WORKERS must resist the new wave of global trade deals “with all our might” or risk irreversible damage to the power of labour, a Canadian union leader told Unison delegates yesterday.

Canadian Union of Public Employees president Paul Moist said deals such as the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) would allow multinationals “unfettered access” to public services.

Canada is set to be subject to the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement, a separate deal with the EU that threatens similar entrenchment of privatisation to TTIP.

It is feared that a further deal, the Trade in Services Agreement, will relax restrictions on the “social dumping” of migrant labour to undercut local workers.

“These are loaded dice,” Mr Moist told Unison’s annual delegate conference.

“Trade deals which threaten public power must be resisted with all our might.

“Global trade that further empowers corporations and reduces our workplace power is something we reject.”
He said trade unionists must “demand a global order that respects labour.”

A motion unanimously passed by the conference warned of the dangers posed by TTIP to the NHS and other public services.

It is feared that US corporations could use the provisions of the partnership to sue governments which resist their agendas through secretive courts.

Stockport delegate Maggie Hindle said: “They are nothing to do with trade ... they are nothing but corporate power-grabs so corporations can cut costs and boost profits.”

“It’s precisely because of our campaigning that our politicians are waking up to the danger,” she said.