75th year, November / 1997-3
75th year, November / 1997-3
| LABOR Training and Information Magazine of the World Confederation of Labour Editorial Address: Editorial
Board: Secretariat: Responsible
editor: You may borrow articles from LABOR-MAgazine on the understanding that you acknowledge the source and send us a complementary copy. Nr. November 1997 |
Contents |
76th year, January /1998-1
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Action Programme 
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We keep repeating that the ILO is, thanks to its tripartism and standard-setting system, at the root of the advent of an international social legislation capable of instituting an international labour law thanks to a complete system of appropriate standards and therefore of combating the perverse effects of internationalisation and globalisation.
The WCL will therefore optimise its relations with the ILO and make this one of its priorities in the next four years.
This work will be accomplished at various levels by means of:
As regards the themes dealt with or liable to be dealt with at the ILO, special attention will be paid to:
Following through the contacts which could be established in recent years, the WCL and its affiliates will see to it that they continue the dialogue with these international financial institutions.
In this context, the affiliates will exert pressure on the representatives of their countries - politicians and experts - with the IMF and the World Bank in order to promote the stands of the WCL to these institutions.
Moreover, the decentralisation of these contacts to the continents, by means of seminars organised in conjunction with these institutions as have already been held in Africa and in Central and Eastern Europe, will be continued and, if possible, extended to the other continents.
The WCL calls on its affiliates to demand, and to take part in, nationwide (bilateral or tripartite) consultations with the World Bank and the IMF about the structural adjustment programmes. The trade unions wishing so should be able to seek assistance from the ILO.
The presence of the WCL at the great official meetings of the WTO, particularly at the Conference of Ministers of Finance scheduled to take place in Geneva in May 1998, will be conceived as an extension of our presence at the Conference in Singapore.
The emphasis will be more in particular on respect for, and the promotion of, the core standards of the ILO, especially by introducing non-protectionist social clauses in the spirit of the Reciprocal Social Commitments concept defended by the WCL.
At this Conference in Geneva, the WCL will give concrete shape to its contribution to the WTO on the basis of its policy resolution and consultations with its affiliates.
The Secretariat will see to it that the European co-ordination takes charge of the protection of the interests within the OECD through a close co-operation with the TUAC and the PUMA.
Lastly, as regards the Multilateral Investment Agreement of which there is more and more question, the WCL's position is to insist that this initiative should in any case refer to the social rights as defined by the ILO, and that the trade unions should be directly involved in the development of this process, through the TUAC.
The Secretariat of the WCL will seek to enhance the value of the latter's presence at the UNESCO, particularly in co-operation with the WCT which has made good progress in terms of representativeness, a progress that has to be taken advantage of within the framework of the Women's Action in particular. Moreover, co-operation forms will be sought in the fields of literacy and trade union training.
The Secretariat of the WCL will seek, further, to set up a mechanism enabling a better monitoring of the people representing the Confederation at this institution.
The relations with the divisions of the UNCTAD will keep being maintained by the Geneva-based office of the WCL. In the years to come, the political contacts of the WCL with the UNCTAD will be intensified.
The Secretariat of the WCL will strengthen the latter's presence at the FAO, particularly in co-operation with the WFAFW. Specifically within the framework of the Women's Action, forms of co-operation aimed to organise rural women will be favoured.
Moreover, it will seek to set up a mechanism enabling a better monitoring of the people representing the Confederation at this institution.
As regards the representation of the WCL at the New York-based branches and activities of the United Nations (ECOSOC, follow-up of the World Summit for Social Development, co-ordination of the NGOs, UNIFEM, ...), the Secretariat of the WCL will optimise its impact on them in co-operation with its member organisations in the countries concerned.
The WCL commits itself together with other workers' organisations and NGOs to supporting the development and actions of Social Alert as the action and campaign network in favour of economic, social and cultural rights.
In this sense, co-operation initiatives can be taken within the context of co-ordinated actions on clear-cut and precise goals in line with the Congress; the WCL can do so together with organisation committed in particular to the human rights, such as Amnesty International, SOS Torture, ATD Fourth World, Greenpeace, World Wide Women - Network, Human Rights Watch and the International Union on Human Rights (IUHR).
The WCL expresses its political will to continue, and give more depth to, its relations with the ICFTU with a view to an active co-operation aimed at the protection of the workers' interests. To do so, the WCL intends to continue the periodical dialogue between the secretariats and to organise a joint seminar to work out a joint plan of action.
The WCL wishes that this policy were reflected in the continents through its respective affiliates.
On the basis of the priorities contained in the Policy Resolution, the Confederal Board will work out a concrete action programme for the years 1998-2002.
