- Conference
- 2016 National Delegate Conference
- Date
- 1 January 2016
- Decision
- Carried
Conference notes that negotiations are continuing on the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) and the Trade in Services Agreement (TiSA) whilst ratification process of the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) is likely to start this year.
Conference notes that the trade agreements will have a huge impact on future global trade and investment rules, covering 53 countries, over 75% of the EU economy, 80% of the US economy and the majority of the global economy accounting for two thirds of global GDP.
Conference further notes that public services have been included in all three agreements despite an unprecedented European and US public and trade union campaign. Conference believes that it is a top priority for UNISON to continue to campaign against public services being included in these treaties. All public services should be exempted and protected from every single chapter provision in the Treaties. These new international trade treaties will harm existing EU and UK labour, social, environmental and consumer standards and regulations.
These agreements could drive down trade union and employment rights by failing to enforce compliance with International Labour Organisation (ILO) core conventions. TTIP would give unprecedented power and influence to transnational corporations at the cost of rights and protections for workers, consumers and the environment. It would potentially undermine labour standards, pay, conditions and trade union rights as the United States (US) has not even ratified core ILO conventions on fundamental labour rights, such as rights to freedom of association and collective bargaining, and anti-union “right to work” policies operate in many states.
Conference notes that currently there is no enforcement mechanism agreed in the text if a corporation or country does not observe or breaches ILO conventions. Without an enforcement mechanism in place, companies will be able to infringe ILO conventions without fear of enforcement or disqualification from overseas investment. Global companies seeking to maximise profits may be encouraged to locate or secure public procurement contracts to countries with weaker labour and social rights enforcement creating global ‘social dumping’.
The treaties must not only require countries to respect the fundamental human rights set out in the eight core conventions of the International Labour Organisation (ILO) but these rights must be binding and enforceable and not just rest on a weak framework of mutual compliance.
In the TTIP draft agreement threats to the environment include proposals for the removal of ‘trade barriers’. The barriers identified include: green or sustainable public procurement, energy efficiency labels, fuel efficiency standards for cars, regulation of unconventional fossil fuel extraction including shale gas (fracking) and tar sands sustainability standards for bio energy and the banning of gases in appliances such as refrigerators and freezers.
Fundamental EU health and safety chemical practices such as Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals (REACH) and the Precautionary Principle, which aims to protect public health and the environment when there is scientific uncertainty, are both at risk.
TTIP calls for the harmonisation of regulatory standards and proposes a Regulatory Cooperation Council (RCC) to oversee regulatory ‘coherence’. This will lead to the lowering of standards rather than raising standards up. Any proposed regulations, as well as being debated and discussed within a state’s own democratic structures, would have to go to the interested ‘parties’ first and then the RRC.
Conference further believes that the RCC currently described as “manned by senior level representatives from regulators and trade representatives at the EU Commission’s Secretariat General (SG) and the US Office for Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) who shall meet twice a year, organise the work and prepare a yearly regulatory programme.” is both undemocratic and unrepresentative.
Any ‘regulatory co-operation’ should respect the principles of transparency and democratic scrutiny and allow equal engagement of all stakeholders. Regulatory co-operation should not lead to any lowering or downward harmonisation of existing regulations and should not undermine the fundamental right of governments to regulate in the public interest.
Conference further notes that the European Commission has tabled a revised version of the much criticised Investor State Dispute Settlement Mechanism (ISDS) in TTIP to try and weaken public opposition. Conference believes that the new Investment Court proposals will still mean that multi-national corporations will be able to use a private court system to sue governments who pass policies that they feel will impact on their abilities to maximise their profits. Conference therefore opposes the new proposals and resolves to campaign against them.
Conference also notes that the EU has been negotiating the Trade in Services Agreement (TiSA) with 23 other World Trade Organization members since 2013 with the aim of further liberalising trade in services by the means of reaching an international agreement that goes far beyond the existing provisions of the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS).
Conference condemns the fact that as with TTIP these negotiations are conducted in total secrecy. However, in June and July 2015, Wikileaks published the most comprehensive compendium of secret documents from the TiSA negotiations ever, revealing the full extent of the planned agreement for the first time.
TiSA contains no commitment to uphold core labour rights, and includes provisions that would allow companies to bring in workers without any requirement for core ILO labour standards or national employment rights to be respected. If these workers lose their employment, they must immediately leave the host country.
These make it apparent that TiSA might have significant detrimental implications on the working and living conditions of European workers.
They also show that the so-called ‘ratchet and standstill’ clauses are to be incorporated into TiSA with the effect of locking-in liberalisation and preventing the bringing back in-house of services.
