WHEREAS:
U.S. trade negotiators at the World Trade Organization (WTO) are currently seeking to expand an existing trade agreement called the General Agreement on Trade in Services, or GATS, by extending it to more sectors and by creating new rules that will further limit how governments around the world regulate and provide services in the public interest; and
WHEREAS:
Negotiators want to pry open countries' markets to foreign service providers without adequate public discussion or any clear assessment of the impacts this will have on workers' rights, public services, the environment, and social and economic development. GATS rules could further facilitate the privatization and deregulation of services in a broad range of sectors; and
WHEREAS:
Even rules that treat foreign and domestic service suppliers the same could be challenged at the WTO if foreign investors feel these rules unduly constrain their competitiveness. This could affect rules setting standards for professional licensing and certification, safeguarding public health and safety, ensuring universal access to basic services, controlling monopolies, and protecting workers' rights and the environment; and
WHEREAS:
Because public services can be subject to GATS (except in narrow circumstances where no private providers compete with government services), WTO members can challenge domestic policies that protect governmental services if they believe these policies put private providers at a competitive disadvantage, even where government involvement is necessary to guarantee access to essential services in areas such as health care, education, public safety and utilities; and
WHEREAS:
WTO rules will also penalize governments that reverse privatization actions, even if such privatization has lowered service quality or has led to less public accountability and access; and
WHEREAS:
Negotiators may place additional limits on government involvement with the service sector by further restricting public subsidies and controlling the way governments purchase services for their own use, which could subject public grants, loans, tax incentives, and other aid to challenge and could threaten responsible contracting rules and living wage laws.
THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED THAT:
Given these potentially serious and far-reaching consequences, negotiations should be suspended until a full and open assessment of GATS is completed; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED
That this assessment must address how GATS negotiations will affect the provision of public services, the use of government subsidies and responsible procurement policies, the effective regulation of services, and the protection of workers' rights, the environment, and human rights; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED
That as a condition of future negotiations, GATS, like all trade agreements, must include enforceable commitments to protect the environment and workers' rights, which are defined by the International Labor Organization to include freedom of association, the right to organize and bargain collectively, and prohibitions on child labor, forced labor, and discrimination in employment; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED
That service sector workers, like all workers, must be able to freely exercise their fundamental rights if the benefits of increased trade and investment are to be broadly shared, and if the global economy is to work for working families; and
BE IT FINALLY RESOLVED
That all essential public services, like health care, education, public safety and utilities - including public services provided in competition with the private sector - must be clearly excluded from GATS. The United States must not use our negotiating leverage to convince other countries to make commitments to privatize services. Countries must be free to reverse existing commitments to privatize essential services if they determine that it is in the public interest to do so. Rules on subsidies and procurement must fully protect the ability of governments to support and purchase services in ways that promote service quality, economic development, social justice and equity, public health, environmental quality, and human and workers' rights.
SUBMITTED BY:
Roger Moller, President and Delegate
AFSCME Local 109, Council 2
Washington