ICFTU ASIA-PACIFIC Labour Network
PART I: THE ASIA PACIFIC ECONOMIC COOPERATION FORUM (APEC)
The Situation of APEC in the world economy
Ministerial and Operational Cooperation
Proposals for an APEC Free Trade Area
The APEC investment principles
Consultation Procedures
The Human Resources Development Working Group
Trade Union Proposals to link Trade Agreements and Social Development
Prospects for Further APEC Integration
PART II: TRADE UNION PROPOSALS FOR THE FUTURE OF APEC
Enlarging the APEC Human Resources Development Programme
A social protocol for the APEC investment guidelines
Ongoing labour consultative arrangements
Conclusions: the Social Dimension of Regional Integration
1. This discussion document has been prepared by the newly-established ICFTU Asia-Pacific Labour Network. It includes a description of APEC covering its membership and its place in the world economy; a summary of integration proposals for APEC and operational cooperation so far; the social situation in the APEC region and proposals made by trade unions to address this dimension; and the different possibilities for further integration. The second part of the document indicates some elements which trade unions in the APEC region wish to see included in the future work of APEC.
PART I: THE ASIA PACIFIC ECONOMIC COOPERATION FORUM (APEC)
The Situation of APEC in the world economy
2. APEC originated in the late 1980s as a consultative forum to encourage closer regional cooperation. It was formally established at a meeting in Canberra, Australia in 1989 and at that time had 12 members. Membership has since expanded to 18 economies: Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, the Philippines, Chinese Taipei, the Republic of Korea, Singapore, Thailand and the United States.
3. APEC encompasses economies with a population of over 2 billion people with a combined Gross National Product (GNP) of over 13 trillion US dollars. APEC accounted in 1993 for 46% of total world exports and 53% of world gross product. By way of comparison, the European Union (EU) accounted for 35% of total world exports and 30% of world gross product. About 80% of the combined GNP of the APEC region is accounted for by two members, Japan and the US.
4. In terms of economic and social development, the APEC region stretches from some of the most highly industrialized countries in the world to low-income, more agrarian economies. The sectoral composition of GDP varies widely between members. While all APEC economies have a declining share of agriculture in their GDP, the importance ranges from zero (Hong Kong and Singapore) to 2% (Canada, Japan and the US) to over 15% (China, Indonesia, Philippines, Thailand and Papua New Guinea, where agriculture accounts for 30% of GDP). Industry is most important for China (55% of GDP), followed by Malaysia (46%) and the Republic of Korea (43%) and least important for New Zealand (27%), the US (25%) and Hong Kong (17%). Those economies which have moved furthest towards a service sector-based economy are Hong Kong (83% of GDP), the US (73%) and Australia, Canada, Singapore and New Zealand (all over 60%), while services are least important for Papua New Guinea (31%) and China (26%).
5. In annual GDP per capita, Japan was the highest in 1993 at US$ 25,031, followed by the US and Canada (both over $20,000); Australia and Singapore (over $15,000); Brunei, Hong Kong and New Zealand (over $10,000); the Republic of Korea and Chinese Taipei (over $5,000); Malaysia, Mexico and Chile (over $2,000); Papua New Guinea and Thailand (over $1,000); Indonesia and the Philippines (over $500); and China, the lowest at $432.
6. APEC's 46% share of world trade has risen from 37% of the total in 1983, largely due to rapid growth in intra-APEC trade. From 1988 to 1993, intra-APEC exports grew at 8.7% annually, compared to the annual increase in total world exports of 5.5%. The importance of exports to APEC members ranges from 48.9% of total exports (Chile) to 90.5% (Canada), with a mean (unweighted) level of 74.0%. The composition of total exports from APEC economies has gradually shifted over the past twenty years, from primary products and labour intensive manufactures towards more capital intensive and differentiated goods such as electronic products, motor vehicles and telecommunications equipment, although primary products still remain significant for most APEC economies.
7. Foreign direct investment by multinational companies (MNCs) has played an important role of the development in intra-APEC trade. The more industrialized APEC economies have increasingly established subsidiaries in developing APEC economies, leading to a rise in exports of production equipment and components from economies such as the US, Japan, the Republic of Korea and the Chines Taipei to other APEC members. Conversely, trade in final goods within APEC has increased due to exports from overseas affiliates in developing economies back to industrialized economies.
