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.