Genoa, July 19 (ICFTU OnLine): Trade union leaders from around the world, meeting in a special session of the ICFTU Steering Committee held in conjunction with the G8 Summit in Genoa, took the decision to mark the launch of the next Ministerial Conference of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) in Doha, Qatar by staging a Global Unions’ Day of Action by the Work-places of the World. The Day of Action will take place on November 9 2001, the opening day of the WTO Conference.

“The purpose of the Day of Action is to mark the unwillingness of trade unions to accept the negative effects that globalisation is imposing on workers around the world, and draw attention to the serious deficiencies in the world trading system at the present time,” commented Bill Jordan, General Secretary of the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU).

At the WTO Conference, Global Unions will be calling for:

- Protections of basic workers’ rights from the exploitation that results from world trade;
- Reforming the world trading system to benefit the poor in developing countries;
- The right to quality universal public education and health services, free from WTO rules;
- Cheap and affordable medicines to fight diseases like HIV/AIDS; and
- Opening up the WTO system to consultation with trade unions and other democratic representatives of civil society.

The Day of Action will be co-ordinated at global level and delivered at a local level, taking the form of diverse actions to be determined in individual countries ranging from stoppages and demonstrations to workplace discussions, public meetings and high-profile media activities.

“We represent hundreds of millions of people who have stopped believing that trade liberalisation can bring higher living standards and more employment. While globalisation has created unprecedented wealth and resources, there is universal agreement that it is widening inequality world-wide, evidenced by growing and appalling poverty in all parts of the world”, said Bill Jordan.

The ICFTU represents more than 156 million workers in 221 affiliated organisations in 148 countries and territories. The ICFTU is also a member of Global Unions:  http://www.global-unions.org

For more information, please contact the ICFTU Press Department on +32 2 224 0232 or +32 476 62 10 18.
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Also see:

Qatar: Annual Survey of Violations of Trade Union Rights (2000)

 http://www.icftu.org/displaydocument.asp?Index=991210704&Language=EN