The WCL and its affiliates remain very critical of the existence and development of the export processing zones, which are to a large extent based on the commercialisation of working conditions. Their contribution to sustainable development is being more and more questioned.
Based on this principle position, everything will be done to improve the working conditions in the export processing zones and to guarantee the practice of trade union freedom.
To do so, efforts will be made to affiliate a maximum number of workers and women workers in the export processing zones and to set up new organisational forms to approach the workers who are not reached by the traditional trade union mechanisms. Moreover, the Norm programme will be used to denounce systematically the restrictions on trade union freedom and all other violations of basic rights on the basis of the International Conventions concluded.
In view of the policy analyses and options, the WCL and its affiliates will commit themselves to urging the governments and international political institutions to stop the current dismantling of the collective social rights and, on the contrary, to promote the introduction of such rights, giving precedence to the ones contained in the core standards of the ILO.
The WCL and its affiliates make the active commitment to organise the workers from the so-called informal sector, bearing in mind their specific needs and with a view to protecting collectively their interests and to claiming proper regulations.
The current tendency to develop service contracts and homework has to be cancelled out by the full guarantee of respect for the working rights.
The WCL takes note of the plans of action of the regional organisations and will monitor their implementation in the spirit of article 12-2 of the Statutes.
The goals regarding Asia in the next four years have been set as follows:
In line with the programme and priorities adopted by the 13th Congress of the BATU, which assembled in Bangkok from 9 to 15 March 1997, the following concrete actions will be taken:
In view of the precedence given to the development of trade union action in Africa, the action programme of the DOAWTU for the next four years (1998-2001) will be focused on the following goals:
a) Expansion and representativeness:
- widen and extend the field of action of the DOAWTU in the countries of East Africa, southern Africa and North Africa by means of awareness-raising campaigns, missions, exchanges and training programmes;
- encourage the participation and integration of youths in trade union and social life.
b) Protection of core freedoms:
- upport the trade unions in their struggle for democracy and peace;
- struggle vigorously for the protection of all trade union freedoms and human rights so as to preserve the values of human dignity;
- tep up the campaigns in favour of the international labour standards and the social clauses (reciprocal social commitments) in trade agreements;
- conduct campaigns and take action against the exploitation of child labour.
c) Protection of economic and social rights:
- adopt strategies to counter the excesses of the macro-economic policies of the international institutions (World Bank, IMF, WTO) and the antisocial practices of the multinational enterprises in the free processing zones;
- insist on the introduction of welfare and social security systems for the workers.
d) Pursue a genuine partnership:
- encourage the active trade union participation in the bargaining over the working conditions in the companies and the public office and make all-out efforts to ensure the efficient working of tripartism;
- make sure that the trade unions are active partners in the economic and social development.
e) Struggle against poverty:
- help the African trade unions to take an effective and efficient part in the struggle against poverty and against the deterioration of the living conditions of the peoples;
- ensure the survival of the marginalised sections of the population by favouring the social and human dimension in the development process.
f) Technical assistance and training:
- strengthen the action of the DOAWTU by taking into account the needs in the field of training and of struggle against illiteracy, basic trade union training, project management and the promotion of socio-economic activities;
- include the informal sector issue in the training programme.
g) Promote activities at trade level:
- strengthen the structures of the pan-African federations constituted with the help and assistance of the international trade federations and form other pan-African trade federations in accordance with the needs and new development in Africa.
h) Support the actions of women workers with reference to the women's action programme:
- set up a women workers' secretariat within the DOAWTU;
- adopt programmes to encourage women to participate in all the bodies of the trade union movement;
- help the women's committee set up structures capable of improving the organisation of the informal sector, create day-care centres, etc.
i) Promotion of socio-economic activities:
- support the action of the regional organisation and its affiliates to develop income-generating socio-economic activities aimed to strengthen the financial resources of the trade union movement by setting up:
- mutual health insurance associations;
- credit co-operatives;
- medical insurance;
- pension, savings, etc funds.
j) Information and documentation:
- improve the communication and information system by publishing press statements, Info Flash and other bulletins;
- promote workers' education by means of a rich and varied documentation, fill out the data base and offer research opportunities on topical subjects.
