ASEAN to propose delinking of trade with labor rights to ILO

ASEAN to propose delinking of trade with labor rights to ILO

KUALA LUMPUR (AFP): Southeast Asia's booming economies are to
sponsor a resolution resisting Western attempts to link trade
with labor standards at upcoming international labor meeting,
officials said yesterday.

"We will speak with one voice to denounce moves by developed
countries to ... improve workers' wages and welfare benefits in
developing countries in the name of free trade," an ASEAN
official told AFP.

The resolution at the 81st annual International Labor
Organization (ILO) conference on June 7-24 would be tabled by
Malaysia on behalf of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations,
the official said, requesting anonymity.

Besides Malaysia, ASEAN comprises Brunei, Indonesia, the
Philippines, Singapore and Thailand.

Labor officials said the resolution was expected to meet
strong opposition from trade unions, including those from
developing countries.

The ILO meeting would comprise delegates representing
governments, employers and trade unions from 164 countries.

Debate

"We want to continue debate on the issue from where it ended
in Marrakesh," the ASEAN official said, adding that the
resolution would also ask the ILO "to review some of its labor
standards which are not based on norms and values of developing
countries."

The official did not say which of the ILO standards were being
objected to by ASEAN.

At a General Agreement of Tariffs and Trade (GATT) ministerial
meeting in Marrakesh, Morocco, developing nations strong attacked
an attempt -- led by the United States and France -- to include
labor rights in the new World Trade Organization (WTO).

While some analysts saw the bid as a strong weapon to help
poorly paid workers and stop forced and child labor in Third
World countries, many developing nations said it was a disguised
form of protectionism.

The Marrakesh meeting agreed, however, that the issue of
labor standards or social clauses spelling out workers' rights
could be raised at a preparatory panel to launch the WTO, which
is to replace GATT on Jan. 1.

Malaysian government officials said they were made to
understand that the powerful Brussels-based International
Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU) would oppose the
ASEAN-sponsored resolution.

The ICFTU was expected to instead urge the ILO to set up a
mechanism to "do the leg work" on possible labor violations for
the WTO preparatory committee, the officials said, adding that
many trade unions in developing countries could also back the
ICFTU.

They said the resolution would be based on an "understanding"
achieved by ASEAN labor ministers in Singapore in May which
"decided to urge the ILO to strongly resist attempts to introduce
new conditions linking social clauses and ILO labor standards
with market accessibility."

ILO standards provide specific safeguards for the protection
of workers' rights, including unionization, safety requirements
and basic wages.

Countries found not complying with ILO provisions are listed
in an annual ILO panel report used by international organizations
to apply economic pressure on offenders, officials said.