Trade unions discontented with current poverty alleviation policies

Poverty alleviation is generally recognized a major task of countries around the world, but participants to a trade union forum Wednesday voiced their discontent with the current policies targeting economic growth.

"Many international treaties and documents have been set to reduce poverty, but most of them are in favor of capital instead of social sectors," Alexander Zharikov, the chairman of World Federation of Trade Unions(WFTU), told Xinhua at the 2005 International Forum on Economic Globalization and Trade Unions (IFEGTU).

"Poverty alleviation lies in the implementation sector. For trade unions, they should learn how to strengthen themselves and bargain with powers," he added.

"Trade unions and their strategic allies have to fight against neo-liberal policies, anti-people policies that have increased the debts to developing countries," said Hassan Sunmonu, General Secretary of Organization of Africa Trade Union Unity(OATUU), citing the example of Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers (PRSP), promoted by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank (WB), which offer conditional funds to developing countries.

Part of the duty of trade unions is to fight for socio-economic policies that prioritize decent employment-creation, which create wealth for a small proportion of people, he said.

"In the economic history of most of the countries, the IMF and the WB have operated behind the scenes, virtually dictating policy reforms to developing countries," said Mukhlesur Rahman, president of Brotherhood of Asian Trade Unions.

He said the IMF and WB offered development and financial assistances based on the implementation of their policies that targeting economic growth.

But many of the measures included in their assistant programs, such as government downsizing, privatization and deregulation of labour markets, "had negative effects on lives of poor and working condition of women," Mukhlesur said.

"We expressed grave concern that the reform in public sector is allowed for the shake of the interest of the industry not just by the prescription of international financial institutions like WB, IMF or Asian Development Bank," he said.

There ought to be an important voice of labor, an important voice to look at the impact of these poverty reduction strategies on workers, said Joseph Stiglitz, Nobel Laureate in 2001, when addressing the Global Employment Forum.

"The trade unions are fundamental for the elimination of poverty because their ultimate goal is to improve life quality, work conditions and the salaries for themselves, besides creating decent new work positions," said Lourenco Ferreira do Prado, Foreign Affairs Office from Brazil trade union.

The latest data from the United Nations and the International Labor Organization shows that more than 1200 million people live on less than one dollar a day, known as extreme poverty, and 54 countries at present are poorer than they were in 1990.

The forum, which provided an open platform for trade union organizations from different social backgrounds and ideologies to exchange views, was hosted by the All China Federation Trade Unions.

Source: Xinhua