Latin America and Caribbean
In the years to come, the WCL will have to maintain and strengthen its presence, influence and representativeness in Latin America and the Caribbean. To do so, it has to make it a priority to develop actions in the following fields.
a) Integration process
- support the constitution of the Latin American and Caribbean Community of Nations (CLAN). With this end in view, the WCL will support and work out with the CLAT various initiatives relating to the sub-regional integration processes: MERCOSUR, the Andean Community (which is transforming itself into a South American common market), the Central American Integration System (SIC) and the Association of Caribbean States (AEC);
- so as to ensure a growing worker participation in the integration processes and interregional conventions (eg EU/MERCOSUR), co-ordination, consultation and co-operation mechanisms will have to be promoted between the ETUC and all the national and regional workers' organisations in Latin America, without any exclusion. To do so, the WCL will support and develop its action with the CLAT and the sub-regional bodies promoted and structured in each sub-region such as the Workers' Council of the Southern Cone (CTCS) and the Workers' Council of Central America (CCT);
- promote, in conjunction with the CLAT, a permanent information and training programme for leaders and officials from Latin America within the context of the integration and on the basis of experiences brought to a favourable conclusion within the European Union.
b) Organisational development - institutional consolidation:
- projects and programmes will have to be worked out and supported with a view to the development and institutional consolidation of the affiliates and/or prospective affiliates of the WCL and the CLAT. To do so, assistance will be lent to promote projects with various public and/or private national and/or international solidarity co-operation agencies and institutions;
- in view of the strategic priorities defined by the governing bodies of the CLAT, the WCL should concentrate the logistic support at the maximum on the organisations in the countries of Mercosur, the Andean Zone and Mexico. The CLAT would appreciate it if the same policy line would be the concern of the ISF/WCL as well as of the foundations and the co-operation institutions and agencies of the European and other affiliates of the WCL.
c) Trade/sectorial action:
- the WCL will promote and support an efficient co-operation and consultation between the CLAT and the international trade federations in order to develop and give a new effective dimension to the trade/sectorial action on the basis of the current reality in Latin America. Moreover, it will have to render this action more solid, effective, dynamic, socially profitable and self-sufficient in the short and in the medium run.
d) Special programmes - most vulnerable sectors:
- nationwide programmes will have to be worked out in consultation with the CLAT within the context of child labour, women workers, young workers and migrant workers in the free processing zones or the informal economy. To do so, technical and economic resources will have to be made available.
e) Human rights, freedoms and standards:
- more and more, and increasingly influential actions will have to brought to a favourable conclusion with the CLADEHLT1, while benefiting from the support of other institutions and NGOs. The purpose is to arrive at a new synergy and to obtain better results in preserving the rights and freedoms of the workers, their organisations and the peoples.
f) Social security, health at the workplace, ecology and environment:
- in view of the direct impact of the living and working conditions policies adopted rapidly in the region, it is indicated to support in particular the programmes promoted by the CLAT and the COTLASS2, in order to protect an integral and participatory social security marked by solidarity, health at the workplace, the workers' health and the ecology.
g) Social economy marked by solidarity:
- the WCL will take part in the macro-economic research activities aimed to develop a social economy marked by solidarity as an alternative to economic and social development. It will advance the co-operative movement, mutual assistance and other socio-economic forms concerning the workers.
North America
The independent trade union movement in North America is vibrant and making headway in the face of the large traditional, vertical and single confederations.
The WCL, recognising the emergence of this dynamic opportunity, will through Trade Action and in concert with the CLAC in Canada and NAPFE in the United States diligently pursue the affiliation of these independent trade unions in the next four years.
In view of the statutory provisions which confer, as regards the fields characteristic of the WCL, a competence and mission on the European co-ordination that is identical to the one conferred on the regional organisations in the other continents, the Congress wants a vitalisation of the presence of this co-ordination within the WCL.
In this spirit, it instructs the Confederal Board to draw up for the European co-ordination, including the organisations from the Central and East European countries, a Plan of Action which takes into account and supports the elements the European Section will be able to introduce during its meeting on 18 October 1997.
Furthermore, the Secretariat of the WCL will continue to keep a close eye on the workings of the ETUC and to be available for each joint initiative that would prove to be necessary.
The WCL strives for the integration of all its European affiliates into the ETUC, in line with the latter's Constitution.
The WCL will keep a close eye on the evolution of the integration of the countries that wish so into the European Union.
a) Central and Eastern Europe
The Secretariat of the WCL will attempt, in co-operation with the European co-ordination, to continue in the next four years the work to co-ordinate the whole of the activities of the WCL and its affiliates in Central and Eastern Europe, in particular:
- work out a consistent policy in Central and Eastern Europe in order to help the new democratic trade unions and the trade unions in transition develop their structures and organise new members, particularly in the small and medium-sized companies and in the private sector; help them also with their management in a democratic society with a market economy;
- contribute to the development of the trade union movement in the countries of Central and Eastern Europe, including in Russia and the other countries of the former Soviet Union, in order to establish a democratic society marked by solidarity; contribute also to the development of a genuine social dialogue between the social partners;
- consequently, help, with the participation of the expert WCL affiliates, the trade unions to structure and develop a strong workers' movement capable of making them have part in the development and prosperity;
- help the trade unions in Central and Eastern Europe take up, in co-ordination with other affiliates, the challenges of the global market;
- keep a close eye on all cases of human and trade union rights violations and use all possible instruments for reacting against such facts.
