Trade Unions and DFID: Working Together to Eliminate Poverty

April 2000 (updated November 2001)

Contents

Engaging with Civil Society: Trade Unions and DFID working together | International labour movements in a developing world | Key areas for co-operation | Ten Trade Union initiatives which DFID will support | Requirements for activities supported by DFID | Programmes, Funds, Initiatives: how partnership can develop

Engaging with Civil Society: Trade Unions and DFID working together

There have been trade unions in Britain for over 150 years – and today there are unions in virtually every country in the world. The International Confederation of Free Trade Unions currently has 124 million members in 137 countries. Working on a simple principle – that while employers might be able to ignore the views of a single worker, they have to take notice if many workers speak with one voice – unions have been at the forefront of social change in countries as far apart as South Africa and Poland.

They are often key democratic institutions in partner countries of the Department for International Development (DFID): the progress they make in securing better conditions for their members is often progress in tackling the conditions in which poverty thrives. If trade unions promote human rights in the workplace, international labour standards, fair industrial relations, productivity and adult learning – they are, of course, also fighting poverty.

The strengthening of trade unions worldwide strengthens civil society which helps reduce poverty and promote social and economic justice. In a recent consultation DFID identified five areas which are central to its links with civil society: advocacy; development awareness; capacity building; service delivery; and special services in times of crisis.

Closer partnership between DFID and unions will particularly enhance the first three of these categories. Development proceeds fastest where there is an active civil society, where people hold their governments to account, demand that they do better, speak out against corruption, urge faster progress. Just as unions have been instrumental in achieving social reform in this country, they can increasingly drive forward economic and social reform in developing countries.

"Heading up our government’s efforts to reduce global poverty, takes me to countries with large numbers of malnourished and illiterate people. These visits have caused me to reflect a great deal on the days when equally bad conditions were common in the UK and whether we could apply the lessons of how we made progress across the world.

"In 1847, average life expectancy in Surrey was 45, in London 37 and in Liverpool a shocking 26. These are the levels of life expectancy now in the poorest countries of the world. That is the parallel with our own history. The history of the British trade union Movement (and of the Labour Party) is the history of Britain’s struggle, first for democracy and then for social justice: a struggle to ensure that the wealth created by industrialisation was fairly shared by all people and that education, healthcare, decent housing and a decent income was available to all. Clearly that job is not complete.

"However, many people in the world today exist in poverty and squalor as bad as it was in Britain in the 1850s. For example, in Sierra Leone average life expectancy is 35; in Bolivia, 70 per cent of people are malnourished; in India, one-third of the population of nearly one billion people live in extreme poverty. The parallel between the 1850s and now is very striking. Today, globalisation is causing massive economic and social change. Huge wealth is being created, but we are also seeing an enormous growth in inequality between countries and within countries.

"Globalisation is as big an historical shift as was the change from feudalism to industrialisation. That earlier shift remade the political and economic landscape of the world. It brought economic growth but unequal benefits, and it gave birth to the trade union Movement. It was the trades unions which realised earlier on that industrialisation was here to stay, but that it must be managed.. And so it is today. Global economic integration and interdependence is a reality. Our common challenge is to manage the globalisation process equitably and sustainably."

Extracted from Clare Short’s speech to the TUC, 1999

International labour movements in a developing world

At the heart of the Government’s development policy is a commitment to the international development targets – targets for poverty reduction agreed by the world’s governments at UN conferences of the past decade. The main goal is to halve the proportion of the world’s population living in abject poverty by 2015. That is one billion people who have to make the journey out of extreme poverty within fifteen years. Associated targets include universal primary education, reproductive healthcare for all, reductions in infant and maternal mortality, as well as beginning to reverse the degradation of the environment. All by 2015.

The global contribution of Trade Unions

Trade Unions have a tradition of helping organise workers for democratic and developmental purposes. They are respected for promoting workers’ education and information programmes and building mutual understanding across a variety of social, cultural, political, organisational and geographical divisions. Trade unions promote good communication, understanding, and fairness within the enterprises from which they emerge.

When good relations are established between workers, managers, and owners this enhances productivity and the quality of working life. At their best unions have been vital advocates in promoting human rights, core labour standards, and social responsibility in business, consumption, and investment. They are also important pressure groups supporting government efforts to develop and sustain legislative and institutional frameworks which guarantee human rights particularly in the workplace.

