BUILDING THE SOCIAL DIMENSION OF APEC

Labour Proposals to the 1997 APEC Leaders' Meeting in Vancouver, Canada

(adopted by the Third Conference of the Asia Pacific Labour Network of the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (Icftu),held in Ottawa, October 1997)

Asia Pacific Labour Network of the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions

 Introduction
The APEC Trade and Investment Agenda
Economic and Technical Cooperation for Human Resource Development
The Dialogue Partners in the APEC Process

Introduction

APEC needs a genuine social dimension The Vancouver Leaders’ Meeting presents the occasion for APEC leaders to transform the new social awareness of the Subic Declaration adopted by the 1996 APEC Leaders’ Meeting into serious actions to give APEC a genuine social dimension. This opportunity must not be missed. A narrow free-market agenda based on tariff reduction and deregulation will not achieve the goals of the Subic Declaration. Instead, the labour movement of the APEC region organized in the ICFTU Asia Pacific Labour Network (ICFTU/APLN) calls for a coordinated APEC social programme (in both APEC’s trade and investment liberalization and facilitation (TILF) and economic and technical cooperation (ECOTEC) agendas) which can achieve economic development, social progress and high levels of human resource development, rapid poverty alleviation and sustainable, environmentally sensitive economic growth in a framework provided by respect for human and democratic rights, including the right to freedom of association.
   
Reduced inequality and a broader distribution of growth 2. Created in 1995, the ICFTU Asia Pacific Labour Network has since held meetings with the Prime Minister of Japan, host of the 1995 APEC Leaders’ Meeting, and the President of the Philippines, host of the 1996 Leaders’ Meeting. At the same time the trade union centres affiliated to the ICFTU/APLN have lobbied strenuously for recognition of the need to tackle inequality (both within countries and within the region as a whole), a wide distribution of the benefits of growth, employment creation, broad-based participation and gender perspectives. We have argued that trade unions contribute to an equitable and sustainable distribution of income through their negotiations to attain for workers a fair return for their labour: the right of workers to organize freely and bargain collectively is therefore at the very centre of poverty alleviation. The Prime Minister of Japan agreed with the ICFTU/APLN that the benefits of economic growth in APEC needed to reach ordinary citizens and the President of the Philippines stated his support for equitable and sustainable growth and the role of trade unions in the APEC process.
   
Recognition of trade union priorities in Subic Declaration 3. The labour movement of APEC therefore welcomed the statement made at Subic that "the ultimate objective of our individual and collective endeavours is to enrich the lives and to improve the standards of living of all our citizens on a substantial basis". The Subic Declaration further made the unprecedented statement that "We recognize that our vision of community can be strengthened only if our efforts benefit all citizens" and referred to the importance of "ensuring that liberalized trade contributes to sustainable growth and equitable development and to a reduction in economic disparities." Such references closely reflect the ICFTU/APLN "Vision Strategy for APEC" presented to the APEC Leaders’ Meeting in 1996. Unfortunately, concrete steps towards transparency and participation of civil society, in particular trade unions, have been limited. The task before the Vancouver Leaders’ Meeting is to ensure that the APEC work agenda fully incorporates these essential priorities and makes a commitment to consultation, public debate and openness, including through the public release of APEC trade-related and other documents.

 

The APEC Trade and Investment Agenda

   
Strong social programmes and respect for human rights a prerequisite for trade liberalization

Workers’ rights should be included in APEC investment guidelines

 4. There is an overwhelming lack of popular confidence throughout the APEC region that trade liberalization can bring results in terms of higher living standards and more employment. APEC leaders must engage in discussion and reach agreement upon strong social programmes and respect for human and democratic rights in order to achieve broadly-based distribution of the fruits of the economic growth that APEC can generate. Policies to stimulate economic growth, training and retraining are needed as a response to technological and trade-determined change in order to ensure that high-quality employment and balanced growth are the result. The existence of fully representative democracy returned by universal suffrage is a crucial foundation for the success of APEC. Full involvement is needed of the trade unions, the representatives of the working people who until now have seen no proof that APEC can or will mean more jobs or decent jobs. Furthermore, the APEC trade and investment agenda should recognize the right of each economy to determine its own path to economic growth and development on the basis of policies above or in conformity with internationally-agreed core minimum standards for labour and environmental protection.

