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Forum on Women Workers in Areas of Armed Conflict
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We Demand Employment, Equal Labour Standards and Participation in Decision Making for All Women Workers
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Urgent Appeals: Updates_Union busting by Body Fashion, Triumph International Limited Thailand
Published Friday, August 22, 2008 - 03:54 AM
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1707 Reads
One week after the dismissal of Ms. Jitra, the president of Triumph International Labour Union Thailand, workers were able to negotiate with the regional representative of Triumph International Limited in a tripartite meeting. However, this meeting on August 9 had made little progress. On August 11, the union again called for a strike. About 1000 workers, one third of the company�s labour force, blocked the entrance of the factory. Hundreds of workers blocked the industrial zone intersection. They demanded Body Fashion, Triumph International�s manufacturing arm, reinstate union president Ms. Jitra Kotchadej, refrain from taking legal and disciplinary action against striking workers and remove company executives who tried to disrupt union activities. Facing the continuous strike, the company threatened the workers that they would fire all current workers and start new recruitment.
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Statements: Protest the denial of border entry of KCTU delegation to the G8 Summit
Published Friday, July 11, 2008 - 12:09 AM
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3009 Reads
Guarantee Democracy and Human Rights at all Moments
Protesting the Denial of border entry of the KCTU Delegation to the G8 Summit by the Japanese government.
Statement from the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions G8 Delegation
The Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU) with a membership of 800,000 is a major confederation of South Korean trade unions
actively fighting to advance democracy, human rights, and a democratic trade union movement. At this very moment, we are conducting a General Strike against the importation of U.S. beef; privatization of public services, and the failure of the current Lee Myung Bak
government to address the genuine concerns raised by South Korean citizens about food safety. The negotiations around the
importation of U.S. beef within the context of the unequal KORUS FTA has denigrated South Koreans the right to food safety and
privatization will force the working poor to undergo more social sacrifices.
The G8 Summit is a gathering of representatives of corporations and governments that support their interests to further the advance an
agenda of neoliberalism, privatization, and free trade. The neoliberal economic agenda has not only failed to resolve urgent issues that
affect workers in general, but have triggered a global emergency on financial markets, food supply, and the environment. This is a
moment when we truly need to seek another path, another direction, and another praxis.
Therefore, the KCTU delegation consisting of 9 representatives of various KCTU affiliates traveled to Japan to participate in the G8 Summit on July 4 to ensure that workers� voices and interests were addressed. It was the goal of the KCTU delegation to join other civil society
groups and popular movement to oppose the neoliberal agenda. We believe this is a fundamental human right and responsibility we
carry in these momentous and challenging times.
Four members of the delegation arrived in Haneda Airport, where they were forced to undergo a lengthy individual examination without
any proper explanation. The other members of the delegation that included KCTU Vice President Huh Young Goo were denied entry to
Japan by the Japanese Immigration Department without any explanation. Their passports were confiscated and during the process Vice-President of the Korean Health and Medical Workers Union, Lee Keun Sun was detained when he protested the actions of the Japanese
Immigration officials.
Prior to entry, the KCTU had notified the Japanese Immigration Department the purpose for their visit and the details of the activities during the G8 Summit. The KCTU had been invited by the Japan-based G8 Action Network to participate in their planned events. Despite
having followed all proper standard protocol and procedures, the Japanese government unfairly denied the entry of the KCTU delegation
to the G8 Summit.
The KCTU believes that the irrational denial of entry by the Japanese government is politically motivated and an attempt by the
government to pre-emptively block any dissenting voice during the G8 Summit. This is clearly a repression of people�s right to freedom
of expression, right to dissent, and against human rights as guaranteed by all international conventions. The KCTU challenges the
undemocratic actions of the Japanese government.
The KCTU determines that the denial of entry of the KCTU G8 Summit Delegation is an overprotective measure to ensure �peaceful�
proceedings of the G8 Summit without any disruption or dissent. This is of course a repression of democracy and human rights. The
KCTU will continue to organize for the right for workers to express their voices and raise concerns as a fundamental human right in
solidarity with other trade unions and civil society groups in Japan as well as the social movement at the international level. At the same time, the KCTU will focus on revealing the corporate greed of the G8 Summit and to show that there are people�s alternatives to
neoliberalization through dialogue and solidarity.
Finally, the KCTU wishes to convey its sincere thanks to Japanese and international trade unions and civil society groups for the support
in this difficult time. In solidarity, we will stop the neoliberal agenda and achieve true democracy and human rights.