8. Migration of workers within economies of the APEC region is significant. In Asia, the ILO estimates there to be some 1,000,000 migrants in Japan, 500,000 in Malaysia, 300,000 in Singapore, 200,000 in Hong Kong and 60,000 in the Chinese Taipei. The main countries of origin are the Philippines, Thailand and Indonesia. Increasing numbers of migrants, many of them permanent, are moving from Asia towards Australia and New Zealand and to Canada and the US. Within North America, there are significant labour flows from Mexico to the US and Canada. There are large flows also from Chile to Argentina.
Ministerial and Operational Cooperation
9. Since the founding meeting in Canberra, annual ministerial meetings have been held every year. In 1993 (Seattle, US) and 1994 (Bogor, Indonesia), these annual meetings became Leaders' Meetings involving the heads of government of virtually all the members of the region. The hosts of the three APEC Leaders' Meetings following Osaka (November 1995) will be the Philippines (1996), Canada (1997) and Malaysia (1998).
10. APEC has little institutional infrastructure and is serviced by a small secretariat of some twenty staff, located in Singapore. The secretariat of the longer-established Pacific Economic Cooperation Council (PECC), a research and networking forum with representatives of business, academia and government (but not labour) from most APEC member states as well as some other countries, also based in Singapore, has often served as institutional back-up to APEC by undertaking studies on its behalf.
11. Following the 1993 APEC Leaders' Meeting in Seattle, cooperation at ministerial level was stepped up and meetings of finance ministers, trade ministers, environment ministers, and ministers responsible for small and medium enterprises have since been held as part of an ongoing programme of ministerial meetings.
12. APEC operates 10 working groups, in the following areas:
13. These working groups have concentrated on data standardization, collection and provision; exchange of missions between member economies; seminars and training courses; programmes to share information; and projects to facilitate sharing of experiences. There are two additional Committees, on trade and investment in the region and on economic trends and issues; two sub-committees on customs procedures and on standards and conformance; and a policy-level group on small and medium enterprises.
Proposals for an APEC Free Trade Area
14. The 1994 Leaders' Meeting (Bogor, Indonesia, 14-15 November 1994) adopted the Bogor Declaration. This includes an agreement to draw up concrete plans for completely free trade and investment in the region, to be achieved by the year 2010 for industrialized economies and 2020 for developing economies. The Bogor Declaration emphasizes the need for this process to be consistent with the World Trade Organization (WTO), such that economic integration within APEC acts to strengthen the multilateral system and not to create an inward-looking trade bloc. It provides for examination of the possibilities for setting up a voluntary consultative trade dispute mediation service, to complement the WTO dispute settlement mechanism.
15. The next stage in this process will be to consider at Osaka a programme to set out a process to implement the Bogor Declaration. This is expected to focus more on procedures than on actual decisions. The meeting may come up with agreement on which areas - such as tariffs, non-tariff barriers, subsidies, anti-dumping, competition policy and domestic deregulation - are relevant to the process. Member economies would then provide individual proposals for liberalization at the 1996 or the 1997 summit meetings. A report called "Implementing the APEC Vision" published in August 1995 by a special Eminent Persons Group (EPG) has set out detailed recommendations for consideration by the APEC leaders.
The APEC investment principles
16. The November 1994 APEC Summit adopted the "APEC Non-Binding Investment Principles". These aim to increase foreign investment in the region through the improvement and further liberalization of members' investment regimes. They emphasize twelve key principles:
transparency in investment laws and policies;
17. APEC has limited provisions for consultation with representatives of society, aimed mainly at the business sector and to some extent academia. The 1993 summit set up the Pacific Business Forum to involve the business sector in the APEC process, composed of two government-appointed business representatives from each country. The Bogor summit decided to create a more permanent business advisory forum. This will be decided on at Osaka and would probably be called the APEC Business Council (ABC). However, the ABC would similarly be composed of government appointees rather than representatives chosen by national employers' organizations. The three reports of the EPG have also been influential in establishing a philosophy of "open regionalism" to guide APEC's development.
18. In addition, APEC working groups may invite "guests" including business/private sector representatives to specific sessions, provided the working group as a whole has endorsed their participation. It would appear that trade unions have never been considered in this category.
