Thursday, 10 June 2004, 10.15 a.m.
President: Mr. Ray Guevara, Mr. Maatough

...We really appreciate the Global Report which is analytical, informative and enlightening. We, of course, join others in congratulating the Director- General for this excellent Report. The Report reflects our view that in many countries there has been a growth in joblessness. There has been a jobless, senseless, fruitless, ruthless, futureless growth in many countries. And this is due to the privatization of profits and nationalization of losses. There has been an exit policy without a proposed entry policy. Unfortunately, direct foreign investments and loans are attached to labour law reforms, and curtail the right to organize and the right to strike. In fact, many of the proposed labour reforms aimed at promoting competition in our country's fishing sector do away with the so-called restrictive provisions that are, in fact, beneficial to workers. In fact, we believe that the right to collective bargaining includes the right to strike...