Union leader welcomes shift in attitudes towards globalisation

A top trade union leader has welcomed the shift in attitudes on the globalisation issue at the World Economic Forum summit. But he said world leaders must start listening to the concerns of anti-globalisation protesters (pictured).

A top trade union leader has welcomed what he sees as a shift in attitudes on the globalisation issue at the World Economic Forum summit. But the general secretary of the Geneva-based Union Network International, Philip Jennings, said world leaders needed to recognise that the free market was increasing poverty and suffering.

Jennings’ comments came as President Clinton and other world leaders lined up to press their case for globalisation with a human face.

In his speech on Saturday, Clinton said there was a third way between those who attacked globalisation, and the blindly followed it.

Jennings welcomes the change in attitudes. “This is the sixth year that I’ve participated at Davos, and I have to say that there’s been a significant shift in terms of the content of the agenda and in terms of the tone of the discussion. The debate has become a lot more tempered,” he said.

However, Jennings says this is not enough. “Globalisation has not delivered the goods. For it to continue, it will need broader social acceptability, and recognition that the model of globalisation we have is not sustainable.”

Jennings sees Clinton’s words as a sign that delegates at this year’s Davos meeting were willing to eat a little humble pie in recognition of widespread public dissatisfaction with globalisation.

However, he made clear that fundamental differences remain between proponents of globalisation and the trade union movement.

“There are few winners, and literally millions of users. There are two billion people surviving on two dollars a day, and 300 million children under the age of 14 at work. We are seeing the largest gap in incomes, within nations and between nations, in the post-war years. This is simply not sustainable. Labour has to have a voice, and working people have to have a voice. It can’t go on like this.”

The effects of globalisation have been keenly felt across the world. In Switzerland, trade unions have responded by joining forces to fight for workers’ rights. Jennings thinks this is a trend that will continue.

“In Switzerland, there’s been some significant changes in trade union structures, particularly in the services side of the economy and in the post and telecoms field. The unions there came together in recognition of the process of privatisation and liberalisation that was taking place. And I’d anticipate that further mergers would take place in the Swiss trade union movement as time goes by.”

From staff and wire reports