Subject: [cwj 51] Labor Unions Appeal to G-8 Leaders
From: Corporate Watch in Japanese <cwj@corpwatch.org>
Date: Wed, 05 Jul 2000 15:28:51 -0700
Seq: 51
Wednesday July 5, 2000 Labor Unions Appeal to G-8 Leaders By J.L. HAZELTON Associated Press Writer TOKYO (AP) -- An international band of union leaders urged the world's richest nations Wednesday to address the inequities of globalization when they meet at a summit later this month in southern Japan. ``Our goal must be development -- development that is democratically equitable as well as socially and environmentally sustainable,'' AFL-CIO President John Sweeney said. Faster growth and higher living standards are possible if support is given to those who have not benefited from the global economy, said Sweeney, head of the United States' mightiest labor federation. Sustainable development includes attention to consumers' concerns about genetically modified foods and to possible effects on people who work in biotechnology, the leaders said. The possibility of full employment, action on promised debt relief for developing nations and the reinforcement of labor standards worldwide are some of the issues the Group of Eight leaders must address, said John G. Evans, general secretary of the trade union advisory committee to The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. Firmer rules on international financial markets to prevent another crisis like the one that hit Asia in 1997 should also be discussed, Evans said. Other goals include addressing trade imbalances, particularly that of the United States, and strengthening independent unions, Sweeney said. Traditionally, labor leaders from the G-8 nations meet ahead of a summit and present a statement to the head of the host country, in this case, Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori. The summit runs from July 21-23 on the island of Okinawa. The document will be presented to the leaders of the other G-8 countries as well: the United States, Russia, Germany, France, Britain, Canada and Italy. Mori told the union leaders there will be no success without the support of business as well as labor and urged them to take their message home to their own governments, Evans said. FAIR USE NOTICE. This document contains copyrighted material whose use has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. Corporate Watch in Japanese is making this article available in our efforts to advance understanding of ecological sustainability, human rights, economic democracy and social justice issues. We believe that this constitutes a 'fair use' of the copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. If you wish to use this copyrighted material for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use', you must obtain permission from the copyright owner. ------------------------------------- Corporate Watch in Japanese Transnational Resource and Action Center (TRAC) P.O. Box 29344 San Francisco, CA 94129 USA Tel: 1-415-561-6472 Fax: 1-415-561-6493 Email: cwj@corpwatch.org URL: http://www.corpwatch-jp.org ------------------------------------- ______________________ The Corporate Watch in Japanese http://www.corpwatch.org/japan (CWJ) mailing list is a moderated email list in English designed to connect activists campaigning against Japanese corporations and investments around the world. * To unsubscribe from the CWJ mailing list, send an email to majordomo@jca.apc.org with text "unsubscribe cwj". To subscribe to the CWJ mailing list, send a message to majordomo@jca.apc.org with the text "subscribe cwj" * The CWJ mailing list is NOT intended for wide distribution. If you would like to post messages from this list somewhere else, we ask that you first contact us at cwj@corpwatch.org ______________________