Perhaps more than most organisations, they remind employers, planners, and policy-makers that economic development must generate social justice and quality of life – rather than being an end in itself. In some countries unions give voice to large numbers of disadvantaged people – but they could do this in many others too. As the largest and often best resourced of civil society organisations in some countries, the status of trade unions offers them a key role in helping the poor and least advantaged. With their shared principles of human rights and justice, trade unions worldwide have a unique legitimacy – and a central role to play in the elimination of poverty.

DFID and Trade Unions: a partnership of mutual benefit

While it is not the raison d’être of trade unions to promote poverty reduction, a revitalised partnership with DFID could strengthen this role while simultaneously strengthening union organisation in poorer countries. For example, unions often represent comparatively privileged workers who have the more secure full-time jobs in formal sectors. Working with DFID and through strategic partnerships with other civil society groups, government, and businesses, unions might help build representative organisations among unorganised informal-sector workers – where the poorest are concentrated – and begin addressing the rights of work seekers.

Or, to take another example, if the work of trade unions is hampered by unfavourable political and economic conditions in some countries, working with DFID and other international agencies to influence that political and economic environment could have wider benefits for the poor. A particularly valuable role of a closer partnership between DFID and Trade Unions would be stronger advocacy of policies designed to help poor countries benefit from the effects of globalisation.

Key areas for co-operation

Three essential areas for co-operation between DFID and trade unions would help forge a significant partnership for social justice and development.

Child Labour / Core Labour Standards

There are some 250 million working children in developing countries. Most work because of the need to provide income for their desperately poor families. Children are often engaged in forced, exploitative or dangerous employment which threatens their health and mental development. DFID supports a range of initiatives in this area, such as the programme to remove children from the football stitching industry in Sialkot in Pakistan.

We are also working to strengthen the role of the International Labour Organisation (ILO) in promoting core labour standards across the world. Efforts of trades unionists worldwide helped secure adoption of a new ILO Convention outlawing the worst forms of child labour. We must now establish practical strategic programmes which put this Convention into practice, allowing children to move out of work and into school and create conditions in which parents are no longer dependent on their children’s income but instead earn a decent income to support their family.

Working with Business

In Britain, trade unions increasingly work in partnership with employers in order to benefit the workforce, the business and economic vitality. But dialogue with employers can also strengthen the rights of workers in developing countries, through encouraging a greater understanding among employers of the potential economic gains which a well-treated workforce can bring. For example, the DFID supported-Ethical Trading Initiative brings together trade unions, business – particularly major British retailers – and non-governmental organisations to examine supply chains in poorer countries against an agreed Code of Conduct, including key commitments on labour standards. Trade unions are no strangers to this kind of development awareness work but its potential remains huge.

Union members provide a bedrock of knowledge about employee/employer relationships. Apart from links with international trades unions, there is a mutual interest in protecting the poorest by ensuring globalisation does not create declining labour standards that threaten the condition of workers in industrialised countries. If we protect the labour standards of the poorest people we ensure they are not used against the labour standards of workers in industrialised countries.

Reaching out to the Poorest

The very poorest people are rarely in the organised workforce. While unions have an interest in organising the unorganised, they also have an interest in supporting economic development for poor people who are not in a position to join trades unions. The best international trade unionism is about speaking up for the poor and the oppressed – unionised or not.

High levels of economic growth in very unequal societies have a limited effect on reducing poverty because the poor start with such a small share. In less unequal societies economic growth has greater impact on reducing poverty. This is familiar territory to the trade union movement and needs to be taken forward in the poorest countries which are often the most unequal.

Ten Trade Union initiatives which DFID will support

1. Promoting the awareness and implementation of workers’ rights and core labour standards worldwide, through improvements in government policies, legislative frameworks, and company codes of conduct.

UK trade union representatives have taken part in consultations with DFID in connection with the Global March against Child Labour, with the ILO Convention on the Worst forms of Child Labour, with the Ethical Trading Initiative, and the Know How Fund’s strategies for Eastern Europe and Newly Independent States. DFID’s Workers Group Development Scheme (WGDS) funded the TUC’s partnership with the National Union of Namibian Workers to develop strategies to implement and raise awareness on new legislation for equal opportunities.

2. Strengthening the organisation and representation of workers particularly in informal sectors and among disadvantaged categories such as contract labourers and migrant labourers.

DFID funded War on Want’s support to the Bangladesh Farm Labourers Federation, which is strengthening farmworkers unions through strategic planning, training in legal rights, and development of basic literacy skills. DFID also funded the Commonwealth Trade Union Council (CTUC)’s partnership with the Sierra Leone Labour Congress and the Malawi Trades Union Congress to develop trade union outreach to unorganised women workers in small and medium size enterprises. DFID co-funded One World Action’s support for the establishment of the Rural People’s Institute for Social Empowerment in Namibia, which gave assistance to Namibian farmers’ unions and related organisations in disadvantaged communal farming areas.

