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 Home Campaigns Fair Trade Resources
Free trade demands cheap labourThe call for cheap labour is becoming louder and louder in today’s world of free trade and economic liberalisation. In many developing countries this has a disturbing affect on human rights and especially labour rights. Working conditions in violation of the rights outlined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Labour Organisation (ILO) Conventions are not uncommon. The abuses experienced by workers range from being grossly underpaid or working ninety hour weeks in factories to being physically and sexually harassed. Often people are fulfilling their duties in hazardous environments with no safety equipment, no fire extinguishers or fire exits and unclean water and facilities. Denial of the fundamental rights of workers is occurring on both the legislative and executive level. Even where laws and policies to protect workers exist, compliance is often negligent or non existent. The principle of free trade and liberalisation is the international trading of goods and services without economic barriers such as taxes, subsidiaries and tariffs. It is designed to remove government interventions in economic issues, leaving the market to balance needs, supply and demand for maximum efficiency. Consequently, developing states cannot protect their markets anymore and therefore their workers are forced to compete in the global market. On the world market the 'big boy' China sets the standard - and it sets them very low. With frequent repression of any independent union activity and abundant exploitation of workers, the country can offer rock-bottom production costs. This makes it an ideal location for foreign investors, as low production costs mean they can offer their goods at low prices. Workers in other developing countries are now forced to compete with these sweatshop conditions if they want to prevent their company from relocating to China. The outcome is a fierce race to the bottom. Each developing country wants to be the most attractive to foreign investors by offering the highest productivity and the lowest wages - thereby sacrificing the rights and dignity of workers. It can be said that due to the free market, the rights of workers to enjoy a decent life has been sold by the states to foreign investors. Examples of injustices and exploitation of workers, which can be traced back to free trade and market liberalisation are countless. Many workers in developing countries are exposed to dangerous chemicals and suffer many side effects as a result. Workers in the flower industry of Colombia - mainly women - regularly come into contact with pesticides and toxic gases. They often have to return into the greenhouses immediately after pesticides have been sprayed. Medical surveys show that two thirds of these women suffer from problems associated with exposure to chemicals. These health problems range from nausea and headaches to miscarriages and respiratory problems. 20,000 people in total are estimated to die each year in developing countries from agricultural pesticides; three million suffer from acute or reproductive after-effects. As a result of the fierce competition created by free trade and market liberalisation policies, workers in developing countries are being forced to work long hours. Workers in the fruit industry in Chile have to work 12-14 hours a day during the packing season for a minimum wage. They have to stand up for entire shifts and often the factories in which they work do not have a toilet or water to drink. In Bangladesh most factory owners are reluctant to let unions, journalists or NGO representatives into their factories. Recent highly publicised scandals involving multi-national corporations, have created a need for 'secrecy' concerning factories and their treatment of workers. In such instances doors are very rarely opened to the public. Some of them say they have been forbidden by the foreign buyers to let anyone in without a written permission. One of these scandals is the collapse of the Spectrum Sweater factory, killing 74 workers and injuring 80 in April 2005. It came out that large European companies such as Spanish-based Zara and French-based Carrefour were sourcing from Spectrum. They had been turning a deaf ear on warnings about the dangerous state of the illegal nine-storey building. Only a few months later, in December 2005, there was another outrageous discovery. A huge US-based company Wal-Mart was using child labour at two factories in Bangladesh, with children between 10 and 14. Many countries remain 'competitive' by repressing union activities. Either directly or indirectly the state is often an active force in breaking up demonstrations, intimidating workers and denying their right to associate, form trade unions and bargain collectively. Thus, workers are left almost unprotected in their struggle for decent work and a decent life. In Bangladesh it is quite common for workers to lose their jobs and get blacklisted for raising their voices. Often the security of a person, even a person's life, is under threat for speaking out against the ruthless working conditions. The Cambodian trade union president, Chea Vichea, reported that demonstrations and protests have become nearly impossible, as they are disrupted regularly by harassments and attacks, for which he made the ruling party responsible. In January 2004 he was killed on the streets of Phnom Penh. Another case is the one of Iqbal Masih, a 12 year old Pakistani boy, who had been subject to indentured labour from the time he was six. He began to speak out against child labour and captured the public's attention. Despite his young age, Iqbal became an energetic lobbyist who exposed the conditions and circumstances of child labour, and gained international recognition for his efforts. He was murdered by unknown assailants in March 1995. What can you do?
Contact Details Union Aid Abroad - APHEDA Ph: (02) 9264 9343 Fax: (02) 9261 1118 office@apheda.org.au Fair Trade Resources
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