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UNI Europa Commerce Speech
by
Mr.
Chairperson, Dear
Colleagues and Friends, Sisters
and Brothers. I
have had to review what I wanted to say today in the light of the
speeches at the opening session this morning. I shall have to start
by explaining that Ms. Winberg may have a somewhat
misleading picture of what the ILO’s position is - or what it
is not. First
of all, when we speak about a position of the ILO, we mean a
tripartite agreement, reached through discussions and decisions
where the representatives of government, employers and workers
participate. This is another thing than studies, like the one she
referred to. Studies are conducted to explain the background against
which political decisions are made. There
is no over-all ILO position on prostitution of the kind that she
referred to. Regarding the engagement of children under 18 years in
prostitution, the Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention No. 182
from 1999 makes it clear that this is unconditionally unacceptable
and should be eliminated without delay. As
to trafficking of both women and children, two ILO programmes are
relevant in this context. The trafficking of children, and
especially girls - many for prostitution - is dealt with by our
International Programme for the Elimination of Child Labour (IPEC).
This programme is active in all regions of the world, and about 15 %
of the projects deal with trafficking. Trafficking is also one of
the special items of our Forced Labour Action Programme, including
trafficking of women in Europe. For
instance in North Thailand and Cambodia, these programmes involve
sometimes real rescue operations. We work with employers, trade
unions, non-governmental organizations, teachers, local authorities,
border guards and also the police. Sometimes, unfortunately, we also
have to work against the police when corrupt members of the police
force are themselves engaged in trafficking and prostitution. We
also are engaged in close cooperation with other international
organizations, including UNICEF. In 1996, I had the honour to be one
of the first speakers at the first World Congress against the
Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children, held in this same
conference room. There
is a difference between explaining the extent of a phenomenon and
saying what we think about it. The study in question was made in
1998 by very knowledgeable women researchers. It covered the
commercial sex sector in four South-East Asian countries, following
the Asian financial crisis. It noted that the size of this sector
amounts to some 10 to 15 per cent of GDP, if it would be included in
the way GDP is calculated. This may not be a nice fact, but it is a
fact. We
make several studies on the impacts of economic and other crises on
child labour, discrimination, employment and so on. Recently we
explained that the SARS epidemic has a direct effect on employment
in trade, tourism and commerce. The OECD has carried out studies on
the economic dimension of corruption, and I have never thought that
such studies would somehow justify corruption. In fact, they are
used as an argument for measures against corruption. The
former U.S. Senator Jesse Helms got so annoyed with the study Ms.
Winberg mentioned that he threatened to cut off financing for the
ILO. A year later he saw us in a different light and actually was
helpful with the ratification of the Worst Forms of Child Labour
Convention No. 182 by the United States. As
all this involves fundamental principles and rights at work, let me
then tell you about another study we have just concluded for the
International Labour Conference. This study is entitled “Time for
Equality at Work”. It is the first comprehensive study on
discrimination linked to the workplace and entry into it. It
is part of the Follow-up to the 1998 ILO Declaration on Fundamental
Principles and Rights at Work. This Declaration reaffirms the four
categories of core labour standards: freedom of association and the
right to collective bargaining; abolition of forced labour; the
elimination of child labour; and non-discrimination in employment
and occupation. It reminds that all countries have the obligation to
respect these standards, even if they have not ratified the relevant
ILO Conventions, and we survey the situation globally and in each
country. The unique fact is that there are no serious violations of
these fundamental principles and rights at work which would escape
our attention - and consequently your attention, too. So,
what does this new study say? It notes that hundreds of millions of
people suffer discrimination at work in one form or another, in all
parts of the world. There is progress on some of the more blatant
forms, such as discrimination by race or gender, but not enough, and
in some places progress has come to a halt. More
importantly, there are both new forms of discrimination at work, and
where the worst ways have been overcome, more subtle forms appear.
And of course, many people suffer multiple discrimination at the
same time. This is really a moving target. Examples
of new forms are discrimination in the basis of age, disability, and
HIV/AIDS. For instance in Central and Eastern Europe, age
discrimination is a growing problem. As to more subtle forms, even
if job announcements no longer say, “men only”, they may include
other qualifications which make sure that women or minorities are
excluded. The
report also points out to a persistent problem. Even though the
Equal Remuneration Convention No. 100 is one of our most ratified
instruments, and even if the principle of equal remuneration for
women and men for work of equal value is included in both the EU
Treaty and in virtually all political and government programmes, the
statistics demonstrate that we continue to have a problem. We need
to work more on this issue. This
report is not only an academic exercise. It will form the basis for
an action programme, which will serve better governments,
employers’ organizations and trade unions. Once this action
programme on equality at work is approved, we shall have a technical
cooperation facility for all four categories of core labour
standards. The IPEC programme has existed since 1992, and it has
grown to cover some 80 countries, with the support of 30 donors. We
have undertaken programmes on freedom of association and the right
to collective bargaining in some 40 countries. Our forced labour
programme is a real growth area, and after that, we shall help to
have a better focus on how in practice to avoid and combat
discrimination at work. Next
year, we shall publish another global report under the Follow up of
the 1998 Declaration, on freedom of association and the right to
collective bargaining. It will be a second one on this topic,
following the study entitled “Your Voice at Work”, published in
2000. This time we shall try to focus more on collective bargaining.
What you are discussing here on negotiating with multinational
enterprises is quite relevant, and I trust that we can use this
information for our report. The
importance of agreements with multinational enterprises was also
clearly reflected in a recent sectoral meeting in the ILO on
commerce. It is interesting that you seem to have employers, and
sectoral employers’ organizations, which are ready for dialogue
and negotiation. I
wish to conclude by one reflection. In many respects, since the
first Constitution of the ILO, freedom of association has been
considered to be a most fundamental right - in many ways, it is a
basis for exercising other rights and applying other labour
standards. No-one today will defend the use of child labour or
forced labour, or say that discrimination at work is acceptable.
Yet, in a number of circles it seems to be perfectly acceptable to
deny workers the right to organize, and some even mention this in a
positive way in their publicity. I
believe that the more we can promote experiences which demonstrate
the benefits of solving problems through negotiations, in an
organized way, the better we can make the case for respecting the
principle of freedom of association.
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