ICFTU - Trade Union Guide To Globalisation

ICFTU
TRADE UNION GUIDE TO GLOBALISATION
(Second edition)

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Foreword

Introduction

PART I: GLOBALISATION AND SOLIDARITY

1. THE MEANING OF GLOBALISATION
- The components of globalisation
  - Foreign direct investment
    - Box: Globalisation in all directions – from migration of workers to migration of work
  - Financial markets
  - Deregulation and liberalisation
    - Box: Social Europe
  - Globalisation and the Public Sector
    - Box: Trade and investment agreements and the public sector
  - Technology
- The meaning of globalisation for workers
  - Box: Race to the bottom
  - Box: Privatisation gone bad – PSI and water
2. THE INTERNATIONAL TRADE UNION STRUCTURE
- Over one hundred years of international trade unionism
  - Box: The ITF and how it started
- International trade union organisations
  - Organisations for national centres (ICFTU, TUAC…)
    - Box: Trade union relations at national and international level
  - Organisations for national trade unions (Global Union Federations or GUFs)
    - Box: GUFs and their membership
    - Box: Which is my GUF?
3. TRADE UNION RIGHTS AND INTERNATIONAL LABOUR STANDARDS
- The universality and indivisibility of trade union rights
  - Box: ILO conventions No. 87 and 98
- International Labour standards and the ILO
  - Box: The principles of the Declaration of Philadelphia
- ILO, a tripartite organisation
  - Box: The ILO Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work
  - Box: ACTRAV - ILO Bureau for Workers’ Activities
4. AN INTERNATIONAL FRAMEWORK FOR SOCIAL JUSTICE
(WHO DOES WHAT AT THE INTERGOVERNMENTAL LEVEL)
- International financial institutions
  - Box: The international financial institutions (IMF, World Bank) – what are they?
  - Box: Some changes at the World Bank
  - Box: The IFBWW campaign for the incorporation of workers’ rights in World Bank procurement documents
- Workers’ rights in trade and investment agreements
  - Box: WTO – What is it?
  - Box: WTO debacle could mark beginning of globalisation with a human face
  - Box: The Generalised System of Preferences (GSP)
  - Box: The World Commission on the Social Dimensions of Globalisation
- The national response
  - Box: Belarus: international action on two fronts
5. MULTINATIONAL ENTERPRISES
- Box: Multinationals - some facts and figures
- MNEs and trade unions
- MNEs and governments
  - Export processing zones
    - Box: Life in an export processing zone in the Philippines
6. THE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITIES OF BUSINESS
- Corporate governance and accountability
- Industrial relations and accountability
- International accountability
  - Box: Unicorn: TUAC, PSI and corruption
- What corporate social responsibility (CSR) really means
  - Who are the real stakeholders?
- What the social responsibilities of business really are
- CSR and the proper role of government
- Private standard setting and its dangers
  - Who decides when a business is being “socially responsible”?
  - Rating and reporting
- The internationally recognised standards of social responsibilities of business
  - The ILO MNE Declaration
  - The OECD Guidelines
    - Box: IUF, Nestlé and the OECD Guidelines
- Business and human rights
- Codes of conduct and the supply chain
  - The two kinds of codes
    - Box: Supplier codes of labour practice - the multi-stakeholder initiatives
  - About monitoring, verification and what “social auditors” do
  - The real impact of the supplier codes
- The Global Compact
  - Box: The 10 principles of the Global Compact

PART II: THE PRACTICAL INTERNATIONAL DIMENSION OF TRADE UNION WORK

7. SOLIDARITY, NOT CHARITY
(INTERNATIONAL TRADE UNION WORK - WHO DOES WHAT AT THE INTERNATIONAL LEVEL)
- Recognising the international dimension
  - Box: Is there an international connection?
- The first step is to join
- Who joins what
  - Box: The IFJ, the global union for journalists
8. PRACTICAL INTERNATIONAL SOLIDARITY
(HOW DOES IT WORK? AND WHERE AND WHEN?)
- The range of international solidarity
- Requesting and showing international solidarity
  - Appreciating differences
  - Respecting structures
    - Box: Requesting solidarity: a checklist
    - Box: Showing solidarity: a checklist
    - Box: Solidarity messages work
- Emerging forms of international solidarity
  - Pension fund money - workers’ capital
9. INTERNATIONAL SOCIAL DIALOGUE AND INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS
(ENGAGING MULTINATIONAL COMPANIES)
- Company councils
  - Box: UNI multinational union alliances
  - Box: European Works Councils
- Framework agreements
  - Box: A list of framework agreements
  - Framework agreements - definition
  - Framework agreements - contents
    - Box: The Danone – IUF framework agreement
    - Box: Framework agreements – examples of how they work
10. COMPANY INFORMATION AND RESEARCH
- Finding information
  - Box: GUFs and languages – IMF launches Russian website
  - Box: Facts about the enterprise
  - Box: Researching companies on the web
- Research and the international dimension
  - Box: The Burma campaign database – how the research is done
11. TRADE UNION CAMPAIGNS WITH AN INTERNATIONAL DIMENSION
- Why campaign
  - Box: Respect campaign
  - What is a trade union rights campaign?
    - Box: The ILO and its Committee on freedom of association
    - Box: Reporting format on violations of trade unions rights
  - What is a company campaign
    - Box: ICEM and international cybercampaigns
  - What is an organising campaign
    - Box: ITGLWF, organising, ICFTU, the World Bank and the Dominican Republic (the Grupo M story)
    - Box: Global Unions organising campaign - Unions For Women, Women For Unions
  - General campaigns
    - Box: Global Unions HIV/AIDS campaign
    - Box: ICFTU annual survey on violations of trade union rights – ICFTU country reports for the WTO on trade & labour standards
- When to campaign
- How to campaign
  - Box: Olympics campaign
  - Box: Burma campaign

APPENDICES