STOP MAI

MEDIA RELEASE -for immediate release, 23 July, 2001 Authorised by the STOP-MAI Campaign Coalition (WA) Website http://members.iinet.net.au/~jenks/fair.html Affiliated with the Australian Fair Trade and Investment Network (AFTInet) and with the World Social Forum (WSF)

Official: International trade unions
to oppose WTO

The International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU) whose steering committee met in Genoa during the G8 Summit, has resolved to stage a Global Unions' Day of Action on 9 November to mark the opening day of the next Ministerial Conference of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) in Doha, Qatar.

The ICFTU represents more than 156 million workers in 221 affiliated organisations in 148 countries and territories.

"The purpose of the Day of Action is to mark the unwillingness of trade unions to accept the negative effects that globalisation is imposing on workers around the world, and draw attention to the serious deficiencies in the world trading system at the present time," said ICFTU General Secretary Bill Jordan.

The world's Unions will be demanding that the WTO act immediately to:

• Protect workers' rights from the exploitation that results from world trade;

• Reform the world trading system to benefit the poor in developing countries;

• Exclude universal public education and health services from WTO rules;

• Provide cheap and affordable medicines to fight diseases like HIV/AIDS; and

• Open up the WTO system to consultation with trade unions and other democratic representatives of civil society.

StopMAI and all other Australian antiglobalist movements are bound to support the unions' Day of Action, which will be co-ordinated at global level and delivered at a local level, taking the form of diverse actions to be determined in individual countries ranging from stoppages and demonstrations to workplace discussions, public meetings and high-profile attention-getting activities.

Many other Australian and international November protest actions are being prepared to coincide with the WTO summit in Qatar, a state which does not tolerate the free expression of public opinion.

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CONTACT the ICFTU Press Department on +32 2 224 0232 or +32 476 62 10 18.