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"Globalise social justice"

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31 January, 2002Trade unions make joint statement to the World Social Forum (Porto Alegre) and the World Economic Forum (New York).

GLOBAL: Why are trade unions present at the World Economic Forum in New York, by many labelled as a "club for capitalists"? Why are trade unions present at the "alternative" World Social Forum in Porto Alegre, Brazil?
These questions are answered by the Global Unions group (including the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions and the International Metalworkers' Federation), in a joint statement.
"Global public debate, even if the participation in that debate is too limited, can be useful. The world cannot be neatly divided into those who are for globalisation and those who are against it," they write.
The role of trade union organisations is to "advance and defend the interests of workers by building alliances with those who share our views, and through debate and argument with those who do not. That is the reason for our simultaneous presence in both of these forums."
In a trade union seminar preceding the World Social Forum sessions, an assembly of 450 delegates adopted a statement calling for the immediate release of imprisoned trade unionists in South Korea.