In order to achieve all these goals and to involve the trade unions from Central and Eastern Europe in the mainstream of the activities of the WCL, the Secretariat of the WCL will develop activities such as training sessions, seminars, missions, etc in Central and Eastern Europe and optimise the working and efficiency of the liaison office established in Bucharest, Romania.
b) Western Europe
The WCL will develop an active policy for more affiliations of West European trade unions which fulfil the WCL's criteria, taking into account the basic requirements of representativeness.
During the coming Congress period, attention will have to be paid to the further development of Trade Action. The focus in this respect is on initiatives within the context of the WCL, Trade Action and the international trade federations.
There has to be an optimum dialogue between Trade and Inter-Trade Action, so that they are better attuned and complementary.
The entirety of the decisions of the 23rd Congress of the WCL in Mauritius with regard to the goals and restructuring of Trade Action have to be fully implemented. The development of the Trade Action Secretariat therefore has to be actively pursued.
The WCL has to urge its affiliates to induce their trade federations to affiliate to the international trade federations and vice-versa.
The WCL will promote more the dialogue between its regional organisations and the international trade federations. The regional organisations have to take the necessary initiatives and actions to lend active support to the working of the international trade federations in the continents. They have to enter upon a dialogue with the international trade federations concerned on the development, the organisation and the action within the framework of Trade Action.
Trade action has to fully take up its responsibility for the development and working of the WCL.
The Trade Action Secretariat co-ordinates the action of the international trade federations.
It is the task of the Trade Action Secretariat to support the activities of the international trade federations, to lend assistance for the development and to discuss trade action problems which the international trade federations have in common.
The co-operation between the international trade federations has to be promoted.
The communication and the internal and external spreading and exchange of information to the international trade federations have to be tailored to the current requirements by means of the networks, for instance.
Each international trade federation has to work more on its further international development, paying attention to good working structures tailored to the demands of the affiliates.
The international trade federations declare themselves willing to set up, whenever possible, practical co-operation projects with other international trade federations.
The international trade federations have to take actions and initiatives which cater for the practical and specific needs of all the workers.
The international trade federations have to assist and support their affiliates through training, monitoring and information on collective bargaining and agreements, working conditions and working circumstances.
a) Employment
In their action, Trade Action and the international trade federations have to pay attention to the developments in the field of employment in their specific field of action and take initiatives to promote job creation and to encourage the world-wide spreading of employment.
The attention has to be focused not only on the quantity but certainly also on the quality of work. This is why Trade Action has to pursue lasting employment in socially justifiable circumstances and conditions in conformity with the international labour standards.
Besides this, it has to focus its attention on unemployment caused by privatisation.
Lastly, special attention has to be paid to gender issues, both in the activities and in the organisation of Trade Action.
b) Multinational enterprises
Trade Action and the international trade federations have to pay attention to trade union action in transnational enterprises.
The international trade federations are requested to promote the existing international labour standards and to develop the social clauses at inter-trade as well as at company level.
c) Informal economy
Trade Action has to take the necessary initiatives to work actively, in the various sectors and through the action of the international trade federations, on the integration of the informal economy into its activities.
Trade Action and the international trade federations have to counter, by means of concrete activities, the further development of the informal sector.
The WCL and its affiliates wish to continue their action aimed at full equality between women and men and therefore at the involvement of women in all the decision-making processes. From this perspective they commit themselves to making the Women's Committee of the WCL work according to the following regulations:
The tasks of the WWC are:
*to decide on the implementation of the action programme;
*to analyse the WCL's policy according to gender criteria and to suggest its alternative options to the Confederal Board;
*to exchange as much information as possible;
*to supervise the Women's Action Secretariat and to follow up the defence of its policy in co-operation with the political leader in charge of the Women's Action at the secretariat of the WCL.
The WWC has at its disposal the following means to take up its responsibilities:
an executive secretariat composed of:
*the WCL's political secretary in charge of Women's Action;
*the co-ordinator of Women's Action;
*the clerical staff;
*a direct means of communication with the leaders of Women's Action in the international trade federations;a working budget covering:
*the staff and equipment of the Women's Action secretariat;
*an annual WWC meeting;
*an International Conference every four years, prior to the ordinary WCL Congress.
The Women's Action programme for the next four years is drawn up according to the following guidelines.
a) General actions
An observatory is established: by means of a data bank the WWC follows up the degree of participation and representation of women in the WCL's affiliates. Its findings serve as a guide for the assessment and orientation of Women's Action.
At the level of the WCL, a specific "gender" expertise is developed and gradually distributed, through gender training, to the various levels of the affiliates.
