[Congressional Record Volume 147, Number 58 (Wednesday, May 2, 2001)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E697]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




       RESPECT FOR ILO CORE LABOR STANDARDS IN THE GLOBAL ECONOMY

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. GEORGE MILLER

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                         Wednesday, May 2, 2001

  Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support 
of efforts of the International Labor Organization (ILO) to ensure that 
the core labor standards are applied and enforced in every workplace 
around the world. The international community has defined these four 
core labor standards: (1) freedom of association and collective 
bargaining; (2) prohibition of forced labor; (3) prohibition of child 
labor; and (4) prohibition of workplace discrimination.
  These labor standards are the most basic and fundamental rights of 
workers everywhere, and almost every government in the world has 
pledged to uphold them. Yet many governments, including our own, too 
often turn a blind eye when these fundamental rights are violated.
  Too many workers around the world face illegal firings, death threats 
and even assassination when they try to utilize their freedom of 
association by joining a union. Last year alone, more than 100 union 
leaders in Colombia were murdered, and the Colombian government has 
granted the perpetrators of these assassinations virtual impunity. 
Closer to home, every year an estimated 10,000 American workers are 
fired just for exercising their right to join a union.
  Long after the abolition of slavery, forced labor has now resurfaced 
in the global economy. Too many women and men are tricked into debt 
schemes and then forced into indentured servitude, as we continue to 
see happening under the American Flag in places like the Northern 
Marina Islands and most recently in American Samoa. And let us be 
clear: these kinds of abuses, deceptive labor practices, often 
involving foreign nationals seeking to improve their lives by migrating 
to the United States, are not uncommon on the U.S. mainland, either.
  Too many children still spend their days in front of a sewing machine 
instead of in front of a desk in a school. And too many completely 
qualified individuals are still fired simply because of their race, 
sex, age, religion or sexual orientation.
  Our challenge is to actually enforce the fundamental, rights that 
have been agreed to by all of the member nations of the ILO. And the 
first step in enforcement is ensuring that workers, employers and 
communities across the globe are aware of the fundamental labor rights. 
That is why I rise today in favor of the ILO's global campaign to hang 
this poster, which simply lists the four core labor standards, in every 
workplace in every country of the world.
  This poster alone is not a substitute for trade agreements that 
enforce the core labor standards, but it is an important start. Those 
multinational corporations that subject their employees to poverty 
wages and dangerous working conditions are only going to change those 
practices when all of their employees know about these rights and have 
the ability to demand them within the legal process.

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