ohne Drittmittelfinanzierung
Gewerkschaftliche Einflußnahme auf Handelspolitik
Details zum Projekt
Projektlaufzeit: 09/2008–12/2009
Zusammenfassung
Trade union responses to trade liberalisation take place within the context of wider social discontent about the impacts of neoliberal economic policy at the national and global level. While international trade has resulted in efficiency gains, the ongoing liberalization of trade has not been accompanied by increases in prosperity everywhere. It has increased the gap between rich and poor, both within and between countries. This has been accompanied by the erosion of social rights, labour rights and environmental standards in many countries.
Multilateral trade agreements negotiated in the World Trade Organisation (WTO) have been used to try to liberalise and deregulate public services and sensitive local industries, potentially resulting in increased unemployment, lower labour standards, reduced access to essential services and a weakening of unions, especially those representing public sector employees, which play an important role in the labour movement (Rosskam 2006). This has led to the questioning of the principles and policies of global economic institutions by civil society and a shift in the debate about trade and trade liberalisation (O"Brien et al. 2000; Stiglitz and Charlton 2005).
However, the threat is not just at the multilateral level. The stalling of multilateral negotiations in the WTO has led to a proliferation of trade agreements at bilateral and regional levels, as countries shift forums in an attempt to achieve trade liberalisation goals (Blaas / Becker 2007). In most cases these agreements are WTO plus, in that they seek even deeper trade liberalisation than multilateral agreements. The resulting "spaghetti bowl" of trade agreements (reference) presents both challenges and opportunities for unions to influence trade policy at the national level.
The encroachment of trade agreements into new areas - not just trade in goods but also in services, not just reduction of tariffs but also of so-called "non-tariff barriers" in the domestic regulation of services, intellectual property rights, investment provisions, competition policy and government procurement - potentially limit the policy choices of governments and their ability to provide universal access to essential services and to address environmental and development challenges related to sustainable growth and full employment. As a result, trade unions in many countries have started to engage with their governments over trade issues.
