Faced with massive unemployment rates and the disgrace of what is
known as the jobless recovery, the countries which call
themselves the Group of 8 (the former G-7 with the addition of
Russia) held a "Jobs Conference" in Kobe, Japan on November 30.
Like others of the same kind, this conference had nothing to do
with sorting out the problem of joblessness or unemployment. The
doubletalk contained in the statement issued following the
conference was all aimed at 1) covering up the crisis of the
capitalist system and its inability to provide for the people,
and 2) giving credibility to the anti-social offensive being
implemented by the G-8. These countries are using international
fora such as this to adopt programs to continue the restructuring
of all existing programs. The aim is to bring down all fetters
which impede trade liberalization and the privatization of social
programs so as to free funds in the state treasury to hand over
to the rich.
The very notion of a modern society which is responsible for
guaranteeing the human rights of its members to a livelihood,
health, education and well-being in the form of food, shelter and
clothing and a standard of living commensurate with the standard
society has attained is being thrown out the window by governments
operating behind the backs of the people. The only thing the workers can
hope to learn from such conferences is what lies in store for them as
concerns the further attacks of the capitalists and their governments.
News agency reports clearly reveal that the attempt is made
to create the illusion that capitalism creates jobs, even though
all the evidence shows this is not true. Japan's Minister of
Labour Bunmei Ibuki said that the G-8 found "free initiatives in
enterprises" a "remedy for balancing U.S.-style deregulation with
traditional European social protection." He claimed that the
"private-sector initiatives" would lead to "the creation of new
industries to bring about quality jobs."
The official view that workers must fend for themselves was
expressed as follows by Ibuki: "Macroeconomic policies must be
supported by structural reforms as well as active labour market
policies to translate growth into jobs." British Employment
Minister Andrew Smith talked about the importance of "balancing
industrial productivity and job security," by which he also meant
that the workers must fend for themselves. According to news
agency reports, he called on the workforce to "face the
challenges of change without fears."
The statement issued by the G-8 called on workers to improve
"employability through intensive training and educational
programmes which allow workers to acquire the skills
indispensable to perform in newly emerging sectors." "Human
resource development is the responsibility of both companies and
individuals, when appropriate, by governments," the statement
pompously declared. The definition of "when appropriate" was
conveniently left to the imagination.
The statement also revealed its real aim: to sanction the
reform of social programs which is taking place against the
interests of the peoples. Again, it did this by hiding behind
doubletalk about concern for jobs and the public interest. "We
recognized the importance of adapting some social security
systems in order to make them more employment friendly, and to
moderate the public burden," the statement said. This is a
blatant attempt to eliminate funding to social programs so as to
hand over more money to the rich in the form of interest payments
on the debt, but it is carried out under the cover of the public
interest and concern about jobs.
The next sentence carries this doubletalk further, this time
in the name of "sustainable development." It reads: "This will
set up a sustainable social security system and contribute to a
strong economic base necessary for the maintenance and the
creation of employment."
It is serious enough that "ministers" get together to decide
policies for sovereign countries without the peoples of those
countries agreeing to anything they decide. The statement says
that "for the first time trade union representatives joined the
conference." This is designed to provide the conference decisions
with legitimacy. Even though the entire agenda is against the
working class and peoples of the G-8 countries, the statement
declared the G-8s "commitment to observe internationally
recognized core labour standards and looked forward to the
outcome of the work on this currently underway at the
International Labour Organization."
The ILO is a tripartite body whose main aim is to reconcile
the workers of all countries to the demands of big business and
big government. Talk about "core" labour standards is like saying
you can have the apple core but don't ask for the apple. You are
supposed to be happy that at least you can plant the seed and
perhaps grow a new apple which can be eaten somewhere down the
line.
The statement also supported the nefarious aims of the
Multilateral Agreement on Investment when it emphasized what it
called "the need for the transition of industries from low-growth
sectors to emerging sectors" "through the removal of regulatory
barriers to investment, innovation and new technologies." It
sanctioned the cuts to funding of higher education and the
destruction of a modern education at the high school level by
seeking "a better link between educational outcomes and the
skills requirements of the workforce." In other words, only
education which addresses the skills which are needed by the
jobless recovery are to be kept.
Such conferences only reveal the ever increasing number of
initiatives which governments are taking to decide the policies
which affect their societies behind the backs of the working
class and people and then present them as a fait accompli. They
are rammed through the Legislatures or through Cabinet, the
courts and any other trappings of the unrepresentative democracy
as is happening federally and provincially.
Far from resolving a single problem, such things will deepen
the crisis of credibility and legitimacy facing the bankrupt
political institutions. They underscore the need to get rid of
them and replace them with new arrangements which guarantee that
it is the interests of the working class and people which are put
in first place, not those of the financial oligarchs.
TML Daily, 12/13/97
Shawgi Tell
Graduate School of Education
University at Buffalo
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
