Can ILO be a safety-valve for Globalisation?

by Someshwar Singh

Geneva, June 17, -- Throughout the 87th International Labour Conference (ILC), which concludes today, the impact of globalisation on the lives of the millions of workers was an overriding concern -both in the developing and developed countries.

According to International Labour Organisation's (ILO) publication 'Decent Work', globalisation has brought prosperity and inequalities, which are testing the limits of collective social responsibility.

In the last two decades, the traditional cornerstones of the ILO's activities have changed, shifted by the transformation of the economic and social environment brought about by the emerging global economy.

Policies of economic liberalisation have altered the relationship between the State, labour and business. Economic outcomes are now influenced more by market forces than by mediation through social actors, legal norms or State intervention.

International capital markets have moved out of alignment with national labour markets, creating asymmetrical risks and benefits for capital and labour. There is a feeling that the "real" economy and the financial systems have lost touch with each other.

But the real test of the ILO will be not just in its setting of labour standards and crafting international Conventions but what it actually does to improve employment prospects. Work comes first - even before the prefix 'decent' can have its rightful place.

In fact, a number of voices in the plenary suggested that the first worry should be about creating jobs, and worry about their quality only afternwords. Delegates were unanimous in their conviction that the ILO needs to make a major shift in the field of employment. And the G-15 has proposed that the ILO should develop a comprehensive employment strategy.

Going by ILO figures on hazardous work - one million people die each year in occupation-related deaths - it would also seem appropriate that 'safe' work should have greater prominence than 'decent'.

In fact, except for a handful of Conventions, most labour standards are not well known, the ILO admits. Ratification is also a growing problem. Of the 23 Conventions and two protocols adopted in the 15 years from 1983 to 1998, only three have received at least 20 ratifications. Even when ratified, many Conventions are only weakly implemented.

Nobel laureate Amartya Sen spoke of globalisation as 'a terrorizing prospect for precariously placed individuals and communities'.

"A significant broadening of national and international efforts to promote equity and protect the rights of workers can transform the dreaded anticipation of the globalisation economy into an agreeable and constructive reality," he said while addressing the ILC this week.

Statements by workers's representatives at various bodies, as well as the supervisory report by ILO experts on the implementation of the various Conventions can leave one with an impression that the world of diplomatic negotiations and instruments are so far removed from the hard realities of working/non-working life.

Though employment is supposed to be at the core of the ILO's mandate, there is no consensus on the policies most likely to create jobs. For some the issue is one of growth. For others, it is labour market flexibility. Some believe that the answer lies in human skills and capabilities, others in policies to share out available work.

Without productive employment, the goals of decent living standards, social and economic development remain illusory.

Global ILO estimates suggest that 150 million people are fully unemployed. But this is only the tip of the iceberg -- for many more are forced to eke out a living in casual or occasional jobs, low-productivity self-employment or other forms of under- employment.

Where open unemployment is low, closer examination often suggests that low-quality, low-income work takes its place, or that large numbers of workers - often women - are excluded from the statistics.

Despite years of effort, says the ILO, this situation no signs of improving. On the contrary, many countries which could report success on the employment front a few years ago now face new problems.

Unemployment has re-emerged in East Asia. Transition economies in Central and Eastern Europe face persistent labour market problems. In Latin America there is rising unemployment and steady increase in the informal sector. African employment problems remain intractable. Employment has grown in some OECD countries, notably the United States, but high unemployment persists in others.

Every year about 250 million workers suffer accidents in the course of their work, and over 300,000 are killed. Taking account of those who succumb to occupational diseases, the death toll is over one million people a year. Yet, international concern with awareness of health and safety at work remains surprisingly modest, and action is limited, complains the ILO, and adds: Even today, many new investment decisions continue to ignore safety, health and environmental considerations.

Traditionally, the ILO's government partner has been the ministry of labour. Many ministries of labour now have relatively narrow areas of responsibility and, when it comes to broader issues of economic and social policy, their voices are often not heard. Indeed, many countries no longer have a ministry of labour; employment and labour affairs are handled through a unit that might address such related issues as competitiveness, enterprise development or gender.

According to the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU), one third of the world labour force is estimated to be either unemployed or underemployed. For much of the balance two- thirds of the world's working population - if the 1999 ICFTU survey is any guide - it reads like a harrowing tale of organized oppression even as we approach the start of the 21st century.

In many countries structural adjustment and changing competitive advantage seem to be driving a continual process of restructuring of larger enterprises, which generally means downsizing. This has affected millions of employees, particularly in North America and Europe, but also in many middle-income countries. However, studies now show that the way this occurs often adversely affects organizational performance and results in repeated downsizing.

Senior managers report that downsizing has not just eroded morale and trust, but also reduced productivity. All this, according to the ILO, suggests that there is both employer and worker interest - and hence prospects for partnership - in developing restructuring strategies that maintain the human resources and energies of the enterprise by giving adequate attention to the human and social side of restructuring. The gender dimension is also important; in restructuring it appears that men are often the main losers.

Many speakers in the plenary supported hte conviction that social dialogue is a powerful instrument for reconciling the economic and social dimensions of the new global environment. But social dialogue at country level has been undermined by a number of developments.

In some countries, freedom of association is still restricted, and in many others the opportunities for collective bargaining have narrowed in recent years - tending to favour individual over collective action. Trade union density is down in many countries. In fact, in the United States, there are consulting firms that actually specialise in 'union-busting,' a phenomenon over which ILO experts have expressed concern.

While talking about promoting enterprises, as the key to growth and employment, the ILO notes that the transnational corporations are the main vehicles for transfers of capital, technology, and new work practices in the global economy. In the context of the need for 'corporate social initiatives,' it notes that business is facing intensified social pressures for good corporate practices, which have a direct bearing on consumer demand and corporate reputations. While communications technology has greatly enhanced the value of brand names and corporate image, it has also greatly increased their vulnerability to public opinion.

And while many enterprises have adopted their own codes of conduct, business is facing its own problems of monitoring and supervision because of the growth of supply chains and subcontracting practices. Under these conditions, markets could easily become minefields.

The effect that globalisation is having on people down the line in developing countries was well captured in the following statement of a representative of the Latin American Centre for Workers (CLAT):

"There is growth without development and every day more and more Latin Americans fall into the more absurd poverty that has ever been known in our history. Every day we are dragged into a 'globality' imposed by economics and financial interests far removed from the needs of our peoples."

The statement also called into the question the model (of development) that has been imposed throughout Latin America - where 10% of the population, the most privileged part, possesses almost half of the total wealth produced, while 50% of the most poor and marginalized people have only 10% of the wealth.

While welcoming President Clinton to the ILC, the Director- General of the ILO, Mr. Juan Somavia, summed up the most sensitive link between globalisation and the world of work:

"And yet there is a growing feeling that the prevailing 'rules' are not fair and that people are facing uneven playing fields. That a global economic system that does not extend its benefits to the weakest and reduces insecurity in the daily life of families will not pass the test of basic human decency. We all face the challenge of making markets work for everybody," Somavia said.

Perhaps no other international organisation is as uniquely placed as the ILO to forge a consensus on the way forward among the three important constituents of society - workers, employers and governments.

But the organization faces an up-hill task as an effective safety-valve for globalisation, as it certainly does not change the world of work for workers in a way that the World Trade Organization breaks down barriers to free trade for corporate employers. (SUNS4458)

The above article first appeared in the South-North Development Monitor (SUNS).

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