Trade ministers of the G4 countries (the European Union, the United States, Brazil and India) are meeting in Potsdam, Germany, this week try to stitch together a trade deal to which each of them could agree.

WTO tradition indicates that if they are successful, they will attempt to present this deal as a fait accompli that other countries must accept if the multilateral trading system is to survive. In practice, this would mean that many smaller developing countries (the majority of the WTO’s members), that have been excluded from these negotiations, could be forced into accepting a deal that could wreak havoc on their economies and the environment and undermine their democracies. In particular, the livelihoods of millions of farmers worldwide are at stake.

Such a process would be totally untransparent and undemocratic. We demand an immediate stop to the G4 meeting and the start of an open and transparent assessment of the impacts of WTO Agreements on people’s livelihoods and the environment.

Signatories (in alphabetical order):

Action Aid International
Africa Europe Faith and Justice Network (International Organization)
Alliance of Progressive Labor, Philippines
Andean Coordination of Indigenous Organizations, Latin America
Arab NGO Network for Development (ANND), Lebanon
ATTAC Austria
ATTAC France
ATTAC Hungary
ATTAC Japan
ATTAC Norway
ATTAC Sweden
ATTAC Switzerland
Austrian Community of Interest for Emancipatory Global Education, Austria
Blue Planet Project, Canada
Both ENDS, the Netherlands
Brazilian Network for the Integration of Peoples (REBRIP), Brazil
Camille Chalmers – PAPDA, Haiti
Campaign for the Welfare State, Norway
Caribbean Assembly of Peoples, Caribbean
Center for Human Rights in Tepeyac, Istmo de Tehuantepec, Mexico
Center for Encounter and Active Non-Violence, Austria
Centre for Indigenous Peoples of Indus, Pakistan
Consumer Rights Forum, Pakistan
Consumers Association of Penang, Malaysia
Ecologists in Action, Spain
Economic Justice and Development Organization, Pakistan
Focus on the Global South (International Organization)
Foundation for Gaia, UK
Friends of the Earth International (International Organization)
Friends of the Earth Australia
Friends of the Earth England, Wales and Northern Ireland
Friends of the Earth Malaysia
Global Forest Coalition (International Organization)
Global Women March, Peru
Global Network Asia (trade union and NGO alliance on globalization).
Greenpeace (International Organization)
Group on Gender and Economy, Peru
Hemispheric Social Alliance, Latin America
Holistic Understanding for Justified Research and Action, Pakistan
Humanitarian Group for Social Development, Lebanon
In Service of Peace and Justice, Paraguay
Initiative Colibri, Germany
Insan Foundation, Pakistan
Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy (IATP), U.S.
Institute for Global Justice, Indonesia
International Gender and Trade Network
Kilusang Mangingisda (Fisherpeoples Organization), Philippines
Korea Labour and Society Institute, Korea
Latin American Association of Micro, Small and Médium Enterprises, Mexico
Mesa Global, Guatemala
Mexican Action Network Against Free Trade (RMALC), Mexico
Millennium Solidarity, Switzerland
Network of Women Transforming the Economy, Latin America
NOAH – Friends of the Earth, Denmark
Oakland Institute, USA
Pakistan Rural Workers Social Welfare Organization, Pakistan
Polaris Institute, Canada
Public Services International
Québec Federation of Professors, Canada
SEATINI Geneva, Swizterland
Shout of the Excluded, Latin America
Solidarité, France
Stop the New Round Coalition, Philippines
Transnational Institute
Via Campesina, International
War on Want, UK
Who Owes Who Campaign, Spain
WIDE, Europe
World Economy, Ecology & Development (WEED), Germany
X minus Y Solidarity Fund, the Netherlands

The enactment of RA 9481 is a clear victory for the working class and for the trade union movement!

Coming at a time when workers are drowning in a sea of continuing repression and political uncertainty, at a time when workers continue to struggle against the onslaught of falling living standards and skyrocketing prices of basic commodities, a law that strengthens the workers’ right to organize and form unions is indeed a very positive development. After all, unions remain as workers’ primary instrument to defend and advance their collective rights.

The new law, designated as Republic Act 9481, will go a long way in helping the labor movement increase its mass membership and widen its capacities to defend and advance workers’ rights and welfare.

But even before the RA 9481 could be implemented, the Secretary of Labor is already threatening to emasculate the new law through the issuance of a more restrictive Implementing Rules and Regulations (IIR), as well as introduction of amendments during the 14th Congress!

The APL warns against any attempts on the part of the Executive to defeat this hard-won gain. Any moves to nullify this gain, labor will be monitoring and will surely find common ground to oppose it.

Instead of scheming to revert this gain, Malacañang is better advised to focus on other urgent labor bills that also need action, such as the continuing call for a legislated and nationwide wage increase.

The historic struggle of workers in the country will enter a new and brighter chapter. Although more needs to be done, there’s great reason for us to celebrate and thank all those who made this victory possible. After all, this is the first time in many years that the labor movement has succeeded in substantially changing the law in favor of the working class!

The release of veteran labor leader and Anakpawis Rep. Ka Crispin Beltran is a victory of due process and the rule of law against the perversions that Malacañang and its agents want to impose on the public.

Using trumped-up charges from two decades back and circumventing an executive order that pardons crimes and charges that were politically motivated, this administration imprisoned and kept an union leader on the premise of a baseless accusation.

The Supreme Court ruling declaring this arrest as without merit is a slap in the face of a government only too willing to exert the most inhumane of means to silence its opponents and preserve itself.

The case of Ka Bel is only one of the most prominent cases of persecution under this beleaguered administration. Nowadays, we often hear of a worker being abducted, killed or involuntarily disappeared. The culture of impunity encouraged by the inaction of this administration over the thousands of extra-judicial killings must be stopped.

The long-term implications of political persecution a are unimaginably horrifying. Not only does it undermine the rights enshrined in our Constitution, it sends out a clear and concrete message: violence meets those who dare to stand and rise against tyranny, corruption and abuse.

This administration must be made to account for its persecution of Ka Bel, and activists in general. We must continue to expose its corruption and subversion of democratic ideals in the name of political expediency and survival.

No amount of repression will frighten workers into submission! Workers everywhere will continue the struggle to defend and advance workers’ rights.