Parallel to the action taken directly with women concerned, the WCL's affiliates do some efficient lobbying of the respective bodies, formulating claims set forth within the framework of the action.
By way of experiment in a new trade union and organisational approach to women workers, pilot projects are set up, co-ordinated by the WCL, in three fields: free processing zones, women's migration and women in the informal economy.
The implementation of the projects is entrusted directly to the national women's co-ordinators, under the co-ordination of the regional co-ordinators. A six- to eight-month preparatory stage is planned for each project.
Campaigns are conducted against the violation of the ILO's Maternity Protection Convention (n° 103), and a campaign is set up to raise the awareness of women politicians.
b) Specific actions
Free processing zones
The trade unions set up centres for socio-cultural activities in the neighbourhood of the export processing zones in order to offer the women workers in these zones the possibility of organising themselves according to their practical and strategic needs.
These are experiments in new forms of trade union organisation, necessary in view of the impossibility of actions on the floor and of the inappropriateness of trade union action for the situation of women.
After a preparatory stage, the building and/or setting up of these centres is planned over a two-year period, so that they are fully operational during one year before the end of the Congress period.
The organisations taking part in the project are the ones from the Philippines, Mauritius, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Bangladesh, the Dominican Republic and Honduras ..., if they meet sufficient requirements after the preparatory stage.
The project financing has to be shared between the national affiliate (officer's salary, office equipment and furniture) and the WCL (through external funding if necessary).
Since the purpose of these projects is to raise the number of women members, the activities are based on their need for better living and working conditions, including a social and trade union training to increase their personal and collective autonomy.
Depending on the results of the pilot project, the initiative can be continued after the next Congress.
Informal economy
The informal economy encompasses a growing part of the economic activity in all the countries.
This reality needs urgent recognition in order to avoid that the workers concerned are left without recognised rights. Since women are the vast majority of the workforce in these sectors, as they pursue a strategy of family survival, the trade unions have to seek adequate ways to improve living and working conditions of the informal workers through collective action and training in the protection of their interest with a view to their full participation in economic and social development.
The trade unions examine together with the women the possibilities of getting organised on the basis of their production and/or marketing needs.
This stage of the project includes the training of women in collective action so as to ensure the strengthening of their organisation on the basis of concrete activities and of organisational forms already existing in the collectivity.
An expert team is constituted to implement the projects and to do the fieldwork.
In the second stage, after two years, the infrastructural needs will defined by the activities themselves (eg production co-operatives, community services, household technologies, common landownership, etc).
The financing will be partly done by the participating organisations (Senegal, Sierra Leone, Bolivia, Romania, Hungary, Togo, Burkina Faso, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Honduras, Brazil, Bangladesh, Gabon, Paraguay, Haiti, Venezuela, Chile, Colombia, etc) and complemented by external by external funds, especially from United Nations organisations.
Migration
In compliance with its wish to develop its initiatives in favour of migrant workers and women workers, the WCL co-ordinates a pilot project (see below).
To this day, the follow-up possibilities of the Secretariat of the WCL have not made it possible to follow up in a specific manner the migrant workers' issue. Just a study paper, one not without interest for that matter, could be devoted to it.
In order to guarantee the individual and collective human and labour rights of the rising number of migrant women, the WCL co-ordinates a pilot experiment including the following actions:
The practical implementation of the projects is done by the national women's co-ordinator, assisted by the regional women's co-ordinator, who supervises the projects integrated by the Women's Action Secretariat of the WCL. The WWC assesses this pilot project after four years and proposes possibly its continuation. The national leaders inform the WWC every three months.
As regards the means, Women's Action uses the existing buildings, the existing women's structures in the affiliates, voluntary professionals and a network of non-governmental and national governmental organisations.
The budget consists of funds:
The Congress confirms the missions and tasks assigned to the general secretariat as specified in article 5 of the Statutes. In the years to come, special attention has to be paid to the development of services in support of the concrete action of the WCL and the services to its affiliates. The WCL will strengthen in particular:
In the period from 1998 to 2001 and within the framework of its on-going NORM Programme, the WCL will undertake both at trade and at confederal level to:
The WCL will develop in co-operation with its affiliates and regional organisations a training strategy with the following purposes:
With this end in view, the WCL:
The WCL will pay more attention to the reinforcement of the quality of its political, training and representation tasks through research and studies.
With this end in view and on the basis of the Policy Resolution it will draw up a plan which it will submit to the Confederal Board.
In order to accomplish this study and research work, it will have recourse, on the basis of projects, to the national and trade affiliates and to the regional organisations.
The WCL commits itself to:
Generally speaking, and considering the rapid evolution of new technologies in this field, the WCL and its affiliates will take care to adjust and optimise the means of communication both within the Confederation and towards the media and the populations.
