Workers must have a stake in the new world economy

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ITF General Secretary DAVID COCKROFT reviews the challenges of the four years since the last ITF Congress and assesses how the ITF and affiliated unions have been responding.

The world has changed enormously in the four years since our Congress in New Delhi, India, in 1998. Most dramatic were the terrorist attacks of 11 September 2001, which shattered any illusions that we were moving into a period of peace and prosperity.

And to political insecurity must inevitably be added the economic and social consequences of the rapid process of globalisation. What was quite a new term in 1998 is now the centre of attention everywhere. In every country, workers and their communities feel vulnerable and threatened by international forces beyond their control.

The globalisation process has also, however, stimulated a much keener interest amongst trade unionists around the world in international issues. A global economy should be good for transport workers, but few of our members are happy with the kind of globalisation they see.

For unions within the ITF family, the new environment brings with it mixed reactions. The problems facing our affiliates are greater than ever before, involving structural change, privatisation, the elimination of public services, and more competition, usually through lower wages and worse working conditions. Most ITF unions are losing members and finding the laws and collective agreements which have long protected them under attack.

At the same time, the need for international solidarity is becoming clearer to trade union members. Workers are much more aware of the power of multinational companies, of international financial bodies such as the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank as well as the World Trade Organisation (WTO). They are beginning to realise that these forces cannot be challenged at national level alone. That is why the World Social Forum in Porto Alegre in January-February 2002 attracted a wide variety of union participants, including many from ITF affiliates.

There are signs that the mood in the world economy is changing, and corporate leaders are getting worried. That is why union organisations including the ITF were more comprehensively involved than ever before in the “Davos in New York” World Economic Forum held during those same days. It is also why initiatives such as the United Nations Global Compact, launched three years ago by Secretary-General Kofi Annan, have grown in importance as large corporations realise that if they ignore principles of corporate social responsibility they will face increasing public hostility.

The effects of 11 September 2001 on the attitude of governments to regulations governing transport and corporate behaviour have been remarkable. In shipping, for example, demands which the ITF has been making for 50 years – like compulsory disclosure of the real owner of a ship – look certain to be adopted internationally before the end of 2002. The International Labour Organisation (ILO), the UN social body, reacted quickly for the first time and held a major emergency meeting on the social impact of the crisis in aviation, which was attended by virtually every government, employer and union who matters in the industry. The experience set a new agenda for ILO engagement in other sectors in the future.

The global trade union movement is beginning to work together more closely than ever too. The so-called Millennium Debate sparked off by the international trade secretariats (now called Global Union Federations) like the ITF, plus the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU), which represents national trade union centres, has already made progress in looking at how the different parts of the union family can work together better. There are even signs that the ideological splits which have existed within the trade union movement for more than fifty years may be in the process of disappearing.

Among the international unions, the ITF has been leading the way in bringing its affiliates directly into international campaigns. It is no coincidence that, when Global Unions (as we now refer to the group of international union bodies) decided to organise a Day of Action to coincide with the opening of the WTO Summit in Doha in November 2001, transport unions were amongst the most energetic participants.

The ITF action days and action weeks have already demonstrated to union members the value of acting together across national borders. Since the New Delhi Congress in 1998, we have organised a variety of campaigns. The extraordinary world voyage of the ITF exhibition ship Global Mariner attracted over 750,000 visitors in 86 ports in 51 countries. Then there are the “Fatigue Kills” campaign in road transport, “Safety First – Not Profit” in the railways, “Zero Air Rage” in civil aviation, and “Stamp Out Union-Busting” in the ports. All these campaigns have brought trade union members directly into international activities, and they have reacted with enthusiasm and imagination.

This was also a period in which the ITF had a major impact on public opinion when, for example, we exposed the corruption endemic in the flag of convenience (FOC) shipping business by purchasing a Panamanian certificate which qualified me to navigate a ship without any training. We also published joint reports, one with Greenpeace on the scandal of FOC fishing vessels and another with Global Witness on the appalling use of money from the Liberian shipping register to finance attempts to overthrow the government of a neighbouring country.

We have worked hard to improve ITF education activities, for unions from every part of the world, especially through the ITF Summer School. We have radically expanded our communications activities through, for example, a more active ITF website, email groups between union activists, and the new publication Transport International. We are certainly getting much more contact with local officials and even members of our affiliates than before. The internet helps to flatten the communications pyramid which was identified in New Delhi as one of the main obstacles to Mobilising Solidarity.

In the past four years, thousands of union members have come to understand a lot more about international solidarity and the ITF. Hundreds of thousands have participated directly in ITF activities. Because of this deeper support and activity by our affiliates, the ITF is probably in a better state to defend the interests of transport workers around the world and face the challenges of globalisation than at any other time.

The ITF Congress in Vancouver must and will build on this new strength.

الصفحة الرئيسية للأقسام:
Issue 9 August 2002

نسخة الرسومات الكاملة

إمكانية الدخول | مساعدة الموقع | خريطة الموقع

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