3. Spreading benefits to poorer people outside of union structures. This might be through promoting environmental controls on industry or through adult education.

DFID co-funded with the Intermediate Technology Development Group (ITDG) the Kenya Improved Stone Workers Project which addresses the needs of some of the 10,000 people who work in stone quarrying, linking them with unions and developing between workers, employers, and regulative bodies.

4. Reducing gender inequality by strengthening the roles and organisation of women in trade unions, and by mainstreaming sound gender policies and practices throughout the labour movement.

DFID supported the TUC/AFRO Women Into Leadership and Negotiating Skills for Women projects linking women trade union leaders from Southern, East, and West Africa. DFID with the Active Learning Centre, co-funded the Kenya Working Women’s Organisation, established by women trade unionists. The Department also co-funded the Legal Assistance Trust’s human rights work in South Africa, which helped the Self-Employed Women’s Union develop its constitution.

5. Strengthening national and international anti-poverty policies by enabling disadvantaged workers to influence governments, businesses, financial institutions and trade union structures.

The DFID West Bengal Sexual Health Project supported the development of a proto-union, the sex workers’ Mahila Samanwaya Committee, which campaigns for fairer government and policing of sex work.

6. Improving the organisational quality of trade unions in poorer countries by strengthening their democratic processes, leadership, membership base, administrative and research capabilities, accountability, and transparency.

Programmes in India, southern and western Africa and the Caribbean, funded by DFID through the CTUC. have improved trade union organisation, notably in finance, educational provision, communication and networking.

7. Developing partnerships between trade unions and governments, businesses and labour-related civil society organisations.

DFID supported the TUC’s partnership with the Industrial Health Research Group in Cape Town, a labour support NGO which works in partnership with local and national government, trade unions, NGOs, and employers to develop better preventative measures, diagnoses, cures and compensation for occupational health hazards.

8. Eliminating child labour, with particular focus on the worst forms of child labour as detailed in the ILO convention.

DFID co-funded with Christian Aid the work of the South Asian Coalition of Child Servitude both in India and internationally as lead organiser of the Global March against child labour.

9. Promoting awareness of development among the UK workforce. And linked to this the responsibilities of global citizenship, ethical consumerism and investment – through trade union education and publicity based on international development experience.

DFID funded the Transport and General Workers Union to establish a new orientation within their education programme towards development awareness and awareness of international issues.

10. Improving knowledge and understanding of labour movements and workers organisation by conducting research and promoting findings.

For example: DFID funded a worldwide survey of trade unions and international development by Labour and Society International. The TUC’s DFID-funded support for National Union of Namibian Workers helped to establish the Labour Resource and Research Institute as a research and information service.

Requirements for activities supported by DFID

Criteria that must be met include:

• Poverty reduction. This may be through working directly in support of poor people, unionised or not; through broader based actions which help wider groups but include the poor; or through actions which strengthen the preconditions for poverty reduction and help create an environment which facilitates it.
• Issues of gender inequality should always be taken into account.
• Leadership training should attempt to increase the participation of disadvantaged workers in union leadership.
• Trade unions would need to illustrate comparative advantage or complementarity to the work of other agencies and that they are not merely acting as a channel of funds.
• DFID will not fund core union business (such as basic shop steward training and representational work) or work that is linked to the strengthening of any political party.
• Have clear strategies for strengthening the capacity of southern partners to undertake such work in the future without foreign, technical or financial assistance.

Programmes, Funds, Initiatives: how partnership can develop

Dialogue and advocacy on development issues

DFID is committed to increasing consultation with trade unions. This is part of opening up policy-making to a wider range of civil society organisations. The intention is to create a more reciprocal relationship boosting the sharing of information, dialogue, complementary and joint actions. Increased dialogue will come through a mixture of consultative processes and one-off events such as Round Table meetings. These will engage DFID with UK and overseas trade unions and with international bodies such as the ICFTU and CTUC.

DFID’s country and regional programmes overseas

DFID will increase the range of partnerships with civil society organisations in poorer countries. Increasingly trade unions are participating in consultation processes about DFID’s country strategies. DFID will engage directly with trade unions overseas wherever possible, sometimes UK trade unions can promote new partnerships between DFID and overseas trade unions.

DFID programmes in Russia and Central and Eastern Europe

DFID's Democratic Institutions Small Projects Scheme (DISPS) for Russia provides funding for a wide range of UK-Russia links involving small projects aimed at supporting the democratic process. Trade Unions may be particularly interested in this scheme.

