INTERNATIONAL CONFEDERATION OF FREE TRADE UNIONS (ICFTU)

ICFTU OnLine...
178/081101/ELS-COM

Trade union rights and access to medicines: the deal breakers for the WTO
Doha Conference

Brussels, November 08, 2001 (ICFTU Online): "The absence of effective
references to workers' rights at the WTO meeting in Doha is creating a
crisis in world trade negotiations," Bill Jordan, General Secretary of the
ICFTU said from Doha, where he is leading a trade union delegation to the
4th Ministerial Conference of the WTO.

"Our patience is running thin - yet the present draft Resolution is a step
backwards for the protection of workers' rights. Social development and
labour standards have been ignored by the WTO since its creation, and that
must change in Doha this week. That is why workers from industrialised and
developing countries alike have joined the Global Unions Day of Action,
November 9, calling for a globalisation that works for people," commented
the General Secretary of the Brussels-based labour group.

On the eve of the WTO Conference, global union leaders are meeting with WTO
Director-General Mike Moore, European Trade Commissioner Pascal Lamy and
trade ministers from South Africa and the United States, to set out the
trade union position on how to change world trade to lead to social and
economic development.

The unions in Qatar will be backed by hundreds of thousands of trade union
members, participating in actions north and south, calling for a fairer
globalisation.

40 trade union officials representing over 150 million workers are in Qatar
to stress that globalisation, as managed so far by the WTO, has not brought
general social and economic gains, but poverty and violations of workers'
rights. They will argue that the WTO needs to start doing things
differently.

In what is believed to be one of the largest ever international trade union
mobilisations, hundreds of thousands of trade unionists worldwide will be in
the streets, in their workplaces, and in the media, clearly voicing their
objections to globalisation for the benefit of the rich, and demanding that
world leaders put a human face on the international trading system. Trade
unions from all continents are participating in the actions, the majority of
which are happening in developing and transition countries.

The trade union delegation's demands will emphasise the need to create a
world trading system built on fair rules and respect for core labour
standards as defined by the ILO, in order to achieve balanced and
sustainable development.

Trade unions also demand much more progress on access to medicines through
the TRIPS agreement, on implementation issues, on differential treatment for
poor countries, and market access for developing countries. "It is
absolutely unacceptable that rich multinationals can continue to bleed poor
countries dry by hiding behind ambiguities in the TRIPS Agreement. Lives are
more important than patents, and this must be made explicit once and for
all," said Bill Jordan.

"Core labour standards and TRIPS are the deal-breakers without which this
conference will be a failure for working people," he concluded.

Link to the Calendar of actions around the world:
http://www.global-unions.org/calendar.asp?LN=E

Link to the ICFTU Statement on the 4th WTO Ministerial Conference in Doha:
http://www.icftu.org/displaydocument.asp?Index=991213933&Language=EN

For more information, please contact the ICFTU Press Department on +32 2 224
0232 or James Howard in Doha on 32 4 97 540 333.