Barkley on WTO, etc

rc-am rcollins at netlink.com.au
Mon Dec 20 12:15:41 PST 1999



> Rakesh Bhandari wrote:
>
> >I don't see how bans on imports produced by non-unionized, terrorized or
> >child labor will improve the conditions of workers.
>
> How are such bans different from a boycott, an ancient labor tactic
> (and one highly restricted under U.S. law)?
>
> Doug

they sound to me like a way of legitimating bans on imports in a climate where the import of cheap manufactured goods is seen as a problem.

if indeed it is a boycott relating to a campaign around working age, then why doesn't it cover things made by child labour in the US as well (presumably the US has child labour like australia does, mostly in the informal parts of the economy and growing)? or, if it's the kind of boycott that seeks to pressure a country's ruling class into giving into demands of a movement there, then why aren't there specific demands attached, as was the case with the boycott SA campaigns? (how many organisations of child workers in poor countries support the import ban?)

which is to say, the criteria of a boycott are missing: as part of a campaign to eliminate or enshrine certain labour practices, or part of an international solidarity movement where the call for a boycott came from there.

Angela _________



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