Millennium Review Project:
Terms of Reference for the Global Economy Section
In respect of the global economy component it is proposed that the following
work will be undertaken.
1. A detailed report will be produced mapping
recent and current activities by international, regional and national trade
unions, which were designed to ensure that the trade union voice is heard
by the international organisations that play a role in governing the global
economy. The international organisations to be covered include the United
Nations, World Bank, IMF, WTO, ILO, OECD, UNCTAD and UNEP. This mapping
exercise will also review attempts by the trade union movement to communicate
their views to regional economic, trade and political organisations like
the regional development banks, EU, NAFTA, MERCOSUR, CARICOM, SELA (Latin
America Economic System) APEC, ASEAN, OAU, SADC, ASEM and various other
regional or restricted membership bodies. This report will also consider
how trade union efforts to ensure access to standing government forums
like the G8 meetings, and perhaps the G 7 and G 15 meetings, have evolved
over time. This report will largely focus on the process used by the international
trade union movement to communicate with these various institutions and
international forums. It will also include the action at national level
by trade unions to influence the policies that governments take with regard
to international institutions.
2. A report will also be prepared examining
in depth the reforms that trade unions (and organisations that share similar
objectives to the trade union movement) have proposed to the policies and
programmes of the International Monetary Fund, World Bank and World Trade
Organisation since 1995. This report will review the initial reaction of
the Bretton Woods institutions to trade union proposals and the extent
to which any reforms have been implemented in practice. This report will
concentrate on policy proposals from the trade union movement and policy
responses by the three international organisations mentioned above, and
will therefore differ from output 1 which will be mainly concerned with
the process utilised by the trade union movement to promote these reforms.
3. Taking into account the lessons derived
from outputs 1 and 2 a further report will be produced making proposals
for the future development and/or modification of the strategy and methods
used by the international trade union movement in attempting to influence
the global economy. In recent years the trade union movement has made detailed
policy proposals in international economic forums which aim to promote:
poverty reduction; faster and sustainable economic growth in developing
countries; international debt relief; increased access for developing country
exports into industrialised countries; increased gender equality; increased
international trade and the full implementation of core international labour
standards; a more stable international financial system and an environment
that will encourage long-term foreign direct investment. The paper being
prepared under this item will examine the arguments used to promote these
objectives and the possibilities for clarifying, expanding and more widely
publicising the arguments advanced in support of these objectives.
4. A comparative assessment will be made of
the policies advocated and strategies utilised by the more successful NGOs
that are also trying to promote increased equity and a sustainable global
economy. This will include recommendations for the trade union movement
based on lessons derived from the best strategies and campaigns utilised
by NGOs. There will be a linkage in the report also to the work on campaigns
and mobilisation and with regard to the activities of business.
5. A Reference Group will be established, composed
of some 20 representatives from international, regional and national trade
union centres that have actively participated in the design and implementation
of trade union publications and lobbying activities directed at the institutions
that influence the global economy over then last five years. This Reference
Group will initially be co-ordinated by TUAC and will include representation
of developing country trade unions through the ICFTU and its regional structures.
The Reference Group will guide and review outputs 1 and 2 through an e-mail
discussion group that will take place throughout 2001.
6. The above mentioned reference Group will
have two to three meetings during the course of 2001 to consider the implications
of all the above mentioned work for the structure of the international
trade union movement and to design proposals to better integrate and co-ordinate
the various lobby activities of the trade union movement in respect of
the global economy. The output of these working party meetings will be
a report making recommendations to the ICFTU Millennium Review Progress
Committee.
7. As a result of this project both the strategies
and the process by which the trade union movement exerts influence on the
global economy will be substantially improved. Through this project the
trade union movement will develop a coherent and comprehensive message
concerning necessary reforms to international economic institutions and
the policies advocated by these institutions. In order to respond to the
new challenges generated by globalization an efficient and collaborative
system will be established throughout the trade union movement for undertaking
future trade union work on the global economy. As a result trade union
resources will be targeted more effectively and trade union messages about
the global economy will be more widely disseminated thereby reaching a
larger audience.
