Economy
Trade unionists call for «real policy changes» in IMF & World Bank

afrol.com, 26 September - Concrete action on poverty reduction, debt relief, social protection and international financial stability are among key demands formulated by international trade union organisations and tabled to this week's meetings of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank in Prague.

The document points to serious contradictions between actual IMF and World Bank programmes and their much-heralded new approach on poverty reduction. It calls for "real policy changes" and is particularly critical of a virtual standstill in their consultations with civil society at local level, despite recommendations made to that effect by the institutions' leaderships. Prague constitutes a "unique opportunity for the two institutions to prove their relevance in a globalised economy", the unions stress.

Among their demands are:

* An active involvement of civil society, including trade unions, in the elaboration, implementation and evaluation of anti-poverty programmes;

* An overhaul of the Highly-Indebted Poor Countries Initiative with the aim of quickly making debt relief available and increase the number of countries eligible for such relief. So far only 5 out of 40 countries have succeeded in reaching "decision point" and the list of countries does not include poverty-stricken countries like Haiti or Nigeria. The unions insist that HIPC adjustment requirements should be relaxed, while respect for human rights should remain a criteria for help; 

* The inclusion of social policy guidelines in IMF and World Bank policies, on the basis of the priorities identified by recent meetings of the United Nations, namely Geneva 2000 on social development;

* An involvement of the private sector to share the cost of crisis resolution. The unions note that IMF attempts to involve the private financial sector in crisis prevention and resolution have been limited;

* A leadership role for the IFI's in designing a newly regulated international financial system which would achieve stable, sustainable development by all countries.

The labour proposals are detailed in a 15-page memorandum addressed to the Board of Governors of the two financial institutions. The document is signed by the Brussels-based International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU), the world's largest trade union grouping, the Paris-based Trade Union Advisory Committee to the OECD and individual union internationals representing different sectors of industry, and known as International Trade Secretariats (ITS).

The unions recognise that the Bretton Woods institutions are not solely responsible for the failure to fulfil their stated mandates to reduce world poverty, promote human development, or assure international financial stability. But the document stresses that "they can make no claim, fifty-six years after their creation, of having achieved a system of economic justice...in which the entire world community can participate".

It points to sharp contrasts between words and deeds and between action and results. "There is little indication that developing countries which have undergone the radical structural adjustment prescribed by the IMF and World Bank subsequently enjoyed higher growth rates than those that did not", the document points out. It cites the example of Argentina which, having implemented the financial institutions' recipes has privatised every public service capable of generating a profit and is now faced with mounting rates of unemployment.

While now these institutions are advocating openings to civil society, which the unions consider a welcome step, the trade union document reveals that on-the-spot attitudes towards labour groups have not changed and often remain hostile. A World Bank country assistance strategy for Colombia only refers to trade unions in its "evaluation of risks" chapter, saying that reforms "may prove difficult to implement due to labour resistance".

"It is appalling to see the Colombian trade union movement, which has suffered 80 assassinations (and hundreds more death threats) from paramilitary groups and security forces in the last twelve months, depicted merely as an impediment to reform", deplores Bill Jordan, the ICFTU general secretary commenting on the union memorandum.

The union document contains a catalogue of similar contradictions which cast doubt upon IMF and World Bank commitments to core labour standards, primary education and health-care, gender equality, social protection, full employment, social institutions and sound industrial relations, all of which have been identified as priority areas for poverty reduction by United Nations conferences and were stressed again at this year's Geneva 2000 meeting on social development.

The document concludes that the 2000 annual meetings offer the IMF and the World Bank a unique opportunity to demonstrate their capacity to address the popular concerns "about their relevance in solving key global problems". It calls for improved dialogue between the two institutions and trade unions at both national and international levels.

"Effective involvement of civil society including trade unions in the IFIs' programme/project cycle, including staff consultations, would go a long way in bringing the desired changes", trade unions insist. 

Source: ICFTU

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