19. Finally, some member economies have set up national consultative committees on which trade unions are represented.
The Human Resources Development Working Group
20. The closest the present APEC agenda comes to dealing with social and labour matters is its Human Resources Development Working Group, which met most recently in Beijing from 29 May to 2 June 1995. This has the objective of fostering "the development of a skilled, flexible workforce". The Working Group's activities include projects on industrial technology, business management, economic development management, education, human resource development needs and trends, and links between APEC universities and private sector training. The Working Group has also undertaken a project to train managers of "economic development zones" to help them to maximize the returns from production in their areas.
21. The Bogor Declaration stated among the aims of APEC cooperation, "to attain sustainable growth and equitable development of APEC economies, while reducing economic disparities among them and improving the economic and social well-being of our peoples." The APEC Declaration on "A Human Resources Development Framework for the APEC" also in November 1994 stated that "The objective of human resources development in APEC is to promote the well-being of all people in the region through economic growth and development" and that "the development and protection of human resources contribute to the attainment of such fundamental values as the alleviation of poverty, full employment, universal access to primary, secondary and vocational education, and the full participation of all groups in the process of economic growth and development".
22. Yet nothing in the programme of this Working Group addresses these issues directly. Policy issues being considered at present include reducing impediments to regional labour mobility, increasing and enhancing the supply and quality of educators and managers in both the private and public sectors, strengthening industrial training and development and preparing business for globalization. The APEC and PECC are jointly conducting a study on the regional labour market, with a view to drawing up policy recommendations to enhance human resource development.
23. The Working Group programme does not yet include many of the areas of most importance in any serious effort to attain the social development goals outlined in the above Declaration, such as social services, industrial relations, occupational safety and health and so forth. This is at variance with the historical experience of successful economic development, indicating the vital role of social factors in achieving accelerated growth.
Trade Union Proposals to link Trade Agreements and Social Development
24. The lack of a social dimension in APEC contrasts greatly with the proposals and activities of trade unions in the APEC region. In the region of the ICFTU Asian and Pacific Regional Organization (ICFTU/APRO), unions have adopted many relevant statements on the social implications of trade. The ICFTU/APRO Executive Board meeting in the Republic of Korea in August 1994 adopted the "ICFTU/APRO Social Charter for Democratic Development", a general set of principles of workers' rights in a global market economy which is addressed to governments and employers in all states of the Asian and Pacific region. The ICFTU/APRO Social Charter covers employment, wages and working conditions, vocational training and retraining, industrial relations, safety and health and the environment, women workers, MNCs and export processing zones (EPZs), migrant workers, social security and trade union development. The South Pacific and Oceanic Council of Trade Unions (SPOCTU) has prepared a Social Charter for the Pacific island states. SPOCTU has formal observer status at meetings of the Committee for Regional Economic Issues and Trade (CREIT) of the inter-governmental South Pacific Forum and has further been striving to build up the trade union input into and awareness of the South Pacific Region Trade and Economic Cooperation Agreement (SPARTECA). SPOCTU has been examining the question of potential linkages between these agreements and APEC. The ASEAN Trade Union Council (ATUC), meeting in the Philippines in July 1994, called on ASEAN countries to take immediate steps to implement basic labour standards and to involve the ATUC and its affiliated unions in ASEAN meetings. The North Pacific Trade Union Forum, bringing together the ICFTU affiliates from Hong Kong, Japan, the Republic of Korea, the Chinese Taipei and the US, adopted a statement in 1994 calling for a social clause in the WTO, an end to attacks on trade union rights and the provision of social safety nets to protect displaced workers.
25. The ICFTU Inter-American Regional Organization of Workers (ICFTU/ORIT) held a major conference in Panama in April 1994 on "Economic Development and Labour Rights" and has been involved in preparing a social charter for the Americas. The AFL-CIO and the CUT (Chile) have adopted a joint statement concerning the social issues which should be integrated into negotiations for Chile to accede to the North American Free Trade Area (NAFTA) together with Canada, Mexico and the US. The ICFTU/ORIT Statement to the heads of state attending the Summit of the Americas in December 1994 emphasized "the need to create jobs which are not based on low wages but rather on more socially acceptable comparative advantages such as proximity to markets, availability of natural resources and favourable business climates." These concerns were further stressed at the ICFTU/ORIT Inter-American Labour Summit on "Trade and Workers' Rights" hosted by the AFL-CIO in Denver in June 1995.
