GLOBALISATION HAS DONE MORE FOR THE POOR THAN TRADE UNIONS

AFTER presiding over a regressive campaign that successfully persuaded the Rudd government to wind back 25 years of workplace reform, ACTU president Sharan Burrow is now seeking to be an activist on the world stage. Ms Burrow will stand for election as general secretary of the International Trade Union Confederation in Brussels, headquarters of the European Union and its coddled, subsidised army of bureaucrats.

 

Judging by its agenda, the ITUC sees its role as defending the world's workers from the perceived ills of globalisation. As well as such worthwhile goals as ending child labour, it advocates "international frameworks" for "collective bargaining, and systems of corporate governance that hold management accountable for the social impact of business activities."

 

The ideological wish-list reads like a blueprint for undermining the jobs of the 168 million workers it claims to represent. If implemented, it would do far less to lift millions of people out of poverty than global capitalism and trade have done for 50 years.

 

At least Ms Burrow's departure offers Australian unions a chance to carve out a more constructive role. This is their best hope of stemming their fall in membership, especially among the young.