Newsletter
September, 2010
KCTU Calls for international participation in People’s Week of Collective Action protesting G20 Seoul Summit
November 6~12, 2010, SEOUL, KOREA
The global economic crisis of 2007~2009 revealed of the failure of neoliberal globalization having been dominated the world for decades. This made possible financial capitals flowing every corner of the world and maximize their profit through speculation while workers in the world experienced insecurity of employment and erosion of labour rights. This also worsened the crisis of climate, energy, food. Now it is said that the global economy is beginning to recover but the crisis is never overcome fundamentally yet. As the crisis in private (financial) sector spread into public (fiscal) sector, its scale and breadth are getting larger. More importantly, the tenuous recovery of the global economy was paid for by the people, not by those who are really responsible for the crisis. This is neither just nor sustainable. The G20, the self-described new forum for global governance, has never dealt with the real problems, such as, neoliberalism, power of financial capitals, global inequality and social crisis. Far from eliminating the real cause of the crisis, it has tried to save and stabilize the existing system, reviving the ailing IMF and other IFIs which has imposed the neoliberal globalization and structural adjustment in every country and has big responsibility for the crisis.
The head of the host government of the next G20 Summit, President Lee Myung-bak is going opposite way from the real solution. For example, instead of strengthening regulation on the financial sector he introduced further deregulation permitting universal banking system. Instead of putting decent work at the heart of the recovery and growth, he is promoting proliferation of precarious jobs and insecurity of employment. In addition to this, the government is mobilizing every means of violating basic labour rights and suppressing trade union activities. At the international stage, he is trying to give legitimacy to the G20 by put “development issue” as one of the main agenda of the summit. However, the idea is very problematic in that it is exclusively based on growth; development infrastructure, private investment, financial inclusion, etc. Under the guise of development, they are to increase demand in developing countries in order to prevent further slow-down of growth of global economy after crisis.
Against this backdrop, KCTU will declare November 6~12 as a Peoples’ Week of Collective Action, with various social movements and NGOs, ahead of G20 Seoul Summit. As a part of global movement for building people’s alternatives for the failed neoliberal globalization, KCTU will stand up for people’s rights and real solution of the crisis. Protesting the G20, various activities will be organized during the action week. In the same week, various activities commemorating labour martyr Chun, Tae-il, who immolated himself on November 13, 1970 to expose the reality of extreme exploitation in garment sector and paved the way of democratic labour movement in South Korea. Today, 40 years after his death, the slogan “Uphold the Labour Standards Act!”, which he chanted at the last moment is still valid. KCTU will revive and globalize his spirit through our protest against the G20 which forces the people in the world pay for the crisis driven by the financial globalization. We invite every trade union who wants to build our alternative to the People’s Week of Collective Action in Seoul.
For further information, please contact Ryu, Mikyung, international derector to inter@kctu.org or +82-2-2670-9118
KCTU Programme for people’s Week of Action (To be updated)
1) KCTU Action Weeks protesting G20
Period: October 30th~ November 12th
In conjunction with Commemoration Period of Labour Martyr Chun Tae-il, various forms of activities and events are to be organized by KCTU and its affiliates.
¤ National Workers Rally commemorating 40th anniversary of the death of Labour Martyr Chun, Tae-il (November 7th, 2010)
2) People’s Week of Collective Action
Period: November 6th ~ 12th
<People’s Response Preparation Committee-provisional title>, a national coalition protesting G20 is to conduct joint activities during this period, including people’s summit, mass rally and march, etc.
¤ People’s Summit
Period: November 8th~10th
A series of thematic discussions/workshops/conferences around the 13 main agenda;
Jobs and employment, Fundamental Labour Rights, Financial Regulation, Environment & Climate change, FTAs & TNCs, Food Sovereignty, Democracy & Human Rights, Poverty & Development, Forced Migration, Security & Peace, Public Services, Intellectual Property Rights, Nuclear Issues
Within People’s Summit the followings are mainly organized by KCTU;
ü Free Trade Agreement and Peoples’ Alternative
Time: November 8th(To be confirmed)
Organisers: KCTU, Our World is not for Sale Network (Under discussion)
ü Labour Assembly: Southern Trade Unions’ Voice on Global Economic & Social Crisis
Time: November 9th (All day)
Organiser: KCTU, COSATU, CUT-Brazil
Trade Unions in G20/non G20 country will be invited
¤ Cultural Ceremony
Time: November 10th (Evening, on the eve of Mass Rally and March)
¤Press Conference for Seoul Declaration
¤ Action Day protesting G20
Time: November 11th, (Opening Day of G20 summit)
Organiser: G20 People’s Response Preparation Committee
3) G20 Trade Union Summit
Time: November 10th~11th
Organiser: ITUC, OECD TUAC, GUFs
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Labour Assembly: Southern Trade Unions’ Voice on Global Economic & Social Crisis” November 9, 2010, Seoul, Korea Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) Central Única dos Trabalhadores(CUT-Brazil) Korean Confederation of Trade Unions August 30, 2010 G20, a group of the 20 largest economies in the world designated itself as a center to defeat the global crisis. However, the solution given by the G20 is to keep stable the world system in which the profit is maximized thorough jobless growth and sacrifice of labour. People have lost their jobs and wages with the excuse of the crisis, and precious tax money paid by the people was put to bailout the banks. As fiscal crisis seems to be possible, governments is forcing the people into enduring the devastating impact of austerity packages. In the Pittsburgh G20 summit, the heads of states of the member countries agreed that the current challenges do not provide an excuse to disregard or weaken internationally recognised labour standards. Nevertheless, they have mentioned creation of decent work and guarantee of fundamental labour rights only as lip services. For example, the G20 financial ministers meeting which was convened right after the fiscal crisis in southern Europe officially supported the most serious forms of the austerity measure, including wage cut, tax increases, freeze on new hiring in public sector and flexibilization of labour in private sector, which the Greek government had adopted to get IMF/EU bailout. It is argued that the G20 is more democratic than G7-8 in that it guarantees participation of developing countries. However, the G20 is no more than a space of international cooperation for a U.S-dominated world system. Under the current system, the expansion to the G20 is mainly motivated by the need of cooperation from emerging countries to manage "global imbalance". The biggest victims of neo-liberal globalisation which characterised exploitation and exclusion at global level are still excluded, especially from Africa no county has been invited but Republic of South Africa. In the wake of the 2007-2009 global crisis, trade unions in each country has been struggling to protect employment, wage and fundamental labour rights under the slogan "We will not pay for the crisis!". In addition to this, on occasion of G20 Summit, trade unions has exposed the contradictions and limitation of G20's response to the crisis and suggested their own alternatives. In this context, on occasion of the People’s Week of Collective Action protesting the Seoul G20 Summit which is initiated by the Korean social movements, we would like to hold a Labour Assembly to share the reality around wage, employment and fundamental labour rights after the crisis and responses by trade unions and highlight the voices of workers especially in the global south on the G20 summit. Outline ․Date: November 9, 2010 ․Venue: To be confirmed ․Programme; <Part I> G20, From the perspective of the people in the global south: Is G20 really able to representative the people in the Global South? <Part II> G20, From the perspective of trade unions: Is G20 really able to expand decent work and fundamental labour rights? <Part III> Trade Union's Alternative for the global crisis <Part IV> Statement Adoption ․Targeted Participants: Trade unionist in the global south /non-G20 countries. (It is also open to trade unions in the global north/G20 countries) |
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