26. At world level, the ICFTU has proposed that the ILO and the WTO should jointly consider how to strengthen international labour standards in the international trading system, particularly with a view to ensuring respect for ILO Conventions 87 on freedom of association, 98 on the right to collective bargaining, 29 and 105 on prohibition of forced labour, 100 and 111 on discrimination and equal remuneration, and 138 on the minimum age for employment. Ultimately this should lead to proposals for all WTO members to respect basic labour standards through a social clause.
27. The central reason for the ICFTU's campaign is the concern that, given the serious problem of lack of respect for ILO standards around the world, increased trade and investment risk to have negative effects on workers' rights. The employment of forced labour or child labour in export production, or the repression of trade union rights in export processing zones or special economic zones, places pressure on competitors to implement similar practices. These concerns were reflected in the statement in the ICFTU/APRO Social Charter that "Workers and their representative trade unions firmly believe that rules for the enlargement of markets and the prevention of protectionism must be so designed as to encourage and promote internationally accepted basic workers' rights. We urge governments to discuss as a matter of priority how the WTO and the ILO can work together to these ends."
28. The question of linking the observance of basic internationally recognized workers' rights to international trade continues to occasion considerable debate at meetings of the ILO Governing Body and remains on the agenda of potential subjects for discussion by the WTO. The OECD is preparing a report on the relationship between international labour standards and trade, for publication in 1996. The Tade Union Advisory Committee (TUAC) to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and the ICFTU have submitted detailed comments on the OECD's proposals. The OECD's work in this area was endorsed by the OECD Ministerial Council in May 1995. The G7 Summit in Halifax in June 1995 called for continued work on trade, employment and labour standards.
29. The UN World Summit on Social Development gave full support to the importance of ILO Conventions, especially those concerning basic human rights at the workplace, for the whole process of social development. However, it did not provide convincing answers to the question of what the international community should do about governments that presently ignore the ILO's recommendations in cases of non-observance of fundamental workers' rights conventions. The ICFTU believes it is possible and, indeed, essential through dialogue and debate to find a way forward that is compatible with the twin objectives of an open trading system and respect for basic human rights at the fundamental workers' rights conventions. This issue needs to be addressed multilaterally by the ILO and the WTO. The social clause is an essential building block in the ICFTU's struggle for social justice in a global world economy.
Prospects for Further APEC Integration
30. Membership of APEC could well expand in future years. It has occasionally been suggested that other economies including India, Vietnam, the Pacific island states and various Latin American countries may join APEC but no concrete steps have yet been taken. Indeed, the Bogor Summit decided to freeze consideration of all new members for three years, until 1997. The European Union (EU) has made efforts to be invited to APEC summits as an observer, which have been rebuffed by APEC members.
31. There exist different perceptions among APEC members of its ultimate function. The US and Australia view APEC partly as a tool to provide access to fast-growing Asian markets. For Japan and many other Asian members the purpose of APEC is partly to guarantee their access to the US market over the longer term. This may not be so easy, given that the US trade deficit with the rest of APEC stood at $123 billion in 1993 (although the trend growth of US exports to other APEC economies exceeds that of US imports from them, according to the International Monetary Fund (IMF)). In spite of the rhetoric at APEC summits, there remain serious tensions between many APEC members, as shown by the repeated crises in trade relations between Japan and the US. Malaysia has consistently been its most negative member, proposing instead that ASEAN economies join with Japan and China to form a trade area called the East Asian Economic Caucus (EAEC). This proposal has not so far been supported by any other prospective members.
32. However, many APEC members are already members of sub-regional economic arrangements. Australia and New Zealand formed the Closer Economic Relations Trade Agreement (CER) in 1990, providing for full free trade in all goods. The ASEAN Free Trade Area (AFTA), bringing together Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam, aims to achieve a unified market with zero intra-regional tariffs over the next fifteen years. Canada, Mexico and the US form the North American Free Trade Area (NAFTA), with Chile now in the process of accession negotiations. The Indian Ocean Initiative is a so far informal arrangement for 23 countries bordering the Indian Ocean (including East Africa and the Arabian peninsula states) which provides for research and meetings of business and academia, mainly on issues of interest to business in the region. It may well be formalized in 1996.
