The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is one of the prime organisations behind corporate globalisation. Recently, the International Metalworkers Federation (IMF) released a document on strategies for an alternative form of globalisation. Woody Aroun* looks at what the “good” IMF offers as a different prescription to the medicine of the “bad” IMF.
At its 2001 Congress in Sydney , Australia , the International Metalworkers Federation (IMF) supported an Action Programme that would, amongst others, assess the impact of globalisation and its effect on members in the federation.
In addition the IMF would “support concrete action for economic alternatives that would challenge globalisation and its negative effect on workers.”
IMF Strategies for an Alternative Globalisation is a background paper that explores some of the economic alternatives and identifies issues for discussion amongst affiliates of the federation. The “˜good’ IMF recognises the importance of collective action and believes that the federation has to work closely with the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU) and other Global Union Federations (GUFs) to popularise economic alternatives .
Globalisation – “the promised benefits have by-and-large failed to follow”
The IMF argues that globalisation in its present form (deregulated markets, capital mobility) has not been beneficial to all.
According to the IMF, globalisation is not only about economic imperatives, but “has social, cultural, gender and political dimensions which must be specifically addressed.” Alternative goals that ensure ” equitable and sustainable growth and development” and “sufficient decent work for all” underpin the IMF’s strategic objectives for an alternative framework to globalisation.
In doing so the global metalworkers’ federation accepts that it has to challenge capital’s control over technological developments and also the power of transnational corporations (TNCs) to influence national governments’ social, cultural and environment policies.
Negotiations with TNCs that should lead to International Framework Agreements (IFAs), is one option. IFAs are signed between trade unions and TNCs and try to set minimum standards (like wages and employment conditions, including outsourcing) that the TNC and its supplier companies must adhere to.
But the IMF calls for a “new approach”. “We cannot confine ourselves to … only those issues that are central to a labour agenda,” says the federation. Those issues will not add a social dimension to globalisation. Instead what is needed is a “coherent overall strategy… under the strong leadership of the ICFTU.”
To succeed against the strength of TNCs and neo-liberal governments, it recommends that the trade union movement combine with “a broad range of social movements who share the trade union movement’s fundamental democratic values and aspirations”.
Human, worker rights and participatory democracy are crucial elements of this action programme.
But equally important pillars are job creation and purchasing power, debt cancellation and development assistance, regulating capital movements, the reform of the global institutions of governance and gender equity.
The five pillars
Job creation and purchasing power
The IMF proposes a world-wide plan to promote full employment and the favouring of domestic consumption and investment. The IMF lists a number of ways to stimulate job creation:
economic agreements, lending agreements and assistance must be tailored to the circumstances of individual countries and should not be tied to conditions that force the implementation of neo-liberal policies or that require the purchase of goods and services from the creditor countries
transfer required technologies to developing countries to stimulate job creation
international economic policies and trade agreements “must be made subject to environmental and human rights criteria.”
It also wants to reverse the current “restrictive economic policies” like budget balancing, high interest rates. And it wants to see governments promoting domestic consumption rather than concentrating on export production as the only way to boost economic growth.
debt cancellation
The IMF believes that the debt of the poorest countries and those that owe the most, must be cancelled or relieved. The countries that benefit from the debt relief must plough their savings into job creation or to improve health, housing, education and the environment.Official development assistance must be increased.
regulating capital movements Financial markets must be redesigned to favour long and medium term productive investment. The IMF wants capital movements to be regulated and suggests a tax (Tobin Tax) be placed on all speculative money flows. This tax could then be used to fund development.
Reforming global institutions of governance
It wants to see the reform of the rules and policies of the “global institutions of governance” like the WTO and International Monetary Fund (IMF).
It also urges more transparency in these institutions with the right of social movements (including trade unions) to present their views to them and consult with them.
It wants the International Labour Organisation to have stronger powers including enforcement powers and its views integrated into the decision making processes of the WTO and the International Financial Institutions (IFIs).
Democratic rights, participatory democracy, human and workers rights as well as environmental and social standards must form part of the rules of all multilateral institutions.
gender equity
The IMF seeks to redress gender inequalities and places a heavy premium on gender equality. “We must therefore ensure that the lending policies and agreements of the IFIs and the WTO integrate a gender perspective”
What should Numsa be doing?
At a national level it suggests that IMF affiliates like Numsa should work closely with their federations to “influence governments and the missions of global institutions of governance.”
Trade unions should identify potential allies, prioritise policies that they want implemented and draw up a mobilisation plan together with these allies to achieve these policies.
Discussion points:
How does the IMF document compare with the proposed resolutions to Numsa congress?
Are there any recommendations that are in the IMF document that you think should be taken up in Numsa’s congress and adopted? What are they?