New Orleans, LA
In Seattle, we heard an angry cry from developing country governments that their voices were not being heard, and that they had been shut out of crucial decision-making processes. They feared that the attempt to open up the WTO to include trade and core workers' rights would be used to close markets indiscriminately. Their dissatisfaction was a key reason that workers' rights did not move forward in Seattle.
Working families in the United States know how it feels to be shut out of decisions that affect their lives and livelihoods. The developing countries' concerns are serious, and we stand on common ground with those who are demanding a more open, accountable, and democratic trading system, one that serves the interests of the many, and not just the few.
Like many in the developing world, we believe the current system of global trade and investment rules has failed to deliver equitable, democratic, and sustainable growth. Inequality among and within nations has grown worse in recent decades. We must fundamentally transform this system, whose true beneficiaries are not working people, but transnational corporations. Working together with the international trade union movement, we must intensify our support for the development of strong, stable, democracies that can foster growing domestic economies. This model of economic development is good for workers in the United States, in other developed countries, as well as for workers in developing countries.
We believe that the agenda we have proposed, to link market access to enforceable core workers' rights, as defined by the International Labor Organization, is an important step toward building strong democracies, distributing the benefits of globalization more broadly, and ultimately creating the kind of world we all want to live in. Joseph Stiglitz, former chief economist at the World Bank, correctly contends that "workers have to be at the center of the development transformation, and workers' organizations can be a key institution in the development process."
Research shows that observing fundamental workers' rights is good for growth, not an obstacle, and that strong democratic institutions smooth economic transitions and aid in crisis management.
Protecting workers' rights contributes to development by building popular institutions, decreasing inequality, and encouraging political participation. Labor organizations can bridge ethnic and religious differences in the workplace and push for greater public and private investment in education, training, and economic growth. Underestimating the role of unions in development ignores the history of the wealthiest countries, where unions proved critical to democratization and the growth of a middle class.
But we recognize that protecting workers' rights is only one element in a broad development agenda.
The AFL-CIO is committed to intensifying our work with our union brothers and sisters from around the globe, our own government, and our civil society partners to support a broad development agenda that will generate growth and reduce unemployment, as well as protect rights:
- Debt relief - Crippling debt burdens prevent many developing countries' governments from meeting their citizens' basic needs and investing in the crucial building blocks of sustainable development: education, health care, and infrastructure. The AFL-CIO supports deep debt relief for those countries committed to democratic reforms and core workers' rights, and we will work with the religious and development coalition, Jubilee 2000, to secure adequate funding for such initiatives.
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Development aid - Rich countries, especially the United States, must do more to fund development. It is shameful that virtually none of the wealthy countries hit the United Nations' modest target of devoting seven-tenths of one percent of GDP to development aid. We will start by asking the Congress to put a higher priority on non-military development aid, especially where such efforts are guided by democratic participation from those most affected.
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Fundamentally changing the agendas of the International Financial Institutions (IFIs) - Too often, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank pressure countries to "reform" their economies in the wrong direction. The IFIs press for deregulation, privatization, liberalization of trade and financial markets, slashing social programs, and so-called labor market flexibility. Instead, the IFIs must work with developing country governments, trade unions, and other citizens' organizations to promote core workers' rights, strengthen the rule of law, and promote democratic reforms. The AFL-CIO will continue to insist that the U.S. Executive Directors of the IMF and World Bank work to change the policies of these institutions.
- Capacity building and technical aid - It is increasingly clear that many developing country governments lack the necessary technical and institutional resources to productively engage with the international institutions, protect their own interests in international bodies, and adequately enforce their own laws and obligations. The AFL-CIO has supported and will continue to support the U.S. government's contribution to the ILO's initiative to eliminate child labor. We support the ILO's vigorous efforts to assist countries in implementing the Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work. We also support the effort to make resources available through the international institutions to ensure that developing countries have the technical and legal capacity they need to operate effectively in the international arena.
We will continue to work concretely every day through our Solidarity Center field offices in 27 countries around the world to help develop and implement programs to ensure 1) that all workers have the freedom and opportunity to form and join unions of their own choosing; 2) that workers have a voice in representing their own interest with all the institutions that affect their lives; and 3) that the most vulnerable, often young women and children, are not abused by governments that do not protect them or companies that seek to exploit them. And we will step up efforts to build a broad, deep and powerful union movement.
If we are to bring about deep changes in the global economy, we will only succeed when we join our voices with those committed to high-road development in the developing countries.