Korean Confederation of Trade Unions
July 7, 2008
Lee Changgeun
International Executive Director
Korean Confederation of Trade Unions
Tel.: +82-2-2670-9234 Fax: +82-2-2635-1134
E-mail: [email protected] Web-site : http://kctu.org
2nd Fl. Daeyoung Bld., 139 Youngdeungpo-2-ga, Youngdeungpo-ku, Seoul 150-032 Korea
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Letters: Open Letter to ASEAN Leaders on the EU-ASEAN FTA
Published Thursday, July 10, 2008 - 08:30 PM
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3169 Reads
A Call to ASEAN Leaders regarding the proposed EU-ASEAN Free TradeAgreement negotiations
To the ASEAN Leaders and the ASEAN Secretariat:The undersigned civil society movements and organisations from ASEANwish to express their strong concerns about the proposed EU-ASEAN FreeTrade Agreement (FTA) slated to be concluded within the next two years.We are aware that the trade negotiations are already ongoing, and theseare done without prior meaningful public consultation, either withelected representatives or civil society in any of the countriesconcerned. Any agreement as far-reaching in its consequences and asbroad in scope as the proposed EU-ASEAN Free Trade Agreement shouldinvolve at the very least a wide-ranging and on-going consultationprocess, in addition to full disclosure of all texts being considered.We view access to information and process as vital components for themeaningful participation of civilsociety in all stages of the discussion. We view with concern as well that in processes that are being opened tocivil society, for instance, the Trade Sustainability Impact Assessment(SIA), organizations' contribution in the consultation is being limitedby the frame of only looking for mitigating and "flanking" measures,andnot addressing the fundamental issues that govern any free tradeagreement. We believe that the voice of the sectors in any trade negotiations andagreements is particularly important in the light of the experience withexisting EU FTAs where significant negative outcomes have occurred whilemany of the promised benefits have failed to materialise. For example,assessments of the EU-Mexico Global Agreement show a doubling ofMexico's trade deficit with the EU since the FTA came into force. Andcontrary to the predicted benefits to employment and labour conditionssince the signing of the EU-Mexico Agreement unemployment has risen andworkers are increasingly facing precarious labour conditions andtemporary employment contracts, below-standard wages and no socialsecurity. While foreign investments have increased, this has resultedmainly in foreign takeovers of domestic industries, without generatingadditional employment or increases in remuneration.The EU-ASEAN FTA negotiations are happening at a time when the ASEANregion is facing food, fuel, environment and employment crises. Thesecrises have exposed the weaknesses of the policy of trade liberalizationpursued by countries across the region and the cornerstone of theprocess of ASEAN economic integration. There have been calls forgovernments to revisit trade and development policies in the wake of thecrisis. Unfortunately, instead of a strong critique of the existing freetrade policies, the calls forreform tend to move towards more of the same market-oriented reforms. As a result of this continued push for the same market-driven economyand aggressive liberalization, farmers continue to be threatened withland conversion, shifting from planting food to cash crops andproduction of biofuels or converting irrigated lands to accommodate realestate development; fishers' fishing area are encroached upon by bigcommercial corporations and continued importation of cheap fish productscontinue to threaten their livelihood; indigenous peoples continue to bedisplaced from their lands in the name of extractive industries likemining; workers'tenure continue to be threatened, if not, altogether gone, and thosethat continue to work have to deal with cheap wages in unsafe workingconditions; and the burden of women, who bear the brunt of jobinsecurity, low-productivity and limited resource-allocation for basicsocial services is exacerbated by further deregulation, liberalizationand privatization as these FTAs push for opening up markets ingovernment procurement and public utilities.In this light, the undersigned civil society organisations are highlyconcerned that:Your browser may not support display of this image. The EU appears to bepromoting anti-development policies with its push to incorporate thecontroversial Singapore issues already rejected at the WTO by variousASEAN members;Your browser may not support display of this image. The vastsocio-economic disparities in ASEAN are not being taken into account asthe EU is demanding full reciprocity and maximum frontloading ofcommitments without meaningful special and differential treatment beyondmere transition periods - which even the WTO allows;Your browser may not support display of this image. The liberalisationof services at a WTO-plus level, given the dominance of EU servicescompanies, will tend to outcompete ASEAN services providers;* The accompanying limitations on the ability of nationalgovernmentsto regulate in the public interest will jeopardise access to essentialservices, and have far-reaching implications for the poor and ruralpopulations in both regions. Experiences with previous FTAs and ourreading of EU policy heightens our concern that services negotiationswill include essential services and public utilities like water, health,education, public transport, culture, etc.; * Any EU-ASEAN FTA will leave the ASEAN countries worse off thanthecurrent GSP treatment, while demanding from these asymmetrical partnersextensive WTO-plus liberalisation without allowing adequate specialsafeguard measures; * Any EU-ASEAN FTA in these directions that pushes ASEAN to focusmoreon primary products as its major export in exchange for