5. APEC’s major existing investment instrument, the APEC Non-Binding Investment Principles, already refers to occupational health and safety but needs extensive strengthening in the area of workers’ rights. In order to maximize the positive results of investment and minimize its negative effects, APEC has a direct interest in promoting the ILO Tripartite Declaration of Principles concerning Multinational Enterprises and Social Policy, which apply to all members of the ILO and hence, by extension, to virtually all members of APEC as well. The ICFTU/APLN therefore proposes that the APEC investment guidelines should be amended to include reference to the ILO Tripartite Declaration, as well as a monitoring mechanism for APEC members to submit reports concerning the implementation of the ILO Declaration within their countries.

APEC must take steps to control financial markets 6. The recent financial market and exchange rate crises in several Asian countries show that an agenda of deregulation and unrestrained foreign investment does not create sustainable growth. The APEC Committee on Trade and Investment should undertake a work programme to treat the causes of financial market instability, requiring greater transparency and regulation, and steps to limit the "casino culture" of footloose capital movements and currency speculation motivated by short-term profit, including a "Tobin Tax" on foreign currency transactions. APEC should support international regulatory mechanisms which can curb the excesses of free capital markets and reorient them away from speculative transactions and short-term profit-taking and towards facilitating long-term productive, employment-generating investment.
APEC needs social progress in order to have role at WTO 7. The Subic Declaration stated that the APEC liberalization process could be a catalyst for multilateral liberalization through the World Trade Organization (WTO). Achieving this ambition will depend upon taking the steps outlined above and respecting the five areas of basic workers’ rights highlighted at the Singapore Ministerial Meeting of the WTO in December 1996: freedom of association, the right to collective bargaining, non-discrimination, prohibition of forced labour and prohibition of child labour. The following section looks at the types of economic and technical cooperation actions needed to achieve social progress in APEC.

 

Economic and Technical Cooperation for Human Resource Development

Employment, partnership and participation in the APEC process 8. Prominent reference is made in the first paragraph of the Subic Declaration to "increased employment". It further set a number of new priorities for "giving a human face to development" and stressed partnership and participation, with "special emphasis on the full participation of women and youth". These references are welcome and need to be complemented by reference to the inclusion of trade unions and other major representatives of civil society in the processes of APEC.
Worker and trade union contribution at heart of growth and change through social stability 9. Trade unions make a major contribution to skills, innovation, investment, productivity, human capital and income distribution and need to be fully involved in the APEC process. Our role is to pursue change through social stability founded on the participation of workers in the decisions which affect their daily life and with full respect for the commitment to tripartism and respect for basic ILO Conventions, including freedom of association and collective bargaining, which is incumbent on all member states of the ILO. Such participation can only be meaningful with the functioning of independent trade unions which are autonomous from the control of governments, employers and outside organizations. 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, economic growth and social advancement in the APEC region. Accordingly, the APEC Human Resources Development (HRD) Working Group should set up a sixth sub-group dedicated to the "Social Dimension of APEC", which would have on its agenda the question of respect for core ILO standards in the APEC region, both in law and in practice. Trade unions should play a full role in this project.
New APEC project with labour involvement 10. The decision of the second APEC HRD Ministerial Meeting in Seoul, Korea on 25-26 September 1997 to "develop a project in which representatives of labour, management and government from member economies can exchange views on best practices on training, skills development, the use of technology and other human resources development related issues in the workplace" is a welcome one and should be implemented with the shortest possible delay and the participation of the most representative workers’ organizations from all APEC members. The APLN further welcomes the new direction given to the APEC HRD Working Group at its meeting in Sydney in January 1997, concerning the areas of "Improving Skills Development through Cooperation and Participation" and "Enhancing Labour and Management Participation in Human Resources Development."
Human resource development needs intensified attention

Need for APEC to eliminate workplace exploitation and discrimination

 11. Intensified human resource development (HRD) has always been recognized to be a vital component for the success of APEC economies. This will entail training and retraining and improved job placement services. It will require APEC members to build on the proposals in the Subic Declaration through various means which could include: an action programme on upgrading occupational health and safety; a comparative study of systems for social security in APEC members, particularly education, health and medical benefits, pension schemes and unemployment benefit schemes; a comparative evaluation of APEC members’ schemes to stimulate successful economic adjustment and job creation, including social safety nets, in response to technological change and to international competition; and a sectorally disaggregated analysis of the economic and social effects of APEC trade and investment integration, which should be undertaken with trade union involvement.

