Bank Re-affirms Relations with Global Unions

During the week of January 12, 2009 the World Bank Group (WBG) and International Monetary Fund (IMF) hosted a week-long series of meetings with global unions to discuss the global financial crisis, governance reform, and gender equality.   Some 80 leaders from the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) and 10 Global Union Confederations were present representing some 168 million workers worldwide (see participants list).   They had meetings with World Bank President Mr. Robert Zoellick, IMF Managing Director, Mr. Dominique Strauss-Khan, and with Executive Directors, and participated in tripartite workshops with Bank managers and staff.

The first half of the week (January 12 – 13) was devoted to a Gender Workshop which covered issues related to gender and labor markets. (see agenda).  The latter part (January 14 – 15) was a High Level Meeting between the leadership of all three institutions. (see agenda).  

These meetings come in the context of a deepening relationship the WBG and IMF have developed with the global unions over the past 6 years.    There is a joint work program which calls for annual technical workshops on issues of common interest (i.e. labor regulations, PRSPs, HIV/AIDS, pension reform), secondments by labor representatives at the Bank, WB – ITUC staff focal points, high level meetings every two years, and   ongoing information exchange. This was the fourth high level meeting held since 2002, and it attracted the highest level of union participation.

There have been five labor union representatives seconded to the Bank to the following units:   social protection (HDNSP); public sector governance (PRMPS); procurement (LCOPR); civil society (EXTIA), and transportation in (ECSIE).   These ranged from 2 to 12 months in length and, while they varied in scope, they were all deemed to have been useful experiences which led to tangible results.

Gender Workshop
 
WB – ITUC Gender Workshop
 
The workshop began with a presentation on the Bank Group’s Gender Action Plan to promote the economic empowerment of women.   Bank staff from several regions talked about the efforts undertaken to date to support women’s employment and businesses.  This was followed by sessions on labor union approaches to incorporating gender dimensions, impacts of labor market reform on women workers, non-discriminatory practices in procurement, and adolescent girls’ transition from school to work.

Some 30 representatives from trade unions worldwide participated in the workshop and were mostly supportive of the Bank’s gender policies and work, although some voiced concern that some of the Bank’s macro economic policies (i.e labor de-regulation, trade liberalization) can weaken efforts to bring women into the formal labor market and undermine equal pay for equal work initiatives.  Jyoti Macwan, General Secretary of Self Employed Women’s Association (SEWA), a leading women’s organization from India, “commended the Bank for focusing on women’s entrepreneurial activities as this is a key strategy to empower women”.  

High Level Meeting

The meeting began with a session on Bank and Fund views on the global financial crisis.    The Bank’s Chief Economist, Justin Lin, underscored the gravity of the situation by stating that this is the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression, and outlined the efforts the Bank is undertaking to assist both middle and low-income countries.  Both Mr. Zoellick and Strauss-Khan also reminded the labor leaders that the times ahead will not be easy and that unions will need to make difficult choices.
 
Several union leaders asked whether the Fund could explain how it failed the warning signs which led to the global financial meltdown, and whether the Bank and Fund were ready to undertake needed reforms of the financial sector and its own governance structure.    Several also reminded the Bank and Fund that we shouldn’t underestimate the popular anger which is growing in many countries as millions will lose their jobs in the coming year.  ILO is forecasting a loss of 20 million jobs by the end of 2009. 

On the other hand, the union participants did agree with the Bank’s plans to finance fiscal stimulus packages in developing countries, but urged that these be targeted in areas that can have the most impact to stimulate the economy and maintain jobs, similar to what the new U.S. administration is expected to carry out.   Guy Ryder, General Secretary of the ITUC, stated that “action by governments and the IFIs to support decent jobs is essential in the face of the expected world-wide employment crisis, and will lay the foundation for economic recovery”. (see ITUC press release)

Other topics covered during the 3-day meeting included adopting of core labor standards in Bank operations, the Bank’s response to climate change, pension reform, and policy coherence in decent work policies.   The ITUC praised the IFC for the adoption and implementation of ILO’s four core labor standards (CLS) in its Performance Indicators, and urged the Bank to accelerate the process of fully implementing the same procedures in its procurement guidelines.  Unions once again voiced their criticism of the way labor regulations are included in the Doing Business report, inquiring how countries with some of the worst labor standards (i.e. Belarus, Egypt) could be ranked near the top.

The final day of the meeting was devoted to assess the quality of the tri-partite relations and jointly agree on steps to further consolidate them.   Overall, there was recognition that the level of dialogue, information exchange, and trust has increased considerably in the past six years.  The same thing cannot be said about the country level relations, which are still largely ad hoc and vary considerably, ranging from close to non-existent in many countries.  There was agreement that efforts need to be undertaken to further decentralize Bank – labor union interactions to the national level.

Going Forward

The meeting produced a series of commitments to further consolidate Bank – ITUC relations including: two technical meetings in 2009 on pension reform and the Doing Business indicators; appointment of a labor union representative to be seconded to HDNSP to work on labor regulation and reform issues; establishment of Bank and ITUC focal points on gender; and closer monitoring of country level relations. 
 
These meetings occurred in a significant moment in history shadowed by the looming financial crisis, and this fact brought both tension and pragmatism to the discussions.    Union leaders were not hesitant to criticize the perceived role the Bank and Fund played in the financial crisis, and called for a more inclusive and transparent governance structure of the Bretton Woods Institutions.

Yet the gravity of the situation, coupled with the cumulative goodwill this engagement process has engendered over the past six year, seemed to have led to the most constructive tone of the high level meetings to date.  Mr. Zoellick captured well the tone by stating that “the current crisis is going to be painful to everyone including the unions and its workers, and thus we all need to pull together to ensure that we minimize its impacts on the poor”.