25 February 03
Unions good for business: World Bank
OTTAWA - The World Bank has discovered the union advantage. A new report from
the powerful global organization
says that



"workers who belong to unions earn higher wages, work fewer hours,
receive more training and have longer
job tenure." It goes on to state that union membership closes the wage gap
between women and men and fights
discrimination.

"People join unions because it improves their standard of living and adds to
their quality of life," says Ken Georgetti,
President of the Canadian Labour Congress.

"Better pay and working conditions, improved access to benefits like pensions
and dental insurance, opportunities to
become better workers and better citizens ? these are the advantages people have
 when they come together in
solidarity," says Georgetti.

The report, which reviewed more than a thousand studies on the effects of unions
 and collective bargaining also found
that improved labour rights can mitigate the negative impacts of globalization.

"The need for workers, employers and government to find solutions that cut
poverty through both growth and better
distribution of income is becoming increasingly urgent in an era of
globalization," said Robert Holzmann, the World
Bank's Director of Social Protection, who commissioned the report.

Georgetti says the World Bank's discovery of the union advantage should mark a
turning point away from the corporate
globalization model that has dominated trade talks and international economic
development for the past decade.

"Trade agreements and companies that fail to adopt basic work rights can no
longer hide behind claims that they are
good for the economy. Without respect for the rights of working people,
including the freedom to associate and bargain
collectively, they just aren't good enough," he said.

The report, entitled Unions and Collective Bargaining: Economic Effects in a
Global Environment, is available from the
World Bank web site at www.worldbank.org <http://www.worldbank.org>.

The Canadian Labour Congress, the national voice of the labour movement,
represents 2.5 million Canadian workers.
The CLC brings together Canada's national and international unions along with
the provincial and territorial federations
of labour and 137 district labour councils. Web site: www.clc-ctc.ca

                    Jean Wolff and Jeff Atkinson
                    Contact phone: 613-526-7431, 613-798-6040 and 613-526-7425,
613-292-1413
                    Contact fax: 613-521-0423
                    Contact email: [log in to unmask]