Trade Unionists Again Nice Press Launch

by Larkin Thu Oct 10, 2002 19:23

Please

by data flow Wed Oct 09, 2002 10:25

Mick's article was in the IT on 30/9. (don't have text at the moment). It was the first published comment on article 133 and privatisation.

The trade union bureaucracy the wheeled out David Beggs who wrote:

The EU is committed to ethical regulation of world trade and protecting the
rights of workers here and around the globe, writes David Begg
Workers and their families can help to bring about a fairer, safer Europe by
voting in favour of the Nice Treaty.
The characteristics of a fairer Europe I would define as a Europe which
combines economic efficiency with individual freedom and social justice, and
reduces inequality of incomes to the maximum extent possible in a modern
economy. A fairer Europe would also place a priority on the quality of life
over mere financial wealth, and pursue an ethical foreign policy aimed at
eliminating poverty in the developing world.
These are values which are inherently European and which inspired Monnet,
Schumann and, in particular, the trade unionists who collaborated to
initiate the European project after the second World War.
They are values which inspired the vision of Jacques Delors in later years
when he advocated the primacy of a political and social Europe and not just
a common market. As we see it, this vision is now under considerable threat
from a model of globalisation which is driven from the United States and
which eschews all considerations other than maximising shareholder value. We
are out to preserve and defend the European social model and we believe that
we can best do that by voting Yes in the referendum.
Some people on the centre-left of politics share our analysis of the dangers
of globalisation but take an opposing viewpoint on the relevance of the Nice
Treaty to that debate. They see the treaty as an integral part of an agenda
to extend the influence of big business into public services and the gradual
erosion of public space in the economy. We see it as a potential brake on
that process.
Specifically, it was argued in an article by trade unionist Mick O'Reilly in
this newspaper on Monday that Article 133 of the Treaty of Nice is an
agreement designed to deregulate markets for the benefit of business. He
argued that by introducing qualified majority voting, it would be easier for
the EU to conclude agreements at WTO level which override the policies of
national governments and, contrary to their wishes, allow private-sector
involvement in the delivery of health and education services. It was further
argued that national governments would be able to get off the hook by
claiming that they were outvoted by their colleagues on the Council of
Ministers and had no option but to allow privatisation.
These assertions are not correct. Article 133 provides that decisions on
educational services, social and human health services and cultural services
are to be taken, not by qualified majority, but with the agreement of all
member-states.
It was implied in Mick O'Reilly's article that the change to qualified
majority voting would mean that Ireland could no longer prevent the EU from
releasing the uncontrolled forces of laissez-faire capitalism in its trade
negotiations with the developing world.
Actually, the EU has by far the most progressive policy in its international
agreements. The Cotonou Agreement with over 70 African and Caribbean
countries provides for transfers of EUR14 billion over the next few years.
The EU is alone among the major powers in pushing for the inclusion of core
labour standards in international agreements.
The current preoccupation on the extension of qualified majority voting on
the part of opponents of the Nice Treaty is hard to understand. The only
country to make any substantial use of the veto was Britain which, under
Margaret Thatcher and John Major, blocked successive attempts to introduce
social legislation of benefit to workers. The extension of qualified
majority voting under the Nice Treaty is, from our perspective, a positive
development.
As a general point, our view in the Irish Congress of Trade Unions is that
globalisation must be controlled and used to benefit people - not to
impoverish them or to increase the trend towards inequality which is so
evident in our time.
This requires governance structures at a global level, and the only way to
bring that about is through the European Union. The Americans will not do
it, and the only political entity capable of achieving ethical regulation of
world trade is the EU.
IT is essential that Europe should be restored to its natural geographic
space with an enlarged population of 550 million people so that its
influence on the process of globalisation can be maximised. If anyone
seriously thinks that Ireland, with our extraordinary dependence on US
investment, can seriously challenge the values of US global capital on our
own, they are not living in the real world.
We believe it is necessary to look beyond the Nice Treaty and to focus on
the outcome of the Convention on the Future of Europe. This is where the
really key decisions will be made.
We want to see social policy objectives given the same status as trade and
economic objectives. This can best be done by incorporating the Charter of
Fundamental Rights into the treaties. As of now the charter has the status
of a political declaration but it does not have legal force.
There are two articles under the solidarity chapter which have a real and
immediate importance for everyone concerned with workers' rights and
defending public services. Article 28 confers the right to collective
bargaining and collective action to defend the right of access to services
of general economic interest. It is potentially a powerful antidote to the
creeping privatisation of public services which are a feature of
globalisation.
This is where the real battleground will be. We would prefer to be able to
fight this battle together with the organised workers in the applicant
countries and under the banner of the European Trade Union Confederation
(ETUC). If Nice is rejected, the workers in the applicant countries will not
easily forgive us, organised labour will be divided and our capacity to
achieve a good outcome at the convention will be diminished.
The great failure of organised labour in the last century was our inability
to prevent the first World War. In Ireland, the emphasis of our history has
insulated us from the reality of the conflicts which claimed so many lives
in Europe.
For the working people of Europe, the peace which the EU has delivered is
not some kind of optional extra added on to the real business of commerce
and free markets. And there is still much to do to guarantee the long-term
stability of central and eastern Europe. By virtue of its past failures, the
trade union movement has a particular responsibility to support all
political programmes that secure peace. The Nice Treaty is another step on
the road to making Europe safer.
ICTU believes enlargement is the right course for Europe because it reduces
the risk of further destabilising conflict fuelled by extreme nationalism.
It offers the people of the accession countries the prospect of economic
development such as Ireland has achieved. It consolidates the position of
organised labour to advocate an economic and social order that is an
alternative to the free-booting capitalism of the US and it creates a
stronger bloc of countries to force the establishment of a global system of
governance which has a better chance of bringing about sustainable
development in the world at large.
We are asking workers to vote Yes to secure their futures in a safer, fairer
Europe.
David Begg is general secretary of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions, and a
member of The Irish Times Trust

by real trade unions Wed Oct 09, 2002 00:31

does anyone have the article 133 piece that Mick O Reilly from the ATGWU wrote 2 weeks ago in one of the newspapers, I believe it was very good.

by ictu sellout Wed Oct 09, 2002 00:28

Great to see this group instead of phoney labour ictu trade unionists, who love to support the eu or any empire that will give them a few crumbs or well paid jobs. I got one of their leaflets at the march on friday and it looked very good, I bet rte wont give them much airtime though.