Further details can be obtained from: Tricia Dawson, British Council

Email: tricia.dawson@britcoun.org

DFID also supports small-scale partnership projects for Russian NGOs through Partnerships in the Non-Profit Sector, a grants scheme administered by the Charities Aid Foundation (CAF). Further details can be obtained from CAF:

Tel: +44 (0) 20 7400 2304
Fax: +44 (0) 20 7404 1331
Email jfeather@caf.charitynet.org

DFID provides bilateral assistance to Central and Eastern Europe to support the process of transition and to ensure that the benefits are sustainable and spread through all levels of society. The programme addresses priority areas such as: Public Administration Reform, Environment, Regional and Rural Development, Social Policy and Social Cohesion. We ensure, where possible and appropriate, that community agencies are strengthened and that partnership between civil society, including trade unions, the private sector and government, are reflected in programmes.

For further information contact:

Central and South Eastern European Department
or Eastern Europe and Central Asia Department

The Civil Society Challenge Fund

Work funded under this scheme focuses on providing poor people with access to information and networks which give them more influence over decision makers, and on building sustainable know-how and capacity in poorer countries. Open to any UK-based group, organisation or network / alliance / coalition which shares DFID’s goals and has partners in developing countries. The scheme emphasises the strengthening of North-South civil society links; learning as an integral part of development work; innovation; and the reduction of gender inequality.

See Civil Society Challenge Fund

Partnership Programme Agreements

These have been managed by DFID’s Civil Society Department (CSD) since April 2001 and are agreed with UK-based non-profit organisations engaged in a range of DFID’s strategic concerns and linked to countries where DFID has programmes.

Contact: Partnership Programme Agreement

Development Education and Awareness

DFID’s main channel for supporting development education and awareness in the UK is the Development Awareness Fund. It is open to any UK-based organisation or network which shares DFID’s commitment to raising awareness and understanding of development issues. The Fund provides contributions to projects of up to £100,000 per annum. As trade unions constitute a main target group for DFID’s work in this area, they are specifically encouraged to apply to the Fund.

Business Partnerships

DFID's Private Sector Policy Department is responsible for promoting and co-ordinating partnerships between business and DFID. This is an advisory department but not itself a grant-giving body.

Social Dimensions of Business Practice Resource Centre

DFID has established a Social Dimensions of Business Practice Resource Centre, managed by a consortium of nine, for-profit and not-for-profit organisations led by the Prince of Wales Business Leaders Forum. It will help businesses, donor agencies and others access information, expertise and find new ways of changing the social impacts of business practice on poor people.

Contact: Prince of Wales Business Leaders Forum
15-16 Cornwall Terrace, Regent’s Park, London NW1 4QP
Tel: +44 (0) 20 7467 3656
Fax: +44 (0) 20 7467 3610
Email: info@pwblf.org.uk
Website: www.pwblf.org/

Child Labour

DFID works with NGOs and international donor agencies such as UNICEF and the ILO to help eliminate child labour. We work with the ILO’s International Programme for the Elimination of Child labour (IPEC) in India, Tanzania and the Mekong sub-basin in South East Asia.

Contact: Social Development Department
or International Labour Organisation

Ethical Trading Initiative

The ETI is a forum in which Businesses, Trade Unions and NGOs can meet to examine retailer supply chains in poorer countries against an agreed code of conduct. It was established with assistance from DFID. It is piloting compliance with the ETI code in four countries: South Africa in the wine industry, Zimbabwe in the Horticulture industry, Costa Rica in Banana production and China in garment factories. These pilots allow the Companies – who have a combined turnover exceeding £50 billion – to identify the most successful and sustainable ways to monitor labour conditions with the help of Trade Unions and NGOs. The TUC, the ICFTU and the IUF / ITGLWF are members of the ETI Board.

Email: eti@eti.org.uk
Website: www.ethicaltrade.org

Research

In conjunction with its Knowledge Policy Unit (KPU), DFID commissions research which addresses issues of concern to trade unions – and may sometimes fund research by trade unions with strategies for partnership with overseas agencies. Research programmes of particular interest to trade unions include the ESCOR Economic and Social Research programme, which will address the impact of globalisation on the structure of production, trade and labour markets; debt relief and the international institutional and regulatory framework; and the governance and institutional implications of globalisation.

Educational research supported by the DFID’s Education Department includes: basic education; education of disadvantaged groups; distance/open education; training for the informal sector planning and management of education systems.

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