• Home

When labour issues hog the limelight...

The organisation has a lot to say on privatisation and the maintenance of core labour standards.

Representing the ICFTU at the Annual Meetings of the Board of Governors of the WBG and IMF is the Director of Global Unions, Washington Office, Peter Bakvis, who in a tete-a-tete with Khaleej Times yesterday stressed that the ICFTU will impress upon bank governors the need to pay more attention to the negative impact their policies have on workers, many of which result in massive job losses.

'We have urged the WBG to promote the maintenance of good quality jobs. We are not opposed to all forms of privatisation, but if the bank finances privatisation of certain industries it should ensure that job levels are maintained.

'We understand that in some cases job losses are unavoidable, but there should be some basic protection offered, such as offering workers a retraining or early retirement. We are pushing one specific issue in particular to which we have had a positive response from the WBG - that core labour standards should be adhered to,' Mr Bakvis said.

Among the core labour standards is the prohibition of child labour and forced labour, to prevent discrimination in the labour markets and to guarantee freedom of association and the right to collective bargaining for all workers.

'At the very least workers can unionise to protect their own best interests,' Mr Bakvis said.

The ICFTU will hold a Press briefing on Monday on core labour standards which will be attended by Nizam Quahoush, a Jordanian trade unionist.

'In the Middle East, we have quite a few affiliate unions, we have affiliates in Jordon, Lebanon and Yemen. Some Middle East countries are allowing trade unions for the very first time, like Kuwait and Bahrain,' Mr Bakvis said.

He stressed that the ICFTU was in favour of full rights for migrant workers, pointing to the fact that in many countries in the world migrant workers are being kept at an inferior position, which he said was unacceptable.

'We believe all workers should be treated on an equal footing. Our affiliates in the US have worked hard to get full rights for undocumented workers in the US,' he said.

Although trade unions affiliated to the ICFTU have taken part in protests around the globe, Mr Bakvis stressed that they have no intention of holding protests alongside the Annual Meetings.

'We abhor violence, but we are very much in favour of people expressing themselves freely,' he said.

The ICFTU was set up in 1949 and has 231 affiliated organisations in 150 countries and territories on all five continents.

It has three major regional organisations, APRO for Asia and the Pacific, AFRO for Africa, and ORIT for the Americas.

The ICFTU also maintains close links with the European Trade Union Confederation, which includes all ICFTU European affiliates and Global Union Federation which link together national unions from a particular trade or industry at an international level. Its activities are financed by the fees paid by member organisations.

The ICFTU cooperates closely with the International Labour Organisation and has consultative status with the United Nations' Economic and Social Council and with specialised agencies such as UNESCO and the FAO.

It maintains contacts with the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank and the World Trade Organisation and has offices in Geneva, New York and Washington.

The ICFTU organises and directs campaigns on issues such as: the respect and defence of trade union and workers' rights; the eradication of forced and child labour; the promotion of equal rights for working women; the environment; education programmes for trade unionists all over the world; encouraging the organisation of young workers; and sends missions to investigate the trade union situation in many countries.

At its 16th World Congress in Brussels in June 1996, the ICFTU laid down five priorities for action: employment and international labour standards; tackling the multinationals; trade union rights; equality; women; race and migrants; trade union organisation and recruitment.

The ICFTU produces a number of publications each year on particular themes. Each June it publishes a Survey of Trade Union Rights, which gives details of more than 115 countries which violate basic trade union rights norms.

• UAE