Following my piece in Yorkshire Bylines on 23 May about the possible trade deal between the UK and the GCC (Gulf Cooperation Council), other media outlets picked up on a potential row within the Labour Party and unions about a trade deal with the group consisting of Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates.
The Guardian followed up on the row, reporting that trade unions and human rights organisations fear environmental and human rights being pushed aside.
UK-GCC trade deal
The UK-GCC trade deal is worth £1.6bn but the fallout for Labour in signing a deal with the GCC could have considerable ramifications.
The TUC has expressed its reservations. General Secretary Paul Nowak was clear in repeating his statement that the TUC “have raised concerns re a trade deal with the Gulf States with Douglas Alexander”.
When it made The Guardian’s front page, the Department for Business and Trade stonewalled, saying, “negotiations on a trade deal with the GCC are ongoing. Our priority is to get the right deal, and we’re not setting a deadline”.
Although the TUC says there are “active discussions” between the TUC and the government on the deal, trade unions, human rights groups and grass roots Labour Party members will be concerned given the well-publicised human and union rights problems in the Middle East.
Even the last Tory government saw problems ahead, with the previous trade minister Anne-Marie Trevelyan promising parliament the deal “will not come at the expense of human rights”.
Tom Wills, the director of the Trade Justice Movement, said in The Guardian: “The UK-GCC trade deal is a values-free agreement that will offer minimal benefit to the UK economy while signalling that human rights and environmental protections are not a priority in UK trade policy.”
In the House of Lords on 3 June, the focus was on human rights with no direct reference to union rights from government minister Baroness Gustafsson.
Worldwide labour conventions
Many trade agreements rely on International Labour Organisation (ILO) conventions. There are 191 conventions in total, though not all are in force and some are no longer relevant. Of the 10 core conventions, two each dealing with freedom of association (trade union rights), forced labour, child labour, discrimination, and health and safety.
The United Kingdom has ratified 89 conventions, including nine of the 10 core or fundamental conventions (the UK did not sign the health and safety convention).
By contrast, in the GCC:
- Bahrain has ratified six core conventions and 10 in total
- Kuwait has ratified seven core conventions and 19 in total
- Oman has ratified four core conventions and five in total
- Qatar has ratified five core conventions and six in total
- Saudi Arabia has ratified seven core conventions and 19 in total
- UAE has ratified six core conventions and nine in total
In terms of the core conventions dealing with trade union rights (conventions 87 and 98), only Kuwait has ratified both. As a result, Kuwait is subject to scrutiny by the ILO Committee of Experts. No other GCC country has ratified either.
The International Trade Union Confederation which identifies issues relating to trade union rights in every country on the planet is worth referring to. The government would do well to study their recommendations.
The only current freedom of association (trade union rights) case lodged is against Saudi Arabia and remains confidential.
Labour relations and trade deals under Labour
There is also the legacy of the Qatar FIFA World Cup which made labour standards a real issue with a global campaign on workers’ rights led by the Building Workers International with significant support from Unite in the UK.
At the ILO meeting last week, an International Trade Union Confederation complaint regarding Saudia Arabia was supported by unions from 36 countries.
Professor Keith Ewing is professor of public law at King’s College London and is recognised as a leading expert in international trade union rights. He told Yorkshire Bylines that even the previous Conservative governments paid more attention to workers’ rights than the current Labour government:
“The UK-EU Brexit trade agreement [negotiated by Boris Johnson – though the EU drove a hard bargain on this] has labour chapters; the UK-Australia trade deal, negotiated by Liz Truss’s government, contains a labour chapter although it is very weak.
“Labour standards are something Sir Keir Starmer should be able to easily understand. What price fundamental labour rights? Are we really prepared to surrender workers’ human rights for £1.6 billion’s worth of trade and political ambition?”
