People's Democracy

HELD at Seoul, South Korea, from November 5 to 9, the sixth congress of Southern Initiative on globalisation and for TU Rights (SIGTUR), while condemning the terrorist attack in New York on September 11, resolutely opposed the US war against Afghanisthan and demanded its immediate halt. It condemned the civilian casualties and demanded steps by the United Nations to improve the working and living conditions in the world, which alone can effectively address the problem of terrorism. The congress also opposed the statement by US president, George Bush, to equate the fight against terrorism with support to US war.

About 200 delegates from South Korea, India, South Africa, Brazil, Australia, Philippines, Pakistan, Zimbabwe, Bangladesh, New Zealand, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Hong Kong and Malaysia reviewed the "damaging impact of neo-liberal global restructuring on the lives of working men and women in the region" and stressed the need to "develop more effective resistance struggles."

The deliberations pointed out how globalisation led to "the drastic decline of permanent full-time workers who were at the heart of union membership" and how the expansion of casual and temporary workers" poses new challenges before the working class all over the world.

The congress noted how, in the white goods industry, the economic deregulation has accelerated the process of concentration through buy-outs and mergers. "This has led to the dominance in world markets of only a few economically powerful transnational corporations (TNCs). The white goods

industry is dominated by only 10 MNCs; they control 52 per cent of the global market; five of these control 40 per cent." The strategic implications of all this for workers and their unions are serious. Several speakers pointed out how the MNCs are seeking to marginalise the trade union movement all over the world.

There was a special session on privatisation. The experience of Australia, South Korea and South Africa was highlighted during the discussion. M K Pandhe spoke on the struggle of the power and PSU workers against privatisation. Tarakeshwar Chakarborty highlighted the growing attacks on the financial sector in India. The session emphasised the need for ideological struggle against the policies of privatisation so as to prepare the working class for resistance struggle.

In a session on the anti-globalisation movement, while the growth of the worldwide movement was appreciated, an attempt was made to widen the links with the NGOs. The delegation from India, while appreciating good work done by some of the NGOs, pointed out how several foreign-funded NGOs have been trying to malign the central trade union organisations and serve the interests of foreign donor agencies. The Indian delegation emphasised the need for struggles by central trade unions to strengthen the united anti-globalisation struggle. The session could not draw any definite conclusion on the issue of the NGOs.

The congress welcomed the remarkable unity achieved by the working class all over the world for organising anti-globalisation Action Day on November 9, when the ministerial level meeting of the WTO was being held at Doha (Qatar) in the Middle East. On November 9, the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU) organised a protest rally in Seoul, which was joined by all the delegates participating in the SIGTUR congress. The rally was addressed, among others, by representatives of the KCTU, COSATU (South Africa), CUT (Brazil) and M K Pandhe (India). One woman demonstrator was manhandled by the police, which evoked strong protests from the demonstrators.

Out of the 99 delegates attending the congress from outside South Korea, 30 were from India. They were from the CITU, AITUC, ACEU, AIBEA and AISGEA. The WFTU and TUI Public Employees were represented by Sukomal Sen in the congress. The Indian delegation played an important role in the debate and effectively resisted every attempt to water down the struggle against globalisation and for trade union rights. Two cultural delegates sang revolutionary songs during the cultural programmes, which received enthusiastic support from the delegates.

22 women delegates participated in the congress. The special session on working women was presided over by Neera Thakur and was addressed by speakers from South Korea, Australia, Philippines, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Thailand.

The speakers noted about the increasing casualisation of employment of women through part-time, contracting, outsourcing and home-based work arrangements and perpetuation of low wages for women as a way of attracting foreign investors. The women delegates underlined the increasing vulnerability of working women to sexual harassment from both management and colleagues, and also the intimidatory tactics used by the employers and the governments to deter women workers from unionising.

The delegates spoke very strongly about the inhuman exploitation of working women in export processing zones in India, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Philippines, etc, where national laws are not implemented and trade union rights are denied. The participants in the debate stressed the need for educating the women activists so that they can reach the level of leadership in the unions and play an important role in the decision-making process.

There was a heated debate on the paper presented by Professor Robert O’Brien from Canada. He gave some 6 alternative proposals, which were essentially within the framework of globalisation. For instance, the proposal to change the mandate of the World Bank, IMF and WTO was totally unrealistic, since these institutions themselves are products of imperialist globalisation and they decide their own mandate. The talk of democratising the international financial institutions is also meaningless since their basic character is undemocratic and against the interest of the developing countries.

The CITU opposed these proposals and demanded a worldwide debate on the question of alternative to globalisation itself. The CITU representatives raised the issue of cancellation of debt payment, implementation of the decision of the World Development Summit, transfer of technology to the developing countries at cheaper prices, increasing the share of the developing countries in the world trade, reduction in global inequalities, etc. The CITU viewpoint won support from several delegates. It was agreed that there should be a further in-depth debate on this subject.

The government of South Korea put the KCTU president Dan Byungho behind bars on August 2, following a series of concerted strikes and demonstration organised by the KCTU in June. The SIGTUR congress condemned his arrest and demanded his immediate release.

The congress also condemned the arrest of Tian Chua, a Malaysian labour activist, imprisoned under Internal Security Act for his trade union activities. It was agreed to run a campaign in all countries demanding the release of both these leaders.

The South Korean government has put several other trade union leaders behind bars. The KCTU, with a membership of six and a half lakhs, is in the forefront of the struggle against globalisation and is continuously engaged in a series of struggles. During the SIGTUR congress the delegates had occasion to attend the rallies of public employees, striking FedEx workers (cargo transport), teachers and telecom workers. All these rallies were massive and colourful. Participation of foreign delegates enthused these struggling South Korean workers. On November 11, a powerful demonstration was organised in front of the South Korean parliament, in which all the SIGTUR congress delegates participated.

The concluding session of the congress was presided over by H Mahadevan, deputy general secretary of the AITUC. He emphasised the need for more debate with a view to coming to a common understanding. Sukomal Sen was on the resolutions committee.

During the congress the leadership of the CITU and KCTU decided to strengthen their ties of friendship in the struggle against globalisation and US imperialist hegemony.