developing itscapacity in manufacturing and processed products will render ASEANeconomies to backtrack on its industrialization drive; Your browser may not support display of this image. EU requirements thatASEAN substantially lower its tariffs will result in a significant lossof revenue to developing countries which can not easily raise similarfunds from other taxation sources;Your browser may not support display of this image. The EU's highpriority on access to raw materials as expressed in its key documentsetting out the future direction of its trade policy - 'Global Europe:Competing in the World' - will seriously undermine ASEAN countries'capacity to maintain sovereignty over their natural resources, includingrestrictions on exports, investment and intellectual property rights;Your browser may not support display of this image. The EU will push formarket access commitments with regard to government procurement, whichwill encroach on vital policy space needed for equitable wealthredistribution and social coherence necessary for nation-building;Your browser may not support display of this image.Intellectual propertyprotection is already reducing access to affordable medicine andeducation in developing countries; and that the EU will require ASEANcountries to join additional intellectual property treaties, which willfurther increase the level of intellectual property protection - to thedetriment of the right to health, education and other basic humanrights.Given the above, the undersigned civil society groups from ASEAN comingtogether in the Southeast Asian Peoples Caucus on EU-ASEAN FTA held inQuezon City, Philippines on 23 - 24 June 2008, call on the leaders ofASEAN:
1. To place people's needs and rights at the heart of any economicdevelopment including trade arrangements through instituting andpracticing political accountability on all economic decision-makingprocesses, including bringing in civil society to participate as a fullstakeholder, in order to arrive at equitable and sustainable
developmentand trade systems;
2. To provide access to information and process both at theregionaland national levels by making all documents relevant to the EU-ASEAN FTAnegotiations available to the public (including but not limited to thefollowing: a) Terms of Reference and negotiating framework/ mandate;drafts of the proposed agreement; studies and memoranda with regard tospecific areas of negotiation or sectors under consideration, etc.);
3. To create mandatory spaces for public scrutiny of agreements,andinputs to the negotiation process through a) reporting by and peopleinterface with Joint Committee Meetings and negotiation rounds; b) broadconsultation at the national, sectoral, and regional levels on thesubstance of the negotiation;
4. To ensure that voices of the sectors both at the national andregional levels are reflected in the official reports and presented bythe negotiators to
the relevant discussion forums and negotiations;We believe that only through a people-centered economy and practice ofdemocracy can the ASEAN peoples and economies reach its full potentialand reap the benefits of an equitable and empowering development.The undersigned,EU-ASEAN FTA Campaign Network Indonesia (Institute for Global Justice, KASBI (Carrefour Trade Union )Malaysia (Monitoring Sustainability of Globalization (MSN), NationalUnion of Bank Employees-Malaysia, National Union of Drink IndustryWorkers)Thailand ( FTA Watch-Thailand, Alternative Agriculture Network, Assemblyof the Poor, Consumer Federation of Thailand, People Living with HIVNetwork)Vietnam (Vietnam Peace and Development Foundation, Vietnam GeneralConfederation of Labour, National Committee for the Advancement of Womenin Vietnam, Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers)Philippines (EU-ASEAN Campaign Network - Alab Katipunan, Alliance ofProgressive Labor, Aniban ng Manggagawa sa Agrikultura, Action andSolidarity for the Empowerment of Teachers, Alyansa Tigil Mina,Association of Major Religious Superiors of the Philippines, Bukluranng Manggagawang Pilipino, Coalition Against Trafficking of Women, CentroSaka, Inc., Freedom from Debt Coalition, Focus on the Global South,International Gender Trade Network-Asia, Institute for opularDemocracy, Justice, Peace and Integrity of Creation Commission, JubileeSouth-Asia Pacific Movement on Debt and Development, Kalayaan, Kalipunanng Maliliit na Magninyog ng Pilipinas, Kilusang Kababaihang Mangingisda,Kilusang Mangingisda, Kilusan para sa Pambansang Demokrasya, Kongreso ngPagkakaisa ng Maralitang Tagalunsod, Koalisyon Pabahay ng Pilipinas,Legal Rights and Natural Resources Center-Kasama sa Kalikasan-Friends ofthe Earth, Manggagawa para sa Kalayaan ng Bayan, Makabayang Alyansa ngMagbubukid ng Pilipinas, Manggagawaing Kababaihang Mithi ay Paglaya,Migrant Forum in Asia, Pambansang Koalisyon ng Kababaihan sa Kanayunan,Partido ng Manggagawa, SANLAKAS, Task Force Food Sovereignty, Triple11-Pilipinas, Welga ng Kababaihan, WomanHealth Philippines, World Marchof Women, Zone One Tondo Organization, Confederation of IndependentUnions, Integrated Rural Development Foundation, League of Urban Poorfor Action, Teachers Dignity Coalition, Philippine Nurses' Association)
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Statements: ASIAN WOMEN WORKERS� DECLARATION ON FREE TRADE AGREEMENTS (FTAs)
Published Tuesday, June 24, 2008 - 12:33 AM
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3521 Reads
We, delegates to the Regional Conference on �Informalisation of Work Through Free Trade Agreements: Eroding Labour Rights", organised by the Committee for Asian Women, gathered in Bangkok on June 19 and 20, 2008 reassert our opposition to globalised poverty as facilitated by the same trade infrastructures that have resulted in today�s food crisis. We make this statement in the face of yet another crisis, which is an indication that unfettered free trade is failing.
