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Better Working Conditions Essential to Region's Progress, ADB President Tells Conference

MANILA, PHILIPPINES (10 October 2002) - Better working conditions are essential to the region's economic and social progress, ADB President Tadao Chino today told a regional conference for labor union representatives and international financial institutions (IFIs).

"There is overwhelming evidence that good working conditions help reduce poverty, raise living standards, and enhance productivity," Mr. Chino said. "Addressing labor-related concerns is very important to meeting ADB's overarching goal of poverty reduction."

He made his remarks in an opening address at the Second Regional Dialogue between IFIs and national labor union representatives from the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions Asian and Pacific Regional Organisation (ICFTU-APRO).

The two-day ICFTU-APRO Regional Dialogue with IFIs at ADB's Manila Headquarters has drawn participants from the World Bank, International Monetary Fund (IMF), ADB, and 62 labor union representatives from 24 countries in the Asian and Pacific region.

Trade union participation is an essential element in the IFI development process, ICFTU-APRO Regional Steering Committee Chairperson John de Payva told delegates in his Welcome Remarks.

"Many of the policies made have a bearing on our employment, working, and living conditions," he said. "Hence, the voice of working men and women needs to be heard while formulating a policy."

The unions are lobbying for policies that promote employment, good working conditions, labor standards, transparency, accountability, and participation, Noriyuki Suzuki, General Secretary of ICFTU-APRO said in an introduction to the meeting.

"We have also been highlighting the need that the process of opening up has to be selective and phased, and should accompany standards, regulations and necessary capacity building," he said. Unions highlight the social costs of privatization and liberalization policies if they are not accompanied by adequate compensation measures.

Mr. Chino said that IFIs such as ADB benefit from consultation with workers, their representatives, and other members of civil society. "This feedback helps us sharpen our development initiatives to reduce poverty and promote economic growth in a more efficient and equitable manner," he said. Better dialogue with labor unions is an important element of ADB's Social Protection Strategy approved in September 2001, he pointed out.

Mr. de Payva hoped that through consultation and dialogue, his organization "can emerge as a partner in development and an important ally in addressing the issues of development and governance as well as fighting successfully in the eradication of poverty."

ICFTU, set up in 1949, is a confederation of national trade union centers, each of which links together the trade unions of a particular member country. It has 225 affiliated organizations in 148 countries and territories, with a membership of 157 million.

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