33. Another factor impacting on APEC cooperation consists of trade arrangements with non-APEC members. The European Union (EU) has initiated various negotiations for free trade arrangements with regions and countries of Latin America, including one with Mexico and another with the countries of the Mercosur (Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay). There has been further speculation concerning a Trans-Atlantic Free Trade Area or "TAFTA" which would link the EU with the NAFTA countries, although little concrete has yet emerged. It is generally considered that such a free trade area would take very many years to negotiate. The EU has generally been seeking to improve its relations with Asian economies and is due to take part in the first-ever East Asia-European Union summit in Bangkok in March 1996. The EU is linked to Papua New Guinea and many Pacific island states through the Lome Convention, a trade and aid agreement. Australia and New Zealand are linked through the South Pacific Forum to many of the Pacific island states, which are largely economically dependent on their trade with the APEC region.
34. In January 1995, the US proposed that APEC should start a round of trade liberalization talks - the APEC Round - on subjects not covered in the Uruguay Round. This would include common regulations for MNCs and trade competition guidelines. However, the proposal appears to have found little support among other APEC members. It was notable that the Bogor Declaration emphasized the importance of strengthening the open multilateral trading system through the World Trade Organization (WTO) before it went on to propose increased trade and investment integration within APEC, reflecting the priorities of members such as Malaysia, which has emphasized that the trade interests of Asian exporters can be more effectively met by working at a world level through the WTO. Whether or not the free trade proposals for APEC come to fruition will be greatly influenced by the results of the setting up of the WTO in 1995. As the generalized reduction in tariffs and non-tariff barriers to trade through the WTO takes effect throughout the world, the impetus for reduced trade barriers within APEC could diminish. Should that occur, APEC might remain mainly a forum for regional cooperation at a more technical level through the APEC working groups.
35. APEC's role regarding foreign investment also stands to be greatly affected by developments outside the APEC region. The OECD member countries, including several APEC members (Australia, Canada, Japan, Mexico, New Zealand and the US, with the Republic of Korea in the process of application for membership) are now preparing a Multilateral Agreement on Investment (MAI). The MAI is being developed with a view to adoption in 1997. It would then probably be opened for accession by non-OECD members and could well serve as the basis for negotiations through the WTO for a universal investment code. APEC's own Non-Binding Investment Principles may therefore come to be superseded by the MAI and further negotiations at the WTO.
PART II: TRADE UNION PROPOSALS FOR THE FUTURE OF APEC
36. The ICFTU conference in Melbourne brought together representatives of free trade unions from the APEC area, and established an ICFTU Asian Pacific Labour Network. Our aim is to further the APEC objective of harnessing the rapid internationalization of markets to the improvement of the conditions of work and life of the citizens of our populous region. (See ICFTU Asia Pacific Labour Network proposals to the 1995 APEC Leaders Meeting Appendix I). It identified four main areas for trade union work in APEC:
Enlarging the APEC Human Resources Development Programme
37. he APEC economies have made substantial progress in a number of areas since the inception of the APEC arrangement in 1989. Firstly, they have mapped out an ambitious agenda for economic integration leading up to the year 2020. Secondly, the arrangements for Ministerial meetings and joint working groups, given new impetus after the Seattle Leaders' Meeting in 1993, have provided for cooperation in a variety of important areas. Among these, the inclusion of human resources development and the environment indicates the awareness of APEC that long-term considerations are important for successful integration and that cooperation cannot be reduced to commercial terms.
The Declaration on "A Human Resources Development Framework for APEC" adopted in Indonesia in November 1994 indicated willingness to begin addresssing these issues. The Declaration stated in particular that "the development and protection of human resources contribute to the attainment of such fundamental values as the alleviation of poverty, full employment, universal access to primary, secondary and vocational education, and the full participation of all groups in the process of economic growth and development" Nevertheless, the priorities for action contained in the Declaration, while welcome in themselves, emphasize above all training and education. The APEC agenda needs to be expanded to include consideration of the role of the labour market in bringing about successful development.