In co-operation with its affiliates it will conduct specific campaigns for advancing the priority themes defined by the Congress and implemented by the Confederal Board.
The Foundation is an instrument for the implementation of the political goals and the current action programme of the WCL.
The Foundation co-ordinates the co-operation between the regional organisations on the one hand and the foundations of its member organisations on the other.
The Foundation seeks external financing in order to implement the current action programme.
The motions below have been introduced by affiliates with a view to being promulgated by the Congress.
They are not, strictly speaking, resolutions to be implemented by the bodies of the Confederation, but positions taken in conformity with those resolutions, aimed to serve the Confederation as a reference regarding the specific problems they raise.
The 24th Congress of the World Confederation of Labour, assembled in Bangkok, Thailand, from 1 to 6 December 1997, has been informed about the situation in Cyprus which has seriously affected for 24 years already the workers and in general the people of the Island. Consequently:
The 24th Congress of the World Confederation of Labour, assembled in Bangkok, Thailand, from 1 to 6 December 1997, expresses its full solidarity with the workers and peoples of Latin America and the Caribbean facing the extension and deterioration of their socio-economic problems. These problems result from the application of neo-liberal policies through the so-called structural adjustment (or macro-economic adjustment) programmes imposed on almost all the countries of the region.
These policies, based on the alleged uniform thinking, have only raised the unemployment, the underemployment, the precarious employment, the informal economy and, in the process, the hunger, misery and social marginalisation of the vast majority of the workers and the people to unprecedented levels in the Latin American and Caribbean societies.
The 24th Congress denounces the rise in poverty and extreme poverty which affects in particular, in a brutal and inhuman manner, the weakest sections of the working class, ie children, youths, women, retired people and pensioners, inhabitants of marginalised areas, native populations, migrants, peasants, the disabled and the women workers and workers in the informal economy. This situation is made even worse by the usurious treatment the private banks and international financial institutions keep imposing within the context of the foreign debt. Indeed, despite the heavy repayments the social debt is growing heavier and heavier, making it impossible to boost the economies and the integral development of the debtor countries.
It also denounces the growing violations of the human rights, in particular the economic, social and political rights of the workers, and of the trade union freedoms. These violations are combined with a growing criminal violence against trade union leaders, as is the case in Colombia, Guatemala and other countries.
It reiterates, in conjunction with the WCL's regional organisation, the CLAT, that there is no valid democracy without social justice. As a consequence, a fair distribution of incomes, wealth and profits is required.
The democratic processes in Latin America and the Caribbean are seriously threatened by the brutal dualisation caused by the accumulation of wealth in increasingly reduced sections of society and by the constant rise in the number of poor, who are in addition growing poorer and poorer. The result is an increase in violence, insecurity and an ever higher risk of social explosions caused essentially by despair.
It reiterates its solidarity with the mobilisation and actions of the Latin American and Caribbean workers, which have increased in number and intensity in recent years. They were all aimed at the total rejection of the neo-liberal model some seek to impose in a authoritarian way in all the countries, by proposing alternative solutions which are better adjusted to democracy and social justice.
It supports emphatically the efforts made by the national and sectorial organisations united in the CLAT to advance and develop the "Workers' Movement". Basing itself on the pillar constituted by the organisations of salaried workers in the public and the private sector, this movement would united in full solidarity the organisations of workers in the informal economy. It should develop a genuine organised workers' power capable of facing up to the established powers and of advancing the transformation of the Latin American society into a fully democratic society based on social justice.
It supports the building of the Latin American Community of Nations (CLAN) which exceeds and transcends the mere free trade zone that is the goal of the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA). It denounces the fact that the FTAA is aimed to favour the North, whereas the CLAN, which rests on the democratic, participatory, political, economic, social and cultural principles, would constitute an integration of nations, peoples and cultures. Its population and capacity would be sufficient to be competitive on the world market and to establish economic, political and social relations with other countries or groups of countries in North and South. These relations, based on mutual respect and co-operation, sources of real benefits for all the parties involved, advance a fruitful trade at the service of all the women and all the men populating the earth.
From this perspective, the WCL and the CLAT will make all necessary efforts to advance the unity of action with other national and regional, sectorial and intersectorial organisations as well as with other institutions of the political and the civil society pursuing the same, similar or complementary goals. They will defend, with more force and impact, the human rights, the social and trade union rights, the freedoms, and the respect for the international standards, particularly the conventions and recommendations of the ILO. They will stand up against the neo-liberal policies and their plans to proceed to privatisation without any distinction, and advance the respect for the dignity of people, the supremacy of labour, the democratisation of the state with participation of a socially organised population, the development of a genuine well-structured social dialogue and all the initiatives which, in the short, the medium and the long run, will make it possible to give concrete shape to a Latin American Community of Nations in which all the women and men can live and develop in democracy, freedom and social justice.
