Moving towards Trade Justice? Labour movements and ‘free trade’.

As a result of the Covid-19 pandemic disrupting global value chains and geo-political rivalry especially between China and the US, the global ‘free’ trade regime has come under increasing pressure. On 7 May 2021, trade union researchers, academics and activists came together for an online workshop co-organised by Oxford Brookes University and the Centre for the Study of Social and Global Justice (CSSGJ), Nottingham University, to explore whether this could be the moment for labour movements from around the world moving towards an alternative trade regime, based on social justice. In this blog post, I will reflect on some of the key findings. 

 

First, workshop participants pointed out that ‘free trade’ is ultimately an ideological concept, which provides capital with maximum flexibility, free of labour rights and environmental restrictions. Of course, labour/social clauses have been developed to ensure that some positive effects of free trade agreements (FTAs) are also felt by working people. Research has, however, demonstrated that there has been no ‘trickle-down’ into workplaces (Smith et al 2021). These clauses are just a fig leave to secure social democratic support without any real ambition to ameliorate the conditions for working people on the ground. Ultimately, there is an asymmetry in power between capital and labour, which is reflected in the toothlessness of these clauses. The current neo-liberal ‘free’ trade regime is clearly a capitalist project to strengthen its position vis-à-vis labour further.

 

Second, when thinking about alternatives, we need to remember that FTAs and related liberalisation had already been challenged in the past by progressive labour movements in Asia and Europe during the 1990s (Ranald 1999). The WTO Doha negotiations round was finally abandoned in 2008 in view of widespread and persistent protests and more recent mobilisations derailed the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) (Hilary 2015). Importantly, progressive struggles have always included an internationalist dimension of solidarity with working people in other countries. Trump’s rejection of the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPPA) may at first sight resemble the opposition to TPPA by an alliance of trade unions and social movements, but his underlying nationalist and xenophobic rationale was rather different.

 

Moreover, we need to remember the uneven and combined dynamics underpinning the global political economy including the legacy of imperialism, which implies for different national labour movements rather diverse challenges. Similarly, the precise dynamics may differ from industrial sector to sector. Hence, an alternative trade regime must pursue a differentiated approach towards trade justice. And there is hope. The position of labour movements on free trade is not fixed, but changes over time. Even in the Swedish labour movement, often very outspoken in its support of ‘free’ trade, there are increasing differences in position and tensions over free trade. It is more contested than we often perceive it.

 

Finally, trade unions have traditionally focused on the defence of jobs. Is this now the time that they should abandon this approach, which often ties them too closely to the interests of particular national or sectoral fractions of capital? Perhaps, the focus should instead shift on defending the working class as a whole?

 

Short summaries of most of the papers can be accessed at War on Want.

Andreas Bieler

Professor of Political Economy

University of Nottingham/UK

Andreas.Bieler@nottingham.ac.uk

Personal website: http://andreasbieler.net

16 June 2021