16941: (Arthur) World