The 24th Congress expresses to the CLAT and all its national and sectorial affiliates its support, particularly for their efforts to bring their national and regional projects to a favourable conclusion in times that the growing deterioration of the living and working conditions of the workers and the people exerts a strong influence on their organisations which are facing situations of precariousness for lack of the economic and financial resources necessary for their strengthening and institutional development. A new solidarity effort is therefore required of the workers and people from the most developed regions. Moreover, the own Latin American organisations will have to make concrete efforts to raise their self-financing and to develop self-sufficient organisations self-managed by the workers.
The delegates to the 24th WCL Congress, convened from 1 to 6 December in Bangkok, Thailand,
ANXIOUS about the economic, socio-cultural and political events and trends in Asia that continue to forebode unrelenting threats against Asian workers as globalisation continues to engulf the entire region.
APPALLED by the pervasive development dictated by the IMF and the World Bank through Structural Adjustment Programmes (SAPs) that result to dramatic increase in unemployment as a consequence of automation and technological innovations in production and of the non-transparent and indiscriminate privatisation and deregulation programmes of government and the private sector, that cause the escalation in the cost of living and the reduction of subsidies, increase taxation, service charges, fuel charges, gas charges and the use of social security funds to finance market reforms, that lay workers vulnerable to exploitation as a consequence of massive flexible, informal and contract employment and the absence of appropriate social nets; that generally constrict the space for the practice of economic sovereignty and national integration as a consequence of interference from transnational and multinational commercial forces that bear upon governments to establish Export Processing Zones, and to relax the enforcement of labour laws so as to attract investment herein;
INDIGNANT that the acclaimed "Asian Miracle" of economic growth allegedly resulting from the liberalism of economies in the region has not resulted in social development but on the contrary, has bred social ills of unprecedented magnitude. The rise of criminality as jobs and incomes drop: moral degeneration as massive forced migration of peoples in search for jobs continue to break up families, social exclusion and marginalisation of the poor as jobless growth exacerbate unequal distribution of wealth; heightened racial violence and ethnic tensions as cultural displacement of the youth and social stratification aggravate; disruptive rampages and industrial strife as abuse of human labour, increasing resort to child and bonded labour, sexual discrimination, suppression of trade union and social rights and restriction of civil liberties in favour of economic progress continue to be pervasive, widespread poverty and portentous environmental catastrophes as colossal ecological degradation remain unabated.
STRESSED about political events that throws uncertainty on the future of fragile democratic institutions in countries emerging from totalitarian regimes; that exhibit a propensity to espouse "national interests and social stability" as a pretext to the restriction of civil liberties which often include those requiring all organisations to register with the police or other government agencies, restricting public demonstration which in some cases also allows government to ban them altogether, that show continued adherence to ideologies that curtail the expression of people's will without fear, intimidation or manipulation.
AFFIRM, in the face of these events, their commitment to uphold the dignity of man by promoting and protecting fundamental human rights and to foster a just humane society by ensuring that all human beings irrespective of race, case, religion, creed or sex have the right to pursue their material and spiritual development under conditions of freedom, dignity, economic security and equal opportunity.
UPHOLD International Labour Standards, particularly the core ILO Human Rights Conventions on Freedom of Association, Freedom from Bonded Labour and Freedom from Discrimination that provide yardsticks to measure respect for human rights.
VALIDATE the findings of international studies of the Organisation of Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) establishing that proper implementation of the ILO Basic Conventions can support economic development and that the possible gains that can be derived from the strategy of suppressing respect for basic human rights are likely to be short-lived and outweighed in the long term by economic costs associated with such suppression.
URGENTLY CALL ON THE WCL:
TO DENOUNCE AND CONDEMN THE PERVASIVE VIOLATION OF HUMAN RIGHTS AND TRADE UNION FREEDOMS IN ASIA, PARTICULARLY DECRY TRANSGRESSIONS ON THE CONVENTIONS ON FREEDOM OF ASSOCIATION, FREEDOM FROM DISCRIMINATION AND FREEDOM FROM BONDED LABOUR:
Transgressions on the Conventions on Freedom of Association such as:
Transgressions on the Conventions on Freedom from Bonded Labour such as those reported to and by the ILO Committee of Experts:
Transgressions on the Conventions of Freedom from Discrimination such as:
TO REMAIN A COUNTERVAILING FORCE AGAINST INHUMAN IDEOLOGIES AND ECONOMIC REGIMES AND TO CONTINUE TO PROMOTE A DEVELOPMENT MODEL WHERE HUMAN DIGNITY, SOCIAL JUSTICE AND HUMAN RIGHTS ARE PROTECTED AND PROMOTED.
