Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU) Submission to the Joint Standing Commitee on Treaties
The Australian Union movement strongly opposes the Australian Government ratifying a bilateral trade agreement with the United Arab Emirates (UAE), and we have consistently raised our deep concerns since the negotiations were announced in December 2023.
The ACTU supports fair trade as a vehicle for economic growth, job creation, tackling inequality and raising living standards. The most important objective of trade policy should be to deliver benefits to workers, the community and the economy by increasing opportunities for local businesses, creating quality local jobs, and protecting public services. The benefits of trade must be shared among our community and promote equitable development abroad.
The Australian Union movement strongly believes the Government should not give preferential market access to countries with poor labour rights practices. Given the UAE’s notorious record on human rights – including workers’ rights – we call on the Australian Government to not ratify this agreement unless and until the UAE takes concrete steps to safeguard workers’ rights.
The UAE would be the most repressive country an Australian Government – Labor or Coalition – has ever done a bilateral trade agreement with:
• Trade unions, political organisations and political parties are illegal
• Workers are prohibited from collectively organising, bargaining or striking
• Migrant workers, who make up 80% of the population and 90% of the UAE’s workforce, are effectively modern day slaves under the kafala system.
The Australian Union movement is deeply concerned that ratifying a trade agreement with the UAE sends the signal of Australia legitimising and incentivising continued violations of labour and human rights. These concerns are also shared by broader civil society: human rights organisations, women’s organisations, environmental groups, and faith groups have also raised their opposition to this agreement. In our view it is unacceptable that a Labor Government, which has introduced industrial relations reforms to better protect the rights of Australian workers, reforms to the migration system to protect migrant workers, and reforms to combat modern slavery throughout global supply chains, would contemplate closer economic ties with a country that does not even enable independent trade unions to operate. The Labor Party platform makes the commitment for Australia’s trade agreements to be consistent with Australia’s social and economic values and provide for minimum and enforceable labour standards. It is our view that respect for workers’ rights and human rights must be a precondition of a preferential trading relationship.
The National Interest Analysis notes that consultations with trade unions showed strong opposition to CEPA due to the UAE’s issues with human and labour rights and concerns around environment, gender equality and LGBTQI+ rights, and goes on to state that: ‘While not all these concerns could be addressed through CEPA, these stakeholder views were taken into account by negotiators in pursuing the best possible outcomes for Australia in this area.’ Unions have been clear throughout however that even the most carefully worded labour chapter will not resolve the core problem here: there can be no sound basis to build a dialogue on labour issues when dealing with an authoritarian regime that does not respect fundamental labour rights or recognise independent trade unions.
The Joint Standing Committee on Treaties is considering two agreements which were signed together and form part of the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement package: the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement between Australia and the United Arab Emirates (“CEPA”), and the Agreement between the United Arab Emirates and Australia on the Promotion and Protection of Investments. This is due to the UAE’s request for the investment provisions to be contained in a separate agreement as per their usual practice, rather than as an investment chapter in the CEPA. The ACTU strongly opposes ratification of both treaties for the reasons outlined in this submission.
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