Date:06/09/2006 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2006/09/06/stories/2006090610410400.htm

Tamil Nadu - Chennai

Trade union body to strive for new economic order

Special Correspondent

"World Trade Organisation should respect the rights of workers"

CHENNAI: Hans Engelberts, general secretary, Public Services International, said on Tuesday that the 99-year-old global trade union federation with 650 affiliated unions in 150 countries would continue to strive for a new global economic order with a human face.

He told presspersons here that though globalisation had come to stay, it had to be regulated to ensure the World Trade Organisation respected the rights of workers, instead of just focussing on the profits of big companies. This became essential at a time when multi-national corporations were trying to push the developing countries to open up their markets.

Even in developed countries, including the United States, the gap between the rich and the poor was widening. In the U.S. workers were poorer today than they were 20 years ago. Forty five million people were unable to avail themselves of health services.

Social movement

The PSI was in favour of the Governments running public services instead of private agencies. It had been building a social movement by working with consumer organisations, besides forging alliances with ordinary people, including peasants, to stress that the world needed a different policy from the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, he said.

Katsuhiko Sato, secretary, PSI Asia Pacific Region, said the 11th regional conference of the organisation-APRECON 2006-would be held in Chennai from September 6 to 8. Around 370 delegates representing 150 unions from 22 countries would participate in the conference, which would discuss how to improve the quality of public services, including electricity, water, health and social services.

Lakshmi Vaidyanathan, sub-regional secretary, Asia Pacific Region, said the conference would urge the governments to develop some industrial relations package materials for the HIV/AIDS and health workers to safeguard them and their rights. The PSI affiliates in India would urge the Centre to encourage the international community to pursue research to develop a cheaper and affordable curative medicine. The proceedings of the Chennai conference would be translated into 10 languages simultaneously, she said.