LEAD the advocacy for the ratification of Basic Human Rights Conventions in Asian countries which have not ratified them and encourage non-coercive means to invite countries to ratify and abide by the Conventions.
PRESS for the universal application of Basic Human Rights Conventions through the ILO and through multilateral trade systems such as the WTO and move for the setting up of trade and policy review committees in these organisations where the social aspect of trade liberalisation can be taken up.
MONITOR compliance with the Basic Human Rights Conventions by intensifying its Human Rights Education Campaigns, and by reporting all incidents of violations or non-compliance with any of these conventions with proper international agencies and authorities.
STRENGTHEN the WCL Committee on Human Rights and International Labour Standards and fully support the implementation of its Human Rights Education Programme, Advocacy and Law Reform Agenda, Campaigns and Solidarity Action, and all of its other activities towards promoting and protecting human rights.
In line with WCL's proposals and strategies to humanise and rationalise the globalised economic system, the 24th WCL Congress, assembled in Bangkok, Thailand, from 1 to 6 December 1997, agrees to create or make possible the creation of services and structures for youths with a view to the organisation and development of work by means of:
The delegates at the 24th WCL Congress, assembled in Bangkok, Thailand, from 1 to 6 December 1997, recognise the smooth handover of the administration of the government, law and order, business and economic activities, and freedom of expression of Hong Kong people at large.
They endorse in principle the blueprint of Developing Hong Kong in longer term as expressed at the First Policy Address of the Chief Executive of the Special Administrative Region (SAR) on 8 0ctober 1997, in which emphasis has been laid on Education, Housing and Welfare of the aged.
It is trade unions' basic right to bargain collectively as clearly stated in respective ILO Conventions. However, the Executive Council of the SAR Government moved backward at its meeting on 30 September 1997, when they scrapped the two ordinances adopted by the colonial government before the take-over and we do not agree to that. The two ordinances are:
Hong Kong is a rich society but distribution of wealth is extremely uneven. The government is not serious in helping the poor and the number of poor people in Hong Kong is growing fast.
The SAR Government is a very rich government but its efforts in welfare are extremely insufficient, eg with the exception of civil servants who enjoy pension and a handful of big firms or companies in the private sector which offer provident fund system for their staff. The majority of workers and employees in Hong Kong get no retirement benefit at all and on top of that, government's measure to care for the old is very nominal. This becomes more and more serious problem when age structure of Hong Kong population indicates that the number of old people is on the rise.
The plan to release more government land for building private homes for sale only benefits the handful so-called "sandwich" middle-class families, whereas ordinary worker families which comprise the base and the majority of Hong Kong population, especially the 850,000 people below the poverty line (13.4% of the whole population by 1996) will all be financially handicapped from gaining anything at all from this.
The Chief Executive himself and the majority of the Executive Council members and the Provisional Legislature members are business entrepreneurial men and/or professionals. It is very obvious that the present SAR government is dominated by such a privileged minority. Thus, the policies adopted will be business-oriented and the welfare and rights of the workers and general public will either be neglected, be sacrificed or be at the mercy of the "good fatherlike chief". No wonder social justice, quality of life of the general public, equal opportunities, etc. all have to give way to the profit of the rich.
The sole cause of such "unhealthy" development is because of the reluctance of Mr Tung, the very conservative Chief Executive, to respect democratisation. His ruling philosophy is control and domination by the privileged few which makes little difference with that of the colonial government. Social discontent and unrest will grow stronger and stronger, which we presume is not what the SAR wants.
What the SAR government should sell to the world, should not be just an outlook of prosperity and stability built on the upper society. Having gained the trust of the China Central Government to implement the high degree of self-government under the "one-country two-system" concept, we expect the Hong Kong SAR Government can respect more the voice of the grassroots, the quality of life of the general public and channels of representation of every individual in the community.
With that we propose:
The 24th Congress of the World Confederation of Labour, assembled in Bangkok, Thailand, from 1 to 6 December 1997,
The Congress believes:
Besides clear-cult main policy lines, defined in the Policy Resolution and the Action Programme, the WCL requires a healthy and lastiing financial policy. New activities or the intensification of activities is only possible if sufficient resource are available or additional resources are made available.
This requires:
The 24th Congress of the WCL, assembled in Bangkok, Thailand, from December 1 to 6 1997, notes that today, there are some 250 million child labourers in the world aged between 5 and 14 years and that of this number 120 million are full-time labourers.
The WCL therefore renews its call for the progressive elimination of child labour and for the immediate eradication of its most intolerable forms.
The Congress affirms:
The Congress affirms:
The WCL will :