12. Alongside improved access to education and training, APEC should fully commit itself to eliminate exploitation, discrimination and repression in the workplace. Such actions will contribute to development and improved international cooperation. Free trade unions are an important force in the elimination of such negative practices. In view of the dramatic social and economic costs of child labour, APEC urgently needs to adopt specific measures including examination of the situation in each country and development of strategies leading to its elimination. The problem of forced labour requires similarly imperative actions.
APEC must overcome discrimination against women Women are particularly vulnerable to the adverse effects of market-driven policies that ignore prevailing social inequalities. Commensurate with the words of the Subic Declaration, APEC should adopt measures and monitoring mechanisms to overcome discrimination in the economies of the region against women and

against other vulnerable groups including indigenous people, and provide recommendations for further action on that basis.

Concrete proposals to assist migrant workers 14. Consideration of measures to upgrade the labour market status of migrant workers needs to form a significant element of the APEC agenda on the basis of the principles of equal treatment, strict regulation of employment agencies recruiting migrant workers and the development of bilateral and multilateral agreements for the protection of the rights of migrant workers. The APEC HRD Working Group needs to devise concrete proposals in this regard, including monitoring mechanisms.

 

The Dialogue Partners in the APEC Process

Consultation with trade unions needed as a balance for the role of business in APEC 15. APEC already engages in regular consultations with business and, to a lesser degree, with academics. The formally-established APEC Business Advisory Council (ABAC) is one vehicle for such consultations. APEC governments need to balance this with mechanisms for consultation with trade unions and other representatives of the broader spectrum of interests which make up civil society in APEC members. The ICFTU Asia Pacific Labour Network supports cooperation through the APEC forum and in conclusion, the ICFTU/APLN would reiterate that it is essential to secure a formal recognition of the trade union role in APEC. Trade unions in the APEC region provide the only organized channel for representation of working people in the APEC arrangements. Trade unions are able to bring a uniquely valuable perspective to the wide-ranging examination of policies needed to maximize the contribution that working people, and their freely-chosen trade unions, can make to growth and improved international cooperation.
Increasing trade union involvement in APEC 16. The past years have seen increasing trade union interest and involvement in the APEC process. Trade unions from several APEC countries are now being invited to take part in meetings of the APEC Human Resources Development Working Groups as well as in the related HRD Working Groups of the Pacific Economic Cooperation Council (PECC-HRD). This trade union statement to the 1997 APEC Leaders' Meeting entitled "Building the Social Dimension of APEC", adopted by the third high-level APEC trade union conference of the ICFTU Asia Pacific Labour Network in Ottawa in October 1997, proposes:
   
Trade union expertise in APEC meetings

Contacts with APEC secretariat

Unions in national representations

Labour meetings with host of APEC Leaders’ Meeting

 i) continued and enhanced participation of trade union experts drawn from the ICFTU/APLN at selected APEC committees, working groups and ministerial meetings (including those for specific sectors such as transportation and telecommunications) and building on the successful experience of trade union participation in the calendar of APEC and PECC meetings over 1996 and 1997;

ii) the establishment of regular contacts between our Labour Network and the APEC secretariat for the exchange of information so that, where appropriate, trade union comments on issues being discussed within the APEC process can be formulated and presented;

iii) the inclusion of trade union and civil society representatives in the national consultative committees established by members and, where appropriate, in national delegations to APEC meetings;

iv) maintaining at future APEC Leaders’ Meetings the precedent set of an annual meeting between the host of the Leaders' Meeting and a high-level delegation from the ICFTU Asian Pacific Labour Network to discuss issues of mutual interest for the APEC agenda;
Labour involvement in new HRD project v) implementation of the new APEC HRD project on workplace best practices, agreed at the second APEC HRD Ministerial Meeting (Seoul, Korea, 25-26 September 1997), with the participation of the most representative workers’ organizations from all APEC members;
Sixth sub-group of APEC HRD

Unions and ILO standards on HRD agenda

 vi) the setting up of a sixth sub-group of the APEC Human Resources Development (HRD) Working Group dedicated to the "Social Dimension of APEC";

vii) inclusion on the agenda of the APEC Human Resources Development (HRD) Working Group of the question of core ILO standards in the APEC region and establishment of a labour-management advisory council in the HRD working group;

Endorsement of APEC Labour Forum viii) endorsement of the principle of an APEC Labour Forum and discussions, involving the ICFTU Asia Pacific Labour Network, of how to bring this about.