After Seattle
Campaigners discuss British follow-on from Seattle
AROUND 150 PEOPLE from many different organisations and parts of the country gathered in London on January 15 to reflect on the hugely successful global protests against the World Trade Organisation meeting in Seattle.
The meeting considered how campaigns should develop against attempts by the US and European Union, in spite of their setback at Seattle, to push ahead with the further liberalisation of trade in the markets of the South.
Barry Coates of the World Development Movement, Chris Keene of the Green Party and Colin Hines, an anti-globalisation economist kicked off the discussion.
Click for feature on WTO at Seattle
Attending the meeting were organisations as diverse as the Green Party, Green Left, the Conference of Socialist Economists, anti-Nestle activists, the Asbestos campaign, the Socialist Workers’Party and Reclaim the Streets.
The meeting recognised that, with the WTO sidelined for the time being, it was necessary to confront all the institutions and mechanisms which are being used to promote the neoliberal agenda, not least the fledgling Transatlantic Economic Partnership as well as the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund.
It was felt that it was necessary to raise much wider public awareness about how organisations like the WTO work and whose interests they serve, and to explode the lie that free trade works to everyone’s benefit.
A representative of the Asbestos campaign explained that a decision was expected imminently from the WTO’s appeals procedure on Canada’s appeal against the EU ban on asbestos. The campaign will be organising a picket of Canada House in the event of the appeal being upheld.
The meeting also agreed that we should demand that the government refuse to comply with such a decision.
It was also necessary not simply to oppose neo-liberalism but also to propose an alternative vision of the world economy, in which trade would respect the environment and serve the needs of communities rather than the interests of multinational corporations.
Tom Wengraf from the British supporters of Le Monde Diplomatique spoke in support of a ‘Tobin tax’ on international currency transactions, and outlined plans to launch a British branch of ATTAC, the international Tobin tax campaign.
An key part of the discussion was on the question of labour standards. John Swift from Coventry TUC argued that that the international labour movement should not support demands for labour standards to be incorporated into the WTO.
Labour standards would be used in a protectionist way by rich countries against poor countries whose only competitive advantage in the world market is cheap labour.
The only way to achieve the implementation of labour standards is to use the tried and true tactics of class struggle and international solidarity. A resolution along these lines from Coventry Trades Council is being moved through the structures of the trade union movement and will hopefully be voted on at this year’s TUC.
There was some discussion about whether or not a more formal structure should be set up from the meeting and what its role should be.
Should it function as a network for exchanging information and for supporting each other’s actions, or take on the role of planning and co-ordinating activities?
There was concern that such a committee should not cut across or take over the initiatives of other organisations, for example in planning for May Day. It was agreed to set up an open committee which would organise a all day meeting in mid March
The meeting discussed future actions, including:-
the court case on Tuesday February 22 of 16 activists charged with burglary following their protest against Nestle (see box) in Halifax on November 30. As well as the support needed at the court itself, protests will also be organised against Nestle at least in London and hopefully in other places.
a meeting on Saturday February 19 to debate the launch a British branch of the ATTAC campaign (Action for a Tobin Tax on Capital)
a protest outside Canada House if the WTO rules in favour of Canada’s attempt to overturn the EU ban on asbestos imports.
In particular the meeting supported the call to build for a massive day of action against capitalism on May Day.
For further information contact Campaign against the Millennium Round c/o 16a Lambert Rd, London SW2 5BD 0171 738 3054 [email protected]