ISC - Pilot 2 - Session 2

Session Two Worksheet:
Privatisation and Transnational Corporations

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[Prepatory meeting] [Session1] [Session 2] [Session 3] [Session 4] [Session 5] [Session 6]

Aims:

to develop a critical awareness of privatisation in the context of "structural adjustment programmes"
to understand how privatisation has benefited transnational corporations
to examine the effects of privatisation on workers and local communities

Reports:

Barbados 1 (Ulric Sealy)

Belgique 1 (Sabin Alexandre)

Bulgaria 1 (Julia Simeonova)

Estonia 1 (Tiia Kask)

France 1 (Jean-Dominique Delaveau)

Germany 1 (Juergen Sendler)

Great Britain 1 (Anne McCall)

Great Britain 2 (Les Ford)

Kenya 1 (Monica Musau)

Peru 1 - Lima (Juan Carlos Vargas Marin)

Peru 2 - Chimbote (Rocio Campana)

South Africa 1 (Martin Jansen)

Sweden 1 (Ola Nicklasson)

Sweden 3 (Ake Dahl)

Preparations:

Notes for facilitator
Reading: Structural Adjustment

Activities

	1.	Understanding Structural Adjustment

[1 hour]

One person should read out aloud the short article "Structural Adjustment". The discuss the following questions:

Is there a Structural Adjustment Programme in your country?
What are its main features?
How have you seen TNCs benefit from the process?
What have been the effects on workers and local communities?
Imagine that your trade union was able to negotiate with the IMF and World Bank concerning the implementation of a structural adjustment programme in your country: What should be the strategy of your trade union in such negotiations?

	2.	Learning to use the world-wide web to find information on transnational corporations and privatisation

[45 minutes]

Examine the following world-wide web sites:

Public Services International: http://www.world-psi.org/
Public Services Privatisation Research Unit: http://www.pspru.org/

It would also be useful for you to look at the site of the public sector union in your country.

When looking at the world-wide web, consider the following questions:

What did you find useful about these world-wide web sites?

What new information on privatisation and transnational corporations did you discover from these world-wide web sites?
Are there other web sites which you know of which are useful for researching the involvement of transnational corporations in privatisation?

	3.	Additional Material for Session Two

For more information on structural adjustment, privatisation and the role of TNCs, you can read the additional material on:

	4.	Communicating with the other members of the International Study Circle

The report which was written up from the discussions in Session One should be read out aloud to the group. Make sure that the report now also includes information on structural adjustment and privatisation in your country. Also include the views in your group on how trade unions should respond to structural adjustment. The report which has been prepared from Session One and Two should be sent by email to TSL in Finland by 2 April.

	5.	Preparation for Session Three

The facilitator hands out the following articles which should be read before the next session:

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