In today’s global economy, the rich are getting richer and the poor are getting poorer. The assets of the world’s three richest people exceed the total incomes of the 600 million people living in the world’s poorest 48 countries.
In the unfettered free market of so-called free trade, corporations race to see which one can find the cheapest labor and the fewest environmental and workers’ rights regulations. As a result, millions of the world’s workers labor long hours for wages that are insufficient to meet their basic needs.
The policies of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) exacerbate the problem of poverty by imposing huge debts on developing nations and forcing governments to cut back such vital social services as education and medical care in order to pay back the debt. The IMF and World Bank also require countries to roll back labor laws, open up to foreign investors and trade and privatize essential services, including pensions.
Another key factor in world poverty is the inability of workers in many countries to form unions and to have a voice in the determination of their wages and working conditions.
The AFL-CIO and affiliated unions are fighting to include in trade agreements core human rights and workers’ rights as established by the International Labor Organization: no slave labor, no child labor, freedom from discrimination and freedom to join and form unions. The federation and other world unions launched a campaign to post these basic rights of workers in every workplace.
Key Allies in Struggle to End Global Poverty
