TWN Info Service on Free Trade Agreements

01 February 2007


Malaysia, US Trade Unions Join Hands Against FTA

The American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO) and the Malaysian Trades Unions Congress (MTUC) have agreed to sign a joint declaration which among others called upon the governments to ensure that workers’ concern from both the countries to be addressed in the current negotiations for a US-Malaysia FTA.

It noted that the Malaysian government has continuously opposed any labor protection in a potential FTA with the US, "based on a misguided notion that achieving economic growth and international competitiveness must be at the expense of core labor rights".

The declaration asserts that economic integration between the two countries must result in broadly shared benefits for working people and communities, and not simply extend and enforce corporate power and privilege.

The declaration takes after those that US labor federations had previously signed with their union counterparts in South Korea, Central America and Australia.

The AFL-CIO is a voluntary federation of 54 national and international labor
unions, representing 10 million workers in the United States. The MTUC, on
the other hand, is an umbrella movement of Malaysian trade unions
representing around half a million workers.

The joint statement is attached below (Item 1). Also included are two articles on the declaration (Item 2).



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Item 1

Joint Statement on a Possible U.S. – Malaysia Free Trade Agreement

by

The American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations
(AFL-CIO) and the Malaysian Trades Union Congress (MTUC)

The AFL-CIO and MTUC share a common vision for the future based in terms of social and economic justice. In this light, any discussions aimed at deepening economic integration between our countries must result in broadly shared benefits for working people and communities, not simply extend and enforce corporate power and privilege.

We believe that a more just and humane integration, a system designed to eliminate the enormous social and economic inequities at both national and international levels, is possible and desirable if it incorporates, at minimum, the following concepts: strong and effective mechanisms to protect labor and social rights; compensation policies to correct inequities resulting from restructuring; mechanisms for transparency and participation; clear policies against corruption; fair rules for trade and investment, services, procurement, agriculture, and the environment; and a more humane migration regime.

It is clear from the negotiations to date, as well as statements by our governments, that the U.S.-Malaysia FTA is based on the same failed model as the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA): weak protections for workers’ rights, undermining the government’s ability to regulate in the public interest and to provide essential public services; and excessive protections for multinational corporate investment and profits.

Indeed, there is evidence that the Malaysian government continues to oppose any labor protections in the trade agreement, based on a misguided notion that that achieving economic growth and international competitiveness must be at the expense of core labor rights. We are also deeply concerned with the lack of transparency and the government’s failure to consult trade unions and civil society organizations. We demand that the process leading to a trade agreement must be open to the public and incorporate the real and effective participation of social actors during the negotiations, ratification and subsequent evaluation and follow-up.

As trade union organizations representing workers in our two countries, we voice our deep concern about the current state of fundamental worker rights and labor standards. We share concerns that violations of workers’ human rights have reached crisis levels, while secure and well-paying jobs have been replaced with casual and irregular work in both countries. In addition, migrant workers’ human and worker rights are routinely violated. We believe that if this situation is allowed to continue and is not rectified, it will result in dire consequences which will ultimately destabilize our societies. We call on both of our governments to respect the ILO Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work, and to ratify and enforce all the core conventions, especially Conventions 87 and 98, which are crucial to workers’ rights and lives.

Unless our governments adequately address the urgent concerns we have laid out above, we will strongly oppose the continued negotiation of the U.S.-Malaysia FTA and will work together to ensure that it is not implemented.

Signed at Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on January 18, 2007



__________________________________
G. Rajasekaran, Secretary General, MTUC



__________________________________
John Sweeney, President AFL-CIO




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Item 2

Unions join hands against free trade pact
Jan 31, 07 10:57am, Malaysiakini.com
Two major groupings of US and Malaysian unions have vowed to ban together in a bid to block the US-Malaysia free trade agreement (FTA).

The American Federation of Labour and Congress of Industrial Organisations (AFL-CIO) and the Malaysian Trades Union Congress (MTUC) said this would be their stand unless their respective governments adequately address the deteriorating state of workers’ rights and labour standards.
They warned they would strongly oppose the continued negotiation of the trade talks and would work together to ensure that it was not implemented.

“We share concerns that violations of workers’ human rights have reached crisis levels, while secure and well-paying jobs have been replaced with casual and irregular work in both countries,” said AFL-CIO president John Sweeney and MTUC secretary-general G Rajasekaran (photo) in a joint declaration.

If things continue as they are and migrant workers’ human and job-related rights continue to be routinely violated, it will result in dire consequences which will ultimately destablise society in both countries, they said.

Malaysian and US negotiators concluded the fourth round of negotiations less than two weeks ago in San Francisco, but have expressed doubts that talks can conclude by July as originally scheduled.

Among the sticking points are provisions relating to government procurement, the services sector and investment. Malaysia has remained reluctant, in particular, to commit to US proposals for chapters on labour and environment.

According to AFL-CIO and MTUC, the FTA is based on the same ‘failed model’ as the North American Free Trade Agreement (Nafta) with its weak protection of workers’ rights and the undermining of governments’ ability to regulate in the public interest and provide essential public services.

Nafta’s protection of multinational corporate investments and profits, on the other hand, are “excessive”.

“Indeed, there is evidence that the Malaysian government continues to oppose any labour protections in the trade agreement, based on a misguided notion that achieving economic growth and international competitiveness must be at the expense of core labour rights,” they said.

“We believe that a more just and humane integration, a system designed to eliminate the enormous social and economic inequities at both national and international levels, is possible and desirable.”