39. Economic progress can be undermined by inequality and discrimination just as surely as by misguided economic policies, and the phenomenon of extremes of wealth and poverty leading to popular resentment and social unrest has been seen on countless occasions around the world. A well-functioning, resilient industrial relations system plays a vital role in development. Where trade unions operate in a free and democratic environment, agreed negotiating procedures can evolve and provide channels for the constructive settlement of conflicts. Genuine democracy allows freely organized, independent trade unions the freedom to pursue the legitimate demands of their members through agreed negotiating procedures and attain for them a fair return for their labour, resulting in a more equitable distribution of income and higher economic growth in general. A sound industrial relations system provides a stabilizing factor in social relations, and thus a basis for the extension of civil liberties, the rule of law, security for investment, and ultimately growth and development.
40. Trade unions see themselves as part of a new social contract in which workers, through legal rights to form and join their own freely chosen organizations, are able to work with companies and the government to establish a sound system of industrial relations in which consensus is achieved by the reconciliation of different interests. The possibility of conflicting interests between capital and workers is part of the creative tension of market-driven development. To ignore or suppress such conflict will only increase the likelihood of social disintegration which can break out in many often unpredictable ways. To prevent such a situation, trade unions wish to pursue change through a social stability founded on the participation of workers in the decisions which affect their daily life. APEC leaders should make a commitment to end repression, discrimination and exploitation at the workplace. These are objectives which will, we believe, command widespread support throughout our diverse region. We also believe that progress on these core issues will lay the foundations for the progressive extension of industrial relations and social security systems in APEC members in a manner which reinforces and strengthens political democracy and economic development in the APEC region.
41. The ICFTU Asia Pacific Labour Network supports the stated objectives of APEC to generate more jobs, higher living standards and better societies through more efficient, value adding and high quality enterprise. Modern enterprises increasingly require highly skilled, innovative, committed employees with responsibility and decision-making capabilities. Competition is no longer only about cost, but is increasingly about customer service, quality, delivery, and product design and unions can help with this important change. As well as protecting workers through negotiating better wages and working conditions, in many countries unions are playing a significant role in conjunction with managers in developing best practice/high performance industries and enterprises. Experience and research demonstrates that a strong, independent union in an enterprise and industry contributes in a variety of ways to more competitive businesses. We therefore seek a partnership with business and governments to help deliver the key objectives of APEC. For the partnership to be effective it will be necessary to have proper democratic rights to enable independent unions to make the enormous contribution to wealth creation, social cohesion, living standards and dignity that are so important for modern economies.
42. The existing APEC work programme on Human Resource Development will need to be enlarged to implement the decisions of the November 1994 Declaration on "A Human Resources Development Framework for APEC". Unions would propose that ministerial cooperation be developed through regular meetings of Ministries of Labour and Ministries of Social Affairs (Health, Education or whichever might be most appropriate) beginning next year in Manila. This extension of the human resources development agenda should be endorsed by reference in the Declarations to be adopted at the Osaka summit to the role of social and labour matters in development. The issues raised in this discussion document should further be taken into account in the ongoing APEC/PECC joint study to provide policy recommendations on the labour market. We invite the study team to take account of the ICFTU/APRO Social Charter which provides a full description of key principles for the process of democratic development.
43. The role of trade unions, further endorsed in the 1995 World Development Report of the World Bank, is codified in the Conventions of the ILO. The trade unions of APEC support fully the work of the International Labour Organisation and, in particular, the steadily evolving international code of labour law principles encapsulated in ILO Conventions and Recommendations. These include both basic standards applicable to all countries regardless of their level of development and targets to which all should aspire as development progresses. They are a point of reference for our region and all other countries in the increasingly global economy. As such they form a sound basis of good practice which can only strengthen international cooperation for social development.
