The Commonwealth Conversation

What workers want from the Commonwealth

This article was written by Brendan Barber, Trades Union Congress General Secretary.

The Commonwealth is a special institution for the trade union movement: 30 million trade unionists in 51 of the 53 Commonwealth countries share common traditions, common experience of solidarity and even common employment law traditions. Many trade unions around the Commonwealth started by looking at the TUC as an example. And we all learn from each other as we deal with common problems like HIV/AIDS, global trade, climate change and informalisation of the labour market.

In November there will be a trade union delegation at the Commonwealth People’s Forum in Port of Spain with participants from countries like Barbados, Canada, Swaziland and the UK. We will be releasing a report detailing abuses of workers’ rights around the Commonwealth, and we will be handing a formal submission to every Commonwealth government on 26 October – a month before CHOGM opens.

Our submission calls for action by the Commonwealth to live up to common values in the field of jobs, global poverty and climate change. In particular, I want the Commonwealth I’m a member of to:

1) endorse the ILO Global Jobs Pact, to put decent work and social protection at the heart of economic recovery efforts, establish a target for all Commonwealth governments to ratify all eight core ILO conventions, with biennial reviews of progress, and establish an annual forum of Commonwealth Labour Ministers;

2)publish a biennial stock-taking of progress towards attaining the MDGs for each developing country in the Commonwealth and to encourage all industrialised countries in the Commonwealth to adopt binding timetables to meet the UN aid target, reviewing progress biennially; and

3) take steps towards a fair and ambitious agreement in Copenhagen that will limit global temperature rise to no more than 2°C, based on ‘just transition’ – protecting the most vulnerable from climate change risks and from the consequences of adaptation or mitigation measures – and with green jobs at its heart.

I want the Commonwealth to recognise the experience of trade unions in fighting for democracy and freedom in countries like Nigeria and South Africa, and take up the call for democracy in Fiji, the Gambia and Swaziland.

Category : Economic Development
Tags: TUC
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