There is increasing and irrefutable evidence that free trade deals devalue and homogenise cultures, stunt economic development, displace communities and are major drivers of increasing rural and urban poverty. Women are disproportionately affected.
Asian governments need to be alert to mounting unrest as many of the social and economic gains made over the past decades are now threatened by the consequences of FTAs. The European Union- ASEAN Free Trade Agreement, and the Non-Agricultural Market Access (NAMA) Agreements by the World Trade Organization constitute such instruments of deprivation of decent livelihood that have affected workers in Asia and much of the global south.
FTAs have facilitated corporate profitability to undermine nation�s right to self determination and sovereignty. FTAs have eroded the autonomy of national governments to promote and sustain appropriate economic development models, which prioritise education, income, food and health security for its peoples. Driven by global competitiveness, FTAs are at odds with Asian cultural cohesiveness, instead requiring removal of state support to national industries, social services and genuine agrarian reform. Farmers and local enterprises are unable to compete in the global economy.
As a result women workers are forced to accept wage cuts, informalised work, loss of trade union rights and degraded conditions of work. Privatisation of public services has multiplied the burdens of women. Another consequence is growing violence against women within and outside of the work place.
Despoliation and dislocation of rural communities and destruction of the natural environment in the wake of FTAs has exacerbated trafficking and coerced migration particularly of women.
FTAs have promulgated unjust trading system, through processes which are non-transparent, favouring rich countries and their corporations, which are unaccountable.
We demand that Asian governments promote local economies for more sustainable development, and direct public funds to social development and public infrastructure.
We demand that the poor in our countries not be further impoverished and indebted by greater dependency on external markets, vulnerability to speculative finance capital, leading to price increases, especially in essential needs like food, education, health care and housing. We call for an end to land appropriation especially agricultural and arable land from the poor for purposes of setting up special economic zones and factories.
We unequivocally reject the establishment of FTZs within which trade union and labour rights are suspended. All Asian Governments must ratify and enforce the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), ILO Core Labour Standards and other international instruments.
We strongly urge sovereign governments to resist the pressure from international corporations and international financial institutions to sign onto FTAs on dubious promises of growth, development and poverty reduction.
We demand a moratorium on existing trade agreements and reject any new unequal bilateral and regional trade agreements, particularly in view of climate change and rising energy prices which are incompatible with international transport of goods.
We hereby renew our commitment to actively support and acknowledge the courage and determination of the people and social movements of Asia and the global south in pursuit of better working and living conditions for women workers.
Adopted by delegates of regional conference on �Informalisation of Work Through Free Trade Agreements: Eroding Labour Rights", organised by the Committee for Asian Women, in Bangkok on June 19 and 20, 2008.
END
Download the Declaration here
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Campaign: Domestic Workers Are Workers
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Coming CAW Events
Regional Conference on Domestic Workers
26-27 August 2008
Bangkok, Thailand |
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CAW Secretariat
Executive Coordinator- Lucia V Jayaseelan
Programme Coordinator- Deepa Bharathi
Programme Officer- Niza Concepcion
Information Communication and Media Officer- Juliette Lee
Publication, Resource Centre and Thai Liaison Officer- Patima Kalumpakorn (Pui)
Book-keeper / Administration Assistant- Suneerat Sangthong (Tuk)
Finance Consultant- Leong Mee Nan (Mei Yun)
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