44. The principles of ILO Conventions and indeed the ILO Constitution can be applied in different ways in different countries. We strongly support the authority of ILO procedures for the monitoring of the application of these principles and urge all governments in the Asia Pacific region to cooperate fully in putting them into practice. All too often ILO standards are shelved as in some way foreign and irrelevant to our problems when in reality they are an excellent guide which deserve serious study as to how they can be most effectively applied in our changing societies. The fact that they represent a consensus between governments, employers and trade unions makes them particularly attractive to our region's efforts to achieve change through agreement and mutual respect for all the differing interests and groups in our societies. Indeed as the most dynamic of the world's regions, APEC has a direct interest in ensuring that the ILO's core standards aimed at preventing repression, exploitation and discrimination are universally applied. Therefore, the work of APEC needs to include an element based upon the examination of the respect for ILO Conventions in the region with a view to fostering sound industrial relations in the region. This should entail both ratification and supervision, with an effort by APEC to encourage members to achieve a common level of support for minimum labour practices in the region. This effort should cover in particular the five labour standards singled out in the declaration of the World Summit for Social Development in March 1995: prohibition of forced and child labour, freedom of association, the right to organize and bargain collectively and the principle of non-discrimination. The higher income, more industrialized members of APEC should provide assistance to the lower income members to raise their labour and social standards. The technical expertise of the ILO should assist in this regard.
45. Alongside the right to collective organization, equality of opportunity is a second building block for social justice in a modern market-oriented economy. Discrimination holds back the contribution that many of our citizens could make to our future welfare and is a constant threat to the stability of our rapidly changing societies. No country in the world can claim to have totally eliminated discrimination on the basis of race, colour, sex, religion, political opinion, national extraction or social origin but for the diverse "multinational" nations of APEC it is particularly vital that active programmes of legal protection and positive promotion be undertaken. With an increasing inter-regional flow of migrant workers, the solidarity of our region depends on ending discrimination against workers born in another country.
46. Therefore, consideration of measures to upgrade the labour market status of migrant workers and to eliminate discrimination against them needs to form a significant element of the APEC agenda, particularly in view of the fact that one of the present goals of the Human Resource Development Working Group is to reduce impediments to regional labour mobility. Migrant workers should be guaranteed equal treatment in employment by all host members. Home economies should regulate the activities of employment agencies recruiting workers for employment in foreign economies. Bilateral and multilateral agreement should be reached to ensure full cooperation between the home and host authorities for the protection of the rights of migrant workers. The phenomenon of illegal migration flows for employment should be tackled by a combination of enlarging quotas for legal migration where necessary and active job creation to increase employment opportunities in the country of origin of potential migrants. The ILO should again provide technical assistance in these areas.
47. Discrimination in respect of employment and occupation is especially of concern to workers and their trade unions. Denial of the possibility to work or to work in conditions of equality with others is in many ways the most devastating form of discrimination. It directly affects the possibility of the people concerned to earn a living and participate in the most fundamental of all social activities - work. It must be eliminated rapidly from our societies through a combination of measures including legal protection, education, training and where necessary special job creation programmes. Equal remuneration for work of equal value for men and women is a principle of vital significance for APEC societies given the need to overcome the legacy of the old male-dominated systems of the past. APEC should therefore undertake studies of the measures being implemented in the economies of the region to overcome discrimination and provide recommendations for further action on that basis.
48. Occupational health and safety is a further area requiring work. APEC members should compare their systems regarding safety and health regulations in different sectors and industries; information about general and specific hazards, such as chemical substances, with respect to products, storage and handling; policies and programmes for the protection of the environment as it relates to the world of work; systems of accident and occupational disease compensation; machinery for proper inspection and enforcement of safety and health regulations; and systems of representation of trade unions, including through safety and health committees. The ILO should help with such work.
49. APEC members would also benefit from comparing systems for social security, particularly education, health and medical benefits, pension schemes and unemployment benefit schemes. This should devote particular attention to systems of primary, secondary and tertiary education, with a view to considering the optimal integration of young workers into the workforce and the transition from school to work. It should furthermore entail a comparison of strategies which have been implemented for reducing child labour in view of its dramatic social and economic costs. The ILO's International Programme for the Elimination of Child Labour (IPEC) is already active in this area and should be involved in APEC discussions.
50. In a number of APEC economies unemployment and underemployment, especially in rural areas and regions adversely affected by structural change, is a major problem. Most APEC members operate some form of schemes to stimulate successful economic adjustment to technological change and to international competition, including funds specifically designed for training and adaptation to economic restructuring, including aid to affected regions and sectors. Measures to encourage job creation need to be improved in the APEC region. This would require a study programme to consider the ways such funds operate in different APEC countries. As APEC integration progresses, APEC members will need to consider the setting up of an APEC Social Fund, operated jointly at regional level, to compensate for the inevitable negative effects of competition with other APEC states for certain sectors.
