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.