I. Background and Rationale

Neoliberal globalization has been roundly criticized for advancing the interests of global capital at the expense of the world's majority who are faced with falling relative incomes, greater economic and social insecurity, diminished social entitlements, environmental degradation, as well as greater restrictions on the exercise of their democratic rights. Unable to deny the mounting evidence attesting to the failure of the Washington consensus to spur development, its unreconstructed advocates are blaming the victims of their neoliberal policy prescriptions for having poor institutions, bad governance and corrupt cultures. Jobless growth in particular is being blamed on inflexible labor market institutions.

Hence the Washington consensus is now being "augmented" by pushing for a more aggressive neoliberal restructuring of labor markets both in the industrialized North and the underdeveloped South. Labor markets are being "liberalized" through the introduction of "flexibility" in the application and observance of mandatory labor standards, the minimum wage, job security, the 8-hour workday and other so-called "rigidities" that hamper the freer operations of capital. Labor regulations and fiscal policies are being re-written to further encourage outsourcing and contingent employment within and across national borders. Employers' privilege to hire and fire is strengthened while the collective rights of labor are being whittled down in order to dissipate workers' solidarity, impede organizing and undermine collective forms of action and resistance.

This CONFERENCE ON JOBS AND JUSTICE aims to provide a venue for workers organizations, trade unions, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and labor advocates to exchange information on current trends in neoliberal labor market restructuring in the various global regions and share their experiences in struggle. By deepening the political and technical analysis on which their activities are rooted, the conference is expected to provide the participants and their constituents with more tools in resisting the unremitting neoliberal offensive against working people, defending workers' rights and advancing the struggle for economic and social justice.

II. Conference Objectives

This CONFERENCE ON JOBS AND JUSTICE shall bring together workers organizations, trade unions, civil society organizations, researchers and labor advocates from the South and North to:

1. share information and analyses of the trends and impact of neoliberal labor market reforms on workers and other social sectors in their respective countries or regions
2. share their experiences of struggle against these reforms and other threats to labor
3. identify issues and areas for further research, action and cooperation among the participating organizations
4. map out a common platform for advocacy and campaigning with the aim of strengthening workers rights, promoting workers organizing and building links with the struggle of other marginalized and oppressed sectors in society
5. express international solidarity and unity with unionists, labor organizers and other activists in the Philippines who are the targets of an ongoing campaign of extra-judicial killings, disappearances and other gross human rights violations perpetrated with impunity under the present regime

III. Overview of the Conference

The conference will be held at Manila on December 8-10, 2006. It shall consist of six thematic panels and two strategy sessions as follows:

Day 1: Examining Key Trends

• PANEL 1: Labor Flexibilization, Informalization & unemployment
• PANEL 2: TNC outsourcing, global supply chains (include EPZs issue) & Labor migration
• PANEL 3: WTO, regional & Bilateral "free trade" agreements
• Strategy Session 1: research & advocacy agenda

Day 2: Organizing & Resistance

• PANEL 4: On Organizing the unorganized, defending the right to organize
• PANEL 5: Struggle for jobs, wages & job security
• PANEL 6: Struggle of women workers, farmworkers & migrants
• Strategy Session 2: Organizing & Campaign Strategies

Day 3: Human Rights Day Mobilization

The strategy session at the end of Day 1 is expected to result in a proposed common research agenda for the participants in the conference. The strategy session at the end of Day 2 is expected to distill the lessons on organizing and resistance drawn from the sharing of the participants from the day's discussion. It is also hoped that the participants will come up with a common organizing and/or campaign platform.

On the third day, conference participants shall join local labor and other social activists in a public demonstration on the occasion of International Human Rights Day. The extraordinary number of extra-judicial killings, disappearances, political harassment and other gross human rights violations in the Philippines under the present government is being likened to the deplorable record of the dark years of the Marcos dictatorship, earning condemnation from local and international human rights groups such as Amnesty International and Asia Human Rights Commission. The International Confederation of Trade Unions (ICFTU) noted that "the number of labor related killings in the Philippines now places it in a similar category to Colombia, which holds the macabre record of the highest number of assassinations of trade unionists in the world. The Philippines appears to be heading rapidly towards second place." These violations are therefore a grave concern for the international labor movement and deserve vigorous condemnation.

IV. Conference Participants

The conference is open to all those who are engaged in the labor movement and committed to labor rights advocacy. Around 40-50 international participants are expected to attend, representing South and North, from workers organizations, trade unions, NGOs and other labor-related organizations or institutions. They will be joined by 10-20 local participants from various workers organizations, unions and NGOs.

V. Conference Organizers

The Conference is co-organized by the Asia-Pacific Research Network (APRN), Asia Monitor Resource Center (AMRC), Asia-Pacific Mission for Migrants (APMM) and Action, Research and Education Network of Aotearoa (ARENA). The Ecumenical Institute for Labor Education and Research (EILER) and the Asia- Pacific Workers Solidarity Links (APWSL)-Philippines shall serve as local host organizations.

VII. Logistics

Conference organizers shall provide modest food and accommodations for all participants. Owing to the limited resources of the organizers, international participants are encouraged to seek financial support for travel costs to and from Manila and other incidental expenses.

Formal invitation letters will be sent upon request and confirmation of participation. For confirmation and more information please contact secretariat@aprnet.org or solidarity@eilerinc.org.

| More...