A social protocol for the APEC investment guidelines
51. The Non-Binding Investment Principles for APEC investors adopted in November 1994 have a serious defect in that their only reference to social concerns is the statement that "Member economies will not relax health, safety and environmental regulations as an incentive to encourage foreign investment." Social considerations, including reference to employment objectives, are omitted. Recognition of the need to reconcile the obligations of governments with respect to multinational corporations (MNCs), with the need for MNCs to exercise socially responsible behaviour, was what led the member countries of both the ILO and the OECD to decide in the early 1970s to elaborate codes of conduct to ensure the optimal results from multinational investment. The outcomes were, respectively, the ILO Tripartite Declaration of Principles on Multinational Enterprises and Social Policy and the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises. The ILO Tripartite Declaration is of particular importance in the context of APEC as it applies to all member economies of the ILO and so includes well over 95% of APEC membership. It provides the only universal and comprehensive set of principles formally negotiated and adopted by governments, workers and employers which address the behaviour of MNCs. It is also important because the existing APEC Principles only apply to the APEC governments but not to the companies themselves. In order to maximize the positive results of MNC investment and minimize its negative effects, APEC has a direct interest in promoting the Tripartite Declaration and in ensuring that MNCs observe the principles elaborated in it.
52. The trade unions therefore propose that a supplementary protocol, or an amendment, be added to the APEC investment guidelines. This would refer to the ILO Tripartite Declaration and would call for APEC members to provide regular reports concerning the implementation of the principles contained in the ILO Declaration within their country. All ILO members are already obligated to periodically report on the effect given to the principles of the Declaration to the ILO. This provision therefore would not constitute any major imposition. The APEC secretariat should using these reports, conduct comparative studies that would indicate the areas for additional action by members.
Ongoing labour consultative arrangements
53. Trade unions in the APEC region provide the only organized channel for representation of working people in the APEC arrangements. Provision needs to be made for their involvement in the different committees and working groups of the APEC arrangement. This should take various forms:
54. The trade unions of the APEC region represented in the ICFTU Asia Pacific Labour Network welcome the opportunity to present their views to the host of this year's Leaders' Meeting, the Prime Minister of Japan. They would like to request the governments of the APEC region to provide for further representation at subsequent summits, beginning with next year's summit in the Philippines. They look forward to receiving an indication from the Osaka APEC Leaders' Meeting that they will have an opportunity to do so.
Conclusions: the Social Dimension of Regional Integration
55. Regional cooperation through APEC cannot be seen as an end in itself but rather as a means to strengthen the ability of APEC members to eliminate poverty and unemployment. We believe that the time has come for APEC to define the social objectives of its development. Trade unions, due to their specific expertise stemming from their role as workplace representatives and from their mandate to speak on behalf of workers, have developed a variety of proposals in these different areas which could provide useful guidance, as this statement demonstrates. The fundamental purpose of all such proposals is to ensure that, through APEC, our social, economic and political systems provide all our citizens with the dignity of being able to contribute to the fullest extent possible to their own well-being and that of the societies in which they live. In the long run, this should serve as the basis for the drawing up and adoption by APEC members of an APEC Social Charter which would provide an underpinning for successful economic integration in the APEC area.
56. The path of democratic development will enable our region to adapt traditional virtues of mutual respect to a new era by building a framework for dialogue and consensus. We hope that our proposals will serve to unify the large and diverse APEC region around a vision of the sort of world the current generation would like to pass onto their children. Social solidarity within and between nations is an essential component for making an integrated international economy work in the interests of the many rather than the few. We recognize that it is a challenge, not only to governments and employers, but also to the trade union movement.
57. To find solutions to the problems and tensions the process of economic change inevitably engenders it is essential that the views of workers are heard and acted upon. That is the union role. It is a role that is only possible where the right to freedom of association is fully respected. The proposals made in our statement provide a way towards integrating all our citizens in a pattern of development which combines economic dynamism with social security, thus strengthening the cohesiveness of our region and its contribution to global peace and progress.