TiSA also includes a so-called Most-favoured-nation (MFN) clause which could mean the investor-state-dispute-settlement (ISDS) mechanism applies to TiSA via the back door of other free trade agreements such as CETA or TTIP.
TiSA also contains necessity test for new regulations so that they are “no more burdensome than necessary”. The objective here is to restrict a government’s room for manoeuvre as far as regulations are concerned, thus potentially putting a downward pressure on labour, social, environmental and consumer standards.
Conference notes that negotiations on the EU-Canada Agreement, CETA, have concluded and the ratification process is due to begin in 2016. CETA poses all the threats to public services that TTIP poses, as well as the same secret courts and the ratchet clause. Although CETA commits the EU and Canada to uphold core ILO standards, there is no enforcement mechanism if labour rights are violated. Trade unions will only be able to raise concerns through ‘advisory groups’, which might lead to reports from experts, in stark contrast to the high levels of compensation potentially available to multi-nationals. (amendment 92.1) Conference further notes, that the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) and the Canadian Labour Congress (CLC) are opposed to CETA ratification. Conference therefore resolves to step-up the campaign of awareness-raising around CETA and further resolves to call on Members of the European Parliament and Westminster MPs to oppose CETA.
CETA will likely allow global corporations to ignore or challenge environmental regulations and targets to cut emissions because again there is no enforcement mechanism. “Parties” are encouraged to engage in further discussions and identify appropriate measures to decide upon a “mutually satisfactory action plan” in the event of a dispute.
The treaties will also impede a government’s ability to make new and better standards. This will drive down standards and de-regulate environmental and health and safety standards. TISA for example says that any new regulation must meet a necessity test so that they are “no more burdensome than necessary”.
Conference believes for consumers there are also real threats to the health and safety standards governing the farming and production of food involving regulation of chemically washed poultry, livestock treated with growth hormones, genetically modified seeds and fertilizers. Farmers are seeking to roll back regulations that hinder their scope for profits at the expense of food safety, local and organic farmers and animal welfare.
CETA is more likely to encourage global trade deals of increased agribusiness. The treaty will give biotech, pharmaceutical, pesticide, seed, and grain companies more rights to force farmers to buy gene patented seeds at high prices. It will almost entirely also eliminate the rights of farmers to save, re-use and sell seeds. Corporations could even seize farmers’ crops, equipment, and farms, and freeze their bank accounts if they are found with crops from patented seeds that they did not pay royalties on.
In addition, Conference reiterates its concern that the painstaking work over decades to build UK public services that are accessible to all and meet the needs of all will be unravelled if profit becomes the only driver. It notes that previous free trade agreements such as that between Mexico, Canada and the US have resulted in a rise in atypical employment, which translates as precarious jobs for workers in already marginalised sectors of the workforce, particularly those who work in public services. The most disadvantaged in society, including lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT), women, disabled, Black, young and older people, are the most reliant on public services and are most likely to be in precarious employment.
Conference calls on the National Executive Council to:
1) Continue to inform UNISON members and the general public about the dangers of TTIP, TiSA and CETA;
2) To campaign for all public services, including all public environmental services such as the Environment Agency, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, the Department of Energy and Climate Change and the Forestry Commission to be removed from all three trade agreements;
3) To campaign to make ILO conventions enforceable on all treaty ‘parties’ and make the case for strong social provisions in all the treaties to prevent global ‘social dumping’;
4) To continue to campaign to remove the role of the Regulatory Co-operation Council in TTIP and any similar regulatory governance structures in other treaties which seek to lower standards and drive deregulation in the name of ‘harmonisation’ or ‘coherence’;
5) To continue to campaign to remove the TISA proposal for new regulations to meet a necessity test so that they are “no more burdensome than necessary”;
6) Oppose the new Investment Court system which still maintains a system of privileged private courts for multi-national corporations; to continue to campaign for the abolition and public service protections against the use of ISDS or ICS challenges to domestic environmental laws in CETA/TTIP/TISA;
7) To continue to specifically campaign and work with environmental, health and safety and global justice alliances, European Federation of Public Service Unions (EPSU), Public Services International (PSI) and sister unions in the USA, Canada and TISA countries in exposing the consequences of these agreements on public services and Labour, Social, Environmental and Consumer standards and regulations;
8) Encourage branches and regions to link up with organisations locally that are campaigning against TTIP and other free trade agreements such as War on Want, 38 Degrees and Global Justice Now.
9) To mount a major campaign calling on MEPs and MPs to oppose the ratification of CETA, TTIP and TISA.
