[stop-imf] Trade Union meetings with IMF and World Bank

[Robert Weissman]

INTERNATIONAL CONFEDERATION OF FREE TRADE UNIONS (ICFTU)

ICFTU OnLine...
185/241002/JH


21-23 October: Trade union delegation meeting with international
financial institutions (IFIs)

Trade Union meetings with IMF and World Bank

Brussels October 24, 2002 (ICFTU online): At meetings with the IMF/World
Bank in Washington over the past three days, a delegation of trade union
leaders from over 40 countries discussed their proposals with World Bank
President James Wolfensohn, IMF Managing Director Horst K=F6hler and many
officials of those institutions.  The delegation was headed by ICFTU
General Secretary Guy Ryder and also included leaders of eight Global
Union Federations (the international bodies that represent unions on a
sectoral basis) and of the Trade Union Advisory Committee to the OECD.

In the meeting with Wolfensohn, Ryder called for a qualitative
improvement in the World Bank's discussions with trade unions at
national and international levels.  "Consultation must be genuine, not
after decisions have already been taken by the Bank, for example to
privatize public services," he stated.

In response, Wolfensohn agreed that the World Bank would seek
intensively to get unions involved in World Bank missions to countries
implementing their programmes, and examine on a country-by-country basis
where there were problems in consultation and how those could be
resolved.  He made a commitment that the World Bank would take on a
number of trade unionists for placements at the World Bank on the
priority issues identified by the trade union movement, in order to get
their views known within the World Bank.

Two in-depth follow-up meetings will be held in the near future to
examine the differences between trade unions and the World Bank on the
subjects of social security and labour market reforms.  It was further
agreed to meet again to identify the obstacles to trade unions
benefiting from international assistance to implement HIV/AIDS
prevention projects.  Trade unions have proved that they can play a very
effective role in combating HIV/AIDS among particularly vulnerable
sectors of the population, such as transport, tourism, agricultural and
mine workers in Africa.

The meeting with Horst K=F6hler took place for two hours on 23 October,
and the union delegation called for the IMF to make deep-seated changes
in its policies to achieve poverty reduction, growth and higher
employment levels.  They drew attention to the IMF's failures in
countries like Argentina, with a serious impact on poverty.  They
criticised the imbalance between the IMF's policy recommendations for
industrialised countries and the austerity that the IMF inevitably
prescribed for developing nations.  They also presented their proposals
for the rapid introduction of a fair and transparent debt arbitration
mechanism in countries facing an Argentina-type debt crisis.

K=F6hler defended the IMF's record and emphasised the IMF's recognition
that a full social dimension was indispensable in achieving investment
and economic growth.  He made the point that whenever he, or other IMF
staff travelled to member countries, they always made a point of trying
to meet the national trade union movement concerned.  It was agreed that
the debate about IMF policy recommendations had to be continued, and
K=F6hler proposed an annual meeting with trade unions to improve that dialo=
gue.


Further information:

'Public Services or Private Profits'
http://www.icftu.org/displaydocument.asp?Index=3D991216605&Language=3DEN

'Changing the Model: IFI Policies and the Failures of Corporate-Driven Glob=
alisation,'
http://www.icftu.org/displaydocument.asp?Index=3D991216493&Language=3DEN

The ICFTU represents more than 157 million workers in 225 affiliated
organisations in 148 countries and territories. ICFTU is also a member
of Global Unions: http://www.global-unions.org

For more information, please contact the ICFTU Press Department on +32 2
224 0232 or +32 476 62 10 18.