At minimum, they said, it must incorporate strong and effective mechanisms to protect labour and social rights; compensation policies to correct inequities resulting from restructuring; mechanisms for transparency and participation; clear policies against corruption; fair rules for trade and investment, services, procurement, agriculture, and the environment; and a more human migration regime.
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Item 3

US unions rally against Malaysian pact
By Anil Netto, 23 January 2007
(http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Southeast_Asia/IA23Ae02.html)

KUALA LUMPUR - United States trade unions have joined forces with their Malaysian counterparts to strongly oppose ongoing negotiations toward a bilateral free trade agreement (FTA) until workers' concerns from both countries are addressed.

The American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO) and the Malaysian Trades Unions Congress (MTUC) are poised to ink a joint declaration agreed on in Kuala Lumpur last week. The declaration resembles those that US labor federations had previously signed with their union counterparts in South Korea last June, in Central America in 2002 and in Australia in 2001.

The Kuala Lumpur declaration asserts that economic integration between the two countries must result in broadly shared benefits for working people and communities, and not simply extend and enforce corporate power and privilege. It also warns that violations to workers' rights have reached crisis levels.

The AFL-CIO is a voluntary federation of 54 national and international labor unions, representing 10 million workers in the United States. The MTUC, on the other hand, is an umbrella movement of Malaysian trade unions representing around half a million workers.

The joint declaration by the trade union movements stands in stark contrast to the floundering official FTA negotiations with Korea and Malaysia. US trade officials are struggling to wrap up their separate negotiations with both countries by March so that the drafts can be presented to Congress for approval before the expiry on June 30 of a fast-track trade promotional authority.

Malaysian International Trade and Industry Minister Rafidah Aziz said it was unlikely the US-Malaysia negotiations could be completed before the deadline, but Malaysia was willing to continue beyond that in any case. Negotiations have stumbled over thorny issues, such as proposed measures to give US firms access to government procurement and the service sector in Malaysia. In South Korea, the stumbling blocks are the required opening of Seoul's car, beef and pharmaceutical markets and how the US applies its anti-dumping rules.

Kuala Lumpur-based economist Subramaniam Pillay says that the US labor federation has traditionally been concerned with protecting jobs, while the MTUC is more concerned about the erosion of workers' rights. These were legitimate concerns for unions, he added. "Malaysian unions want to use this [joint declaration] as a leverage to strengthen workers' rights here. And the AFL-CIO may want to use it to protect workers from job losses in the United States."

No more NAFTAs American unionists argue they are not just concerned about job losses in the United States. "It is not just northern unions trying to take jobs from Malaysia," said AFL-CIO global economic specialist Jeff Vogt. "We want to make sure that trade between our two countries is equitable to our workers."

Vogt argued that there was no need for US FTAs to demand intellectual property rights that went beyond the World Trade Organization regime. Neither was there a need for FTAs to grant excessive rights to investors. Joining forces with developing countries' trade union movements to oppose FTAs "gives us more credibility in our advocacy in the United States [and allows us] to say, 'look, we are not being protectionist'," he added.

The Kuala Lumpur declaration states that it is clear that the US-Malaysia FTA will be based on "the same failed model as the North American Free Trade Agreement [NAFTA]".

Over the past 12 years, NAFTA has facilitated corporate mobility and flexibility, but has arguably resulted in the loss of more than a million jobs and various other business opportunities in the United States. Critics say it has kept US wages low and undermined environmental and public health care protections. In Mexico, workers' real wages have remained flat or worsened, while inequality has widened, increasing the number of people in poverty, they contend.

US trade unions and their Asian counterparts want trade agreements to include enforceable provisions to protect workers' rights, public services and the environment. They complain that the Bush administration has not adequately addressed these concerns in the FTAs they have negotiated.

In the Kuala Lumpur declaration, the unions noted there was evidence that the Malaysian government continues to oppose any labor protection in a potential FTA with the US, "based on a misguided notion that achieving economic growth and international competitiveness must be at the expense of core labor rights".

Unionists point out that FTAs typically rely on weak national laws while provisions for enforcement of labor standards, dispute resolution and action against violators of workers' right are weak, ineffective and difficult. In contrast, the FTAs tend to provide excessive protection for multinational corporate investment and profits, they contend.

The MTUC and the AFL-CIO said they were also deeply concerned with the lack of transparency surrounding the negotiations and the government's failure to consult trade unions and civil society organizations in the process.

Malaysian unionists, meanwhile, are also worried about a recent public submission for the FTA negotiations made by the American Malaysian Chamber of Commerce and the US Chamber of Commerce. The two bodies argued that "while it is important to protect the rights of workers, Malaysia's current employment laws are too restrictive and unbalanced against companies, thus making it very difficult for employers to terminate under-performing employees".

The two bodies added that they would like to see Malaysia's domestic labor laws and its Industrial Relations Court reviewed, "to take into greater consideration the needs of employers and the ability of companies to remain competitive and productive through proper management of their workforces".

Union critics see these comments as a thinly disguised desire to make it easier to lay off workers, as it is in the United States. Unionists are also deeply concerned that more secure jobs will, through the implementation of the FTA, be replaced with lower-paying part-time positions for which employers' are not required to pay benefits, such as health insurance.

"The most important area we [Malaysian unionists] are concerned about is security of tenure, the outsourcing of jobs and the sub-contracting of labor," said K Somasundram, an MTUC official who participated in the discussions with the AFL-CIO. "It is already happening in the banking sector, with the outsourcing of back-office services," he said. "Unions are concerned because they feel that this is one of the ways of busting unions as they will then be outside the scope of representation."

In a statement in November, the executive council of the AFL-CIO proposed a new approach to make trade more fair and beneficial for all workers. In particular, the group wants a slowdown in US President George W Bush's rush to negotiate new bilateral free trade agreements and a review of all current agreements - a wish they might get under a now Democrat-controlled Congress. The executive council is also calling for reform of the current trade regime to create a more just global economy, "one that works for working families and not just to boost the profits and power of multinational corporations".

(Inter Press Service)