Jesse Jackson to press ASEAN over labor rights
Jesse Jackson to press ASEAN over labor rights
JAKARTA (AFP): U.S. civil rights activist Reverend Jesse
Jackson arrived here yesterday to make his case for a
controversial trade-labor linkage with ASEAN foreign ministers
meeting here this weekend.
Jackson, complaining that jobs were being lost in the United
States because of competition from products made in Asia, said he
would lobby for uniform global labor rights during his stay in
the Indonesian capital.
"The matter of minimum wage and child labor, gender equality
and health standards and an equal relationship between the
producing and manufacturing nations and the consuming nations --
these are the great issues of our time," he told reporters.
"We are anxious to be part of the dialogue," said Jackson, who
is leading a delegation sponsored by the Rainbow Coalition, a
civil rights group.
Jackson flew here from Japan a day before foreign ministers of
the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) begin a two-
day meeting.
ASEAN, which groups Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the
Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam, opposes any linkage
between trade and labor rights.
Some developed nations argue that cheap labor gives developing
countries an unfair advantage in trade and want the issue
addressed by the World Trade Organization (WTO).
They say uniform labor standards would prevent the
exploitation of such workers as children and prisoners.
Developing nations, however, see the proposed linkage between
trade and labor rights as a bid to rob them of their competitive
advantage.
"There must be some compatibility between workers so that we
can have as much of an even playing field as possible, so that we
can all grow together," Jackson said.
"The present formula of 'products in, jobs out' creates
tremendous imbalance," he said, adding that standards should be
applied to "lift the lot of workers in the Pacific Rim without
lowering our (USA) own living standards."
He said U.S. corporations were downsizing their workforces
while outsourcing manufacturing to lower-cost locations such as
Indonesia, creating tremendous social tensions in America, where
"people fight more and more over less and less."
"The Olympics start in Atlanta this week and our corporations
are getting the credit for subsidizing the Olympics. In reality
the workers in Indonesia, the workers in the Pacific-Rim are
subsidizing the Olympics," he said.
"Every Olympian who will be wearing products, will be using
products made in this region," he added.
Jackson said he would examine labor conditions at plants here
run by U.S. and Indonesian corporations exporting products to the
U.S.
"We want to visit Nike and Reebok and Wal-Mart, and the
American chambers of commerce here. We want to actally see how
the products are made that we purchase in America," he said.
An aide to Jackson said the reverend would meet as many
officials of ASEAN as possible during his visit.
Jackson toured a Reebok facility and spoke with management
personnel and workers Friday afternoon.