examination of the current strategies of bodies such as the ILO. This work will be an invaluable resource for trade unionists and other labour rights advocates who must continue to construct pro-actively an alternative to the kind of open slather globalisation which now dominates the agenda of the world’s major trade forums. I therefore wholeheartedly commend this work to all those engaged or otherwise interested in the international debate about trade and labour standards.

foreword

Jennie George President Australian Council of Trade Unions, Melbourne, Victoria

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