| IFWEA JOURNAL | OCTOBER 2001 | |
Organising, education and industrial action: |
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Barbro Budin, Education Secretary of the International Union of Food, Agricultural, Hotel, Restaurant, Catering, Tobacco and Allied Workers' Associations (IUF), analyses the IUF's industrial and organisational strategies in the context of globalisation. Before the merger between the IUF and IFPAAW (agriculture and plantation workers) in 1994, there was some concern that the challenges of organising agricultural and plantation workers might be too great a burden and might therefore be detrimental to the IUF as a whole. In many aspects, the opposite has proven to be true. The fact that the IUF now represents workers in the whole food chain, "from the plough to the plate", has presented opportunities "to actively promote the organisation of the world's food resources for the common good of the population as a whole" (part of the mandate written into the IUF's Rules) and has called upon the IUF membership to rise to this challenge. The effects of globalisation have been widely described in previous issues of Workers' Education. Although workers are affected to various degrees and in different ways, many of the consequences hit all workers /citizens alike, regardless of industry or occupation. Just as Education for all is a pre-condition for development, so is Food for all. This was the slogan of the World Food Summit, convened by the UN agency for Food and Agriculture, FAO, in 1996. However, five years later, an estimated 800 million people go hungry every day, while many more live on the edge of malnutrition. The power of TNCs The increased influence and control of transnational companies over the food chain has led to less food security. Countries outside the Western hemisphere often have no choice but to give up land for commercial export crops (pineapples, flowers, etc) instead of cultivating it for their own nutritional needs. It has also contributed to growing concerns about food safety, concerns fuelled by major food safety crises of recent times: the BSE crisis in the meat industry, chemical contamination of the food chain by dioxins, bacteriological contamination of dairy products (in Japan), health and environmental scares around genetically modified food, just to mention a few. The so called "green revolution", launched after the second world war, and contrary to what it's name might evoke, has led to an unprecedented use of pesticides and over-intensive production. It has proven disastrous not only to the environment and the climate but has seriously reduced life expectancy amongst agricultural and plantation workers. At least 40 thousand people die annually from pesticide exposure and a further 3-4 million are severely poisoned, especially in developing countries. Pesticide residues also go on to threaten the health of food processing workers as well as consumers. How can IUF affiliates effectively respond to these seemingly overwhelming difficulties? They have chosen to do so by attempting to influence and change the root of these problems, starting with the power structures that control the food chain. Defending workers' rights Long before the introduction of European Works' Councils, the IUF signed international worker rights agreements with transnational companies in the food industry and in the hotel and restaurant sector to guarantee basic trade union rights. In some cases, the agreements go much further, including gender issues, training and re-training, health and safety and rights for workers internationally to information from companies. But trade union rights as defined in the ILO Conventions 87 and 98, remain at the core of this work. They are essential to enable democratic and independent unions to be established and to function and survive particularly in countries where governments through their police or military forces have become the guardians of transnational capital. The most recent example of such an agreement is between the IUF and Chiquita, signed last June. This is a historic agreement, since it finally recognises trade union and human rights, including rights to a healthier and safer working environment for one of the most exploited and repressed groups of workers. A joint committee has been established that will meet twice a year to oversee the application and review any potential area of concern. Along with such rights agreements, regional and international seminars and training workshops have been organised. The main purpose is to establish links and networks between unions representing workers within the same transnational company or sector. Comparative studies of collective agreements and/or working conditions have, together with policies decided by the regional and international bodies of the IUF, helped to build up joint platforms for negotiating. A crucial element in strengthening bargaining power is of course solidarity between sister unions. Solidarity can take various forms including solidarity strikes or other types of industrial action. It can also consist of more mundane action to maintain constant pressure on a company violating trade union rights as well as the government that permits such violation. This was, for example, the case when the union representing the workers at Seoul's five-star Lotte Hotel successfully concluded a 74-day long strike with a new collective agreement which fully met the workers demands. The main issue at stake was the growing casualisation of the labour force which has exploded in Korea since the IMF crisis, actively promoted by the government. Another important issue was the sexual harassment of female workers. The Lotte victory gave a powerful boost to the campaign of the hotel workers federation and the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions. This victory provided a valuable example of the importance of international solidarity, with the union receiving strong support from IUF members and other ITSs across the globe. In line with IUF Congress decisions on Health and Safety, Pesticides and Sustainable Agriculture, the IUF has initiated training programs starting in Africa and Latin America to ensure the creation of health and safety forums at global, national, regional local and workplace level. In carrying out these programmes, close and valuable links have been established with both governmental and non-governmental organisations and institutions, to influence and improve international and national health and safety standards. The adoption of a new ILO Convention on Health and Safety in Agriculture by this year's Labour Conference was the result of long and hard organising and lobbying efforts. Virtually all IUF affiliates in the agricultural sector had been actively involved through regional and sub-regional workshops. It was an important step forward in recognising the rights of agricultural workers, who so far have been excluded from labour legislation in many countries. No doubt even more efforts will be needed for the ratification and implementation of this new convention. Effective networks among affiliates in the whole food chain as well as with environmental groups and research institutes are already in place as a result of the training programmes mentioned earlier and can be used to boost the campaign for ratification that will follow. In addition to organising around international labour standards and international rights agreements with transnational companies in IUF sectors, a more holistic approach is needed to "ensure that the world's resources in food be utilised so as to serve the general interest rather than private or public minority interests" (another one of the guiding principles of the IUF rules). The trend towards the merging of agricultural with chemical/pharmaceutical transnationals in the form of so-called "life-science" companies represents a serious concern. These companies claim they will save the world from hunger through highly sophisticated seeds and genetically modified organisms. These new techniques not only put at risk the employment of millions of workers; they also directly threaten the survival of rural communities and create a potential irreversible threat against the environment and biodiversity. Ominously, the freedom of transnational companies to exercise total control over production processes and methods, regardless of the negative implications for workers, consumers, environment and communities, looks likely to be further bolstered by the guiding principles of the World Trade Organisation (WTO). The IUF has therefore stressed the need for its affiliates all over the world to mobilise against corporate control of the world's foods supply and the world's genetic resources. As a first step, a campaign brochure called Good food, fair food has been circulated among affiliates to raise awareness of the needs and possibilities for action. Secondly, a manual on the WTO and other international financial institutions is being developed. This manual, which is currently in its pilot stage in Asia, Africa and Latin America, will deepen our affiliates understanding of these international financial institutions and their effects on democracy, labour, trade union and human rights at local, national and international levels. It will further contribute to the development of a common platform and tool for the IUF members to fight for global institutions that are guided by democratic principles. These principles are important if we are to:
Contact Barbro Budin at: IUF, Rampe du Pont-Rouge 8, CH-1213 Petit-Lancy, Geneva, Switzerland; +41-22-7932233 (phone); +41-22-7932238 (fax); barbro.budin@iuf.org (email).
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email to IFWEA Journal: alana.dave@mcr1.poptel.org.uk |
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