International Trade Union Confederation and the ACTU say leaked sections of the Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement reveal worrying clauses

Unions call for halt in TPP negotiations so that agreement can be scrutinised

The world’s largest trade union federation has joined Australian unions in calling on Tony Abbott and the other 11 government leaders to stop negotiations on the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) agreement.



The letter from the International Trade Union Confederation and the ACTU says leaked excerpts of TPP negotiations suggest the inclusion of controversial clauses, which they believe could cost the jobs of their members.

The clauses include:

• the investor state dispute clause (ISDS), which opponents say can help multinationals to undermine social policies;

•patent protections which would make medicines more expensive;

• and restrictions on national financial regulation;

The TPP leaked excerpts also show a failure to take climate change into account, the unions say.

Reflecting the concerns of Liberal Senator Bill Heffernan, trade unions say the secrecy of negotiations mean it is impossible to scrutinise the trade agreement for its effect on the Australian population.

“Keeping the negotiating texts and mandates away from public scrutiny is not an acceptable practice for a ‘21st century agreement’ that aspires to set a ‘gold standard’,” the letter says.

“In order to create balanced and inclusive trade agreements, governments must publish relevant documents that will enable parliaments and civil society to contribute as well as warn against potential dangers from an early stage and certainly well before agreements have been concluded.”

The letter is signed by Sharan Burrow, a former president of the ACTU and now general secretary of the ITUC and Ged Kearney, current ACTU president. The government is currently negotiating the TPP, which involves 12 countries and which aims to expand trade and investment in the region.

The countries include Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, the United States and Vietnam. Abbott discussed the TPP with US president Barack Obama on the sidelines of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation summit on Monday night. The last negotiation round was held in Canberra in August this year.

Asked why the union movement was speaking out now as opposed to when a Labor government was negotiating the TPP in 2010, ACTU secretary Dave Oliver said the union movement had always objected to secret negotiations of trade deals.

He said although the Labor government’s labour market tests in free trade agreements with Malaysia, New Zealand and Asean were weak, they were “something”.

Since then, Oliver said the Abbott government had removed labour market testing in the Korean free trade agreement, which effectively allowed overseas workers into Australia without companies advertising for local workers first.

He said it was a good indication that similar provisions were likely to be in the TPP and the Chinese free trade agreement.

“The problem is (Australia) is negotiating this agreement but it is not a level playing field while other countries give their industries preferential treatment. And while Australia has previously dropped tariffs, it was done in return for industry policy but that is now gone,” said Oliver.

Greens senator Peter Whish-Wilson, who has constantly opposed Australia’s involvement in the TPP, welcomed the fact that the unions “had finally woken up” that trade deals like the TPP and the China FTA would fundamentally limit Australia’s ability to set domestic policy.

“The unions are right to call for a stop in negotiations so that an informed public debate can be held about the costs of these deals,” said Whish-Wilson.

“If Labor was serious about supporting their union base, they would also back a stop in the negotiations. I think the unions have woken up to the fact that they can’t trust Labor to represent their interests in trade deals, full stop.

“When Labor recently voted to pass the Korean Free Trade, a deal that helped kill off the car industry and included the dangerous and undemocratic ISDS provisions, it was a signal to the unions that they can no longer rely on the Labor party to have their back.”