UK : Trade accord ‘would lock in privatisation'
Campaigners expose danger to democracy
by Our News Desk
A SECRETIVE worldwide trade deal is set to “turbo-charge” privatisation, social justice campaigners warned yesterday in a terrifying new report.
The Trade in Services Agreement (Tisa) threatens to “lock in” privatisation, further empower big companies and strip away the rights of migrant workers, said A Blueprint for Global Privatisation published by Global Justice Now.
Tisa is being negotiated between 50 governments, including members of the European Union as well as poorer countries such as Pakistan.
“This deal is a threat to the very concept of public services,” said Global Justice Now director Nick Dearden.
“It is a turbo-charged privatisation pact, based on the idea that, rather than serving the public interest, governments must step out of the way and allow corporations to ‘get on with it’.”
Tisa is set to include rules that ban governments from ensuring public control of vital services and others that let the financial sector run riot.
While countries such as Britain might be allowed to keep hold of their already nationalised services, poorer countries still at the mercy of the private sector will be blocked from taking control.
Certain clauses block the reversal of privatisations and the passage of laws that that give “foreign companies worse treatment than at the time Tisa is implemented.”
That throws a spanner into the works of any bid to take back the utilities, railways and the privatised parts of the NHS from commercial firms.
Not only that, but the agreement is due to contain draconian rules on migrant workers that would see Qatar’s nightmare system, under which workers are tied to their employer, spread worldwide.
And, in a provision resembling current bogus self-employment practices, certain groups of workers would be classed as “independent service suppliers” and excluded from minimum wage legislation and the right to join a trade union.
“Many people were persuaded to leave the EU on the grounds they would be ‘taking back control’ of our economic policy,” said Mr Dearden.
“But if we sign up to Tisa, our ability to control our economy — to regulate, to protect public services, to fight climate change — are all massively reduced. In effect, we would be handing large swathes of policy-making to big business.”
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