Interview with Guy Ryder of the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions
Guy Ryder is Director of the Geneva Office of the ICFTU
This interview was first published in World of Work, the magazine
of the ILO, No. 20, June, 1997, p.15.
World of Work: We hear much about trade unions in transition countries. How quickly are free trade unions developing, and what are some of the constraints on this process?
ICTF: From the beginning of the process, trade unions in transition countries faced serious problems, notably the lack of credibility of trade unionism resulting from experience with state-run trade union organizations that didn't really represent workers' interests. From then on, they often operated in an environment where politicians and governments saw the transition process as rapid ‘shock-therapy', moving countries from central planning to the free market as quickly as possible. That meant an unfriendly or openly hostile attitude to trade unions in many cases.
Added to that was the serious and often dramatic economic and social dislocation caused by transitions of this nature. Take, for example, the dramatic situations we are seeing in Albania, Bulgaria and Russia where the overwhelming task of trade unions is simply to try to ensure that workers are paid for working. This said, it is clear that the experience of transition is generating greater appreciation and understanding of the need and value of trade unions as agents of social justice. We have seen remarkable performances by trade unions in these countries in this regard.
World of Work: The recent agreement to end child labour in Sialkot, Pakistan is a good example of productive alliances, involving governments, international organizations, NGOs, the private sector, and trade union and employers organizations. Do you see this is a harbinger of future such collaboration to end the practice of child labor?
ICFTU: for trade unions, the signing of the agreement in the IPEC project for eliminating child labour in Sialkot is indeed welcome. Perhaps it is worth recalling that this positive development originated in a campaign by the ICFTU to focus world attention on child labour in the manufacture of soccer balls in Sialkot. From there, the international trade union movement entered into a very positive dialogue with the world's soccer administrators in FIFA, and this subsequently led to action by the industry itself. In this sense, industry-trade union cooperation has been at one stage removed and we believe that it is now important that trade unions play their role in IPEC activities in Sialkot, together with employers and the local and national authorities. They are certainly ready to do that.
World of Work: Proposals for labels and codes of conduct guaranteeing that products are being produced in a socially responsible manner are proliferating. The Director-General recently suggested a system of global social labels to avoid the pitfalls and potential for manipulation of the current practice. How does the ICFTU view this?
ICFTU: This is an area of growing importance to which trade unions are giving considerable attention. Its is vital that the fundamental rights of workers set out in ILO standards be respected everywhere in the world. Incorporating them in labeling schemes and codes of conduct is one way of pursuing this goal. So, the Director-General's proposal is certainly interesting and merits serious examination. The workers group has already welcomed work being done in the ILO on labeling and codes of conduct and obviously the Director-General's initiative offers a way of developing that further. As we get deeper into this subject, it is to be expected that the importance of credible monitoring of labeling schemes and codes of conduct will come to the fore.
World of Work: What impact has globalization had on employment, working conditions and workers' rights around the world?
ICFTU: Generally, trade unionists' assessment of the effects of globalization is less enthusiastic than that of other of other observers. But the question is not how to stop globalization, but rather how to direct it in a way that serves the objective of social justice for all. Workers are concerned that the potential for increased growth and living standards offered by globalization may not be realized. For too many working people, globalization means greater job insecurity, downward pressure on working conditions, loss of control and influence over their working lives and greater inequality in and between societies. The Ill's overriding task, as recognized by the Director-General in his report to the 75th anniversary conference in 1994, is to move globalization away from this harsh reality and towards meeting the demands of global social justice. This involves getting ground rules for the global economy in the way workers' groups have consistently advocated, particularly in linking trade and labour standards, and by greater international cooperation to promote world employment.
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