Presentation is loading. Please wait.

Presentation is loading. Please wait.

T HE EU-I NDIA FTA: S AFEGUARDING L ABOUR AND E NVIRONMENTAL R IGHTS 22 January 2014

Similar presentations


Presentation on theme: "T HE EU-I NDIA FTA: S AFEGUARDING L ABOUR AND E NVIRONMENTAL R IGHTS 22 January 2014"— Presentation transcript:

1 T HE EU-I NDIA FTA: S AFEGUARDING L ABOUR AND E NVIRONMENTAL R IGHTS 22 January 2014 Georgios.Altintzis@ituc-csi.org

2 S USTAINABILITY I MPACT A SSESSMENT “The reallocation of labour – especially in the short run – may lead to lower levels of job security in the short run, but will mean higher levels of job security and work quality in the long-run, especially when ILO Core Labour Standards and Decent Work are taken into account.”

3 L ABOUR TRENDS IN E UROPE Non-regular forms of employment are on the rise Women and young people are disproportionately represented Since 2008, temporary and part-time work increased in 22 EU countries Rapid growth of agency work Spain, 30.9% of all employment Main job a part-time job: 19.5% (2011) (from 16.2% in 2001) the Netherlands (49.1% in 2011), the United Kingdom, Germany, Sweden, Denmark and Austria (25% to 27%) Fixed-term employment: 14.0% (2011) tendency to increase Poland and Spain, Portugal (20%-22.2 %)

4 L ABOUR TRENDS IN S OUTH A SIA Growth did not deliver significant numbers of better jobs and decent work Economic growth in the 2000s largely from productivity gains rather than job creation (“jobless growth”) India’s case: total employment grew by 60 million in 2000- 2005 and 2.7 million from 2005 to 2010 Labour force participation rate for women is 31.8% (2012) Informality Large part in agriculture, urban informal and unprotected jobs in the formal economy India, the share of formal employment has declined from 9% (2000) to 7% (2010), despite record growth rates

5 H OW COULD THIS FTA INCREASE INFORMALITY IN I NDIA ? Anushree Sinha, 2011, Trade and the informal economy, Trade and Employment ‘From Myths to Facts’, EU/ILO Bacchetta, M; Ernst, E.; Bustamante, J.P. 2009. Globalization and Informal Jobs in Developing Countries, ILO-WTO Co-publication, Geneva.

6 L ABOUR AND OTHER CONDITIONALITY EC claims that the Sustainable Development chapter is binding and enforceable It is actually toothless EU-Korea FTA DAGs experience Problematic representation in the Korean DAG If a party fails to implement the recommendations of the ‘enforcement body’, there is nothing else that can be done Good parts: Civil society is there Structured participation protects the body

7 T HE T RADE U NIONS ’ PROPOSAL Maintain and implement national laws and regulations, including those issued by sub-national structures Non-derogation provisions to prevent parties from weakening or waiving labour standards Fundamental labour rights conventions Adherence with the following governance ILO Conventions: No. 81 Labour Inspection Convention No. 122 Employment Policy Convention No. 129 Labour Inspection (Agriculture) Convention No 144 Tripartite Consultation (International Labour Standards) Convention Up to date ILO Conventions Acceptable conditions of work: wages, hours of work, OSH etc. A system of identifying and preventing the import of products made with forced labour and worst forms of child labour at the border

8 T HE T RADE U NIONS ’ PROPOSAL Dispute settlement mechanism Clearly defined stages of procedure including time frames A submission process open to any person of any party to the agreement, Cooperative consultations and arbitration with binding decisions Suspension of benefits, not monetary assessments Sanctions must be sufficiently stringent - a sanction floor Benefits suspension should first be targeted at the tariffs lines corresponding to the sector in which the violation occurred, broadened to include the tariff lines of a related sector or sectors. The sanction should increase by 50% for every year of non-compliance

9 T HE T RADE U NIONS ’ PROPOSAL After procedures that guarantee labour standards are in, there could be: A Labour Affairs Council consisting of cabinet-level officials to oversee the implementation A forum for civil society (for instance, DAGs) that produces research and regular, independent reports on the implementation In general the institutions should: Be appropriately resourced with regard to international benchmarks Include genuinely tripartite governance and consultation structures Coordinate, where appropriate, with the ILO and other relevant organizations


Download ppt "T HE EU-I NDIA FTA: S AFEGUARDING L ABOUR AND E NVIRONMENTAL R IGHTS 22 January 2014"

Similar presentations


Ads by Google