JustTRADE #54

What's wrong with this picture? was the question behind Sue Kedgley's call on September 22 for the New Zealand Food Safety Authority to be made a completely independent body in order to restore consumer confidence in the safety of New Zealand's food supply.

Ms Kedgley, the Green Party's Safe Food spokesperson, said in response to the NZFSA's five-year review that it seemed to be producer-driven rather than consumer focused.

"It should be of great concern that not one of the seven policy principles being proposed to guide the regulation of food is concerned with providing accurate information to consumers," said Sue.

"This means country of origin, pesticide residues and the presence of GE could be completely ignored. The FSA's belief that information like this is an impediment to trade raises doubts about their commitment to the safety of the food supply itself...

...The fact that about 90 per cent of our food imports enter the country untested is simply unacceptable.''

Read Sue's Release.

The first card questions why MON863, a GE corn variety shown to cause abnormalities in rats and turned down for approval by a French scientific committee, has been cleared for human consumption in New Zealand. The card asks Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ) to reassess the corn.

The second asks the Prime Minister why the Government is prepared to imperil our food, wine and tourism industries by allowing the release of GE. The risk was recently demonstrated when European importers cancelled significant orders of Thai papaya after crops of the fruit were widely contaminated by a GE field trail.

The third is part of a challenge to local bodies to support initiatives to protect landowners, the ecology and the economy of their regions from the release of GE organisms. The card asks candidates in the local body elections starting this weekend why their regions can't join the many others around the world declaring GE-Free Zones.

Download /send e-versions of the cards from Greens - Genetic Engineering

Rod had just been shopping with Thai labour organiser and former sweatshop worker, Sripai Nonsee, who was on a speaking tour of New Zealand. During a fact-finding visit to a Rebel Sports store in Christchurch, Ms Nonsee spotted a range of Nike-brand jackets made at the Bangkok sweatshop where she used to work before being sacked for trying to help workers negotiate better wages and conditions.

"Rebel is selling the Nike jacket for $159.99," said Rod. "Workers like Sripai are paid 78 cents an hour for making it. She says this jacket would take less than two hours to make."

"I understand how businesses work and that investors have to make profits but I didn't expect that the profit would be so high," Sripai said, through an interpreter. She calculated that the sweatshop worker who made the Nike jacket for sale at Rebel Sports would have to work for 205 hours in order to buy it.

Sripai understands that Par Garments, her former employer, would have been paid about $46 for producing the jacket, only a fraction of which would have been paid to the workers who made it.

Rod noted that Rebel Sports is part of the Briscoes Group, which made a profit of $23.6 million last year, after tax, while Nike, the world's largest maker of athletic apparel, made an after-tax profit of US$945 million.

"I'm not against shareholders making a profit but I object to them getting rich because third world workers are being exploited.

"I would like to ask Rod Duke, who owns 75 per cent of Briscoes, how comfortable he feels about building his empire on the backs of sweatshop workers like Sripai.

"The other tragedy is that New Zealand's once-vibrant textile, clothing and footwear sector has been sold down the river by successive government's erosion of tariff protection, with the closure of dozens of businesses and the loss of thousands of jobs.

"The free trade agreement with Thailand now under negotiation would not only kill-off more local companies, it will do nothing to ease the misery of Thailand's sweatshop workers. What it will almost certainly do is make more money for the owners of Nike, Briscoes and Par Garments."

See photos of Sripai and the jacket and read more of the story at
Thai Trade Tour

For Parliamentary Questions and Rod's general debate speech on trade with Thailand see Analysis, below.

Action

• Ask a Former Unionist (who is now a Labour MP) how she or he can support the Labour-led Government's push for a free trade deal with a country (Thailand) where the basic ILO conventions on the right to organise and bargain collectively have not been ratified, and where the government just changed the law to allow employers to legally dismiss workers involved in organising unions.

  Under this regime, other abuses of labour are common. In her speaking tour of New Zealand Thai labour organiser and former sweatshop worker Sripai Nonsee told us about:
  

  • compulsory pregnancy tests, and refusal to give work to pregnant women

  • forced overtime at illegal rates
  • bullying and harassment of workers unprotected by unions and unable to afford legal redress
  • lack of work breaks, including necessary toilet breaks
  • unsafe and unhealthy working conditions, including chemical pollution which is causing illness, miscarriages and deformed babies
  • refusal to pay back pay and/or redundancy pay owed when companies go out of business
  • requiring workers to sign an undated resignation letter on the day they sign their employment contract — so as to avoid having to pay redundancy, or to be able to easily get rid of workers who stand up for their rights, and organise other workers to do so

  (More information on labour abuses in Thailand at Thai Labour Campaign(external site))

  Thai workers do not support the free trade agreements their government is signing with other countries right now — they do not see any change in their too-low pay rates or sub-standard working conditions as a result, and they fear that FTAs just lock them into the sweatshop system of global production, with no rights to organise unions to better their lot.

  So why is the Labour Party so keen on an FTA with Thailand? Especially when it could cost jobs in NZ? We suggest you write to the following Labour MPs, who were all trade unionists before they entered Parliament, asking them how they can in good conscience support an FTA which will only benefit big business, and will make life harder for workers.

  Send a hard copy letter (no stamp required) to Parliament Buildings, Wellington, or an e-mail using the formula firstname [dot] secondname [at] parliament [dot] govt [dot] nz, to

  Rick Barker; Lianne Dalziel; Helen Duncan, Taito Philip Field; Mark Gosche; Dave Hereora; Mark Peck; Lynne Pillay; Paul Swain

  If you get an interesting answer, please share it with JustTRADE.

• Sweaty Shoppers Wanted. JustTRADE now knows that we can buy a Nike brand jacket, identical to the ones made at Thai sweatshop Par Garments, at Rebel Sports in Christchurch for $160. But what is available elsewhere, and for what price?

  If any readers have time to research the sweated clothing scene in your town, we'd love to hear from you. Here are the things to look for:
  

  • Made in Thailand label

  • Brand name
  • Price (normal retail)
  • Description of product (e.g. rain jacket; plain T-shirt; track pants; running shoes)
  • Name and address of store selling the item(s)

  If you can also take a digital photo of the item and e-mail it (and the other information) to bronwen [dot] summers [at] parliament [dot] govt [dot] nz , so much the better. If a photo is not possible, no worries — just send us the information listed above.

  Your participation in this research will make it possible for us to compile a report on the extent of Thai sweatshop imports to NZ — so please help if you can.

Analysis

• Labour Prime Minister Finds it Hard to Justify a Trade Policy which Condones Labour Exploitation. In the following parliamentary questions, asked by Rod Donald on September 14, Helen Clark finds it increasingly hard to defend the indefensible — the sweatshop exploitation which lies behind the huge profits made by the transnational companies who are the only ones who enjoy the 'freedom' in so-called free trade. She even claims that Thai wages will go lower if Thai sweatshop goods cannot be sent to NZ. She also gives away the 'consumer benefit' rationale for the CEP (expressed in the joint Thai/NZ government study on p. 73 as ''Equally consumers in Thailand and New Zealand could benefit from increased competition, lower prices and access to a great selection of goods and services'') when she says that ''Whether or not that [removing the 19% tariff on imported clothing] reduces the price will be entirely a matter for competitive forces here in New Zealand.'' In other words — don't hold your breath waiting for Nike and other clothing exporters and importers to pay fair wages to workers or charge fair prices to consumers.

  '' Questions for Oral Answer: Thailand-Trade Agreement, 14 September 2004

  11. Rod Donald (Co-Leader-Green) to the Prime Minister: When she met with the Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra in July to discuss progress on a trade deal between New Zealand and Thailand, did she raise any concerns regarding environmental and labour standards and human rights abuses in Thailand; if not, why not?

  Rt Hon Helen Clark (Prime Minister): The New Zealand Government has raised trade and environment issues in the context of the negotiation of the trade agreement, and the approach we are taking was canvassed in my meeting with Mr Thaksin.

  Rod: Why is her Government negotiating a preferential trade deal with a country that routinely exploits child workers and flouts International Labour Organization conventions on child labour?

  Rt Hon Helen Clark: The Government acts in the belief that if Thailand's economy grows through trade, its living standards will rise and Thais will be able to negotiate better pay and conditions.

  Rod: Did the Prime Minister ask Prime Minister Thaksin what benefit he and his family are likely to gain from a preferential trade deal with New Zealand, given that they personally own at least 10 percent of the Thai stock exchange, as well as vast assets in unlisted companies?

  Rt Hon Helen Clark: No.

  Rod: Did she ask him why he suppressed information about the bird flu outbreak in Thailand until after it had spread to neighbouring countries and infected large numbers of workers; and is that the kind of behaviour her Government rewards with a preferential trade deal?

  Rt Hon Helen Clark: No, nor can I see any relationship of that to the primary question.

  Rod: Is the Prime Minister confident that the removal of the 19 percent tariff on this Nike jacket, which was made in a Thai sweat shop and sells in New Zealand at Rebel Sport for $160, would reduce its retail price and lift the 78c hourly wage rate paid to the women clothing workers who made it; if not, why not?

  Rt Hon Helen Clark: Whether or not that reduces the price will be entirely a matter for competitive forces here in New Zealand.

  Hon Dr Michael Cullen: Has the Prime Minister any reason to believe that if New Zealand took action to prevent the sale of products produced in Thailand, that may reduce the 78c-an-hour wage rate?

  Rt Hon Helen Clark: It almost certainly would do so if the Thais could not export their goods here.

  Rod: I seek leave to table an article from the Age from 3 July, which highlights the conflict of interests Prime Minister Thaksin has in relation to trade deals.

  Mr Speaker: Leave is sought to table that article. Is there any objection? There is.

• Labour Challenged to Tell the Truth about Thai Trade Deal by Rod Donald in his General Debate speech in Parliament on 15 September 2004

  Yesterday I sought leave to table an article from the Melbourne Age about the Thai Prime Minister. It was headed: "No Room for Losers in the New Thailand", with a subheading: "Woe Betide those who challenge Thaksin in Shinawatra, Asia's New Political Strongman." The Deputy Prime Minister, and many of his Labour colleagues, denied leave for that article to be tabled.

  Members may ask why they denied leave. I believe it is because they do not want the truth about Thailand to be revealed in this Parliament. The Government does not want members of Parliament and the people of New Zealand to know that it is negotiating a free-trade agreement with a corrupt Prime Minister and a corrupt Government; neither it seems do the New Zealand media want the people of New Zealand to know about this trade deal.

  No New Zealand paper has reprinted this article here, especially that apologist for free trade, the New Zealand Herald. I have to admit, that it is owned by APN Holdings and this article appeared in a Fairfax publication but I would expect that at least the Dominion Post and the Christchurch Press would run this as a point of balance to some of the more sycophantic coverage that they have given to free-trade agreements.

  I want the people of New Zealand to know more about what is at stake because I believe Kiwis need to know exactly who Labour is doing deals with. As Mark Barker wrote in the Melbourne Age on 3 July: "Prime Minister Thaksin is a tycoon turned politician who runs a large slice of his country's media, and who essentially bought his way into power with the tactics of a hostile corporate takeover, like Berlusconi, the Italian Prime Minister, he is an obsessive autocrat-impatient with the checks and balances of democratic Government, a publicity seeker averse to press he does not own or control, and a leader with an alarming propensity to shoot from the lip."

  Barker goes on to quote the Thai Senate Foreign Relations Committee chairman, who said: "Thai democracy is being eroded. The Election Commission, the Anti-Graft commission, and the Constitutional Council-all these institutions are being stacked with Thaksin supporters and the independent media are being undermined." He highlights one of the most obscene articles of corruption and nepotism in Thailand, which is Thaksin's hard-line approach to the drug trade sitting alongside his cosy political relationship with the Burmese military junta. There is a partnership between a subsidiary of the Shina Corporation, which is a Thaksin family corporation, and a company owned by the son of Burmese Prime Minister Khin Nyunt, now holds, and that holds a virtual monopoly on Internet and mobile phone services in the country. No wonder he is keen to see free trade with New Zealand.

  I ask this Parliament whether that is the sort of regime New Zealand should be negotiating a preferential trade deal with. Why does the Labour Government want a country that exploits half a million child workers and flouts international labour organisation conventions on child labour to be New Zealand's third favourite trading partner after Australia and Singapore? Why is the Labour Government strengthening the right of New Zealand workers to collective bargaining, which we support because we believe it is a positive step forward for workers' rights in New Zealand, but at the same time it is deliberately destroying the jobs of those workers because it is turning a blind eye to Thailand's refusal to ratify International Labour Organisation convention 98 - that is, the right of workers to organise and bargain collectively.

  I was extremely disappointed with Prime Minister Helen Clark's answers to my questions about the Thai trade deal yesterday, but I am even more disappointed with Lianne Dalziel, Mark Peck, Taito Phillip Field, Mark Gosche, Paul Swain, Rick Barker, Lynne Pillay, Helen Duncan, and Dave Hereora. Why is that? It is because those members of Parliament all used to be trade union officials. I see Mr Mallard has put his hand up to be added to that list of members. This is the official list from the library so he had better update his former occupation with the library. Those members were all trade unionists according to what they have admitted to the Parliamentary Library before they came to Parliament. How could they go along with this deal? Why did they not turn up to hear Sripai Nonsee, a young Thai worker who is in New Zealand at the moment to talk about the impact of that trade deal and how bad it is for workers in Thailand? ''

  (Rod ran out of time to detail the exploitation of Sripai and other Thai workers, but you can read all about it at Greens - Trade Campaign and associated links.)

If you have any feedback on the content of JustTRADE, or news items, please christine [dot] dann [at] clear [dot] net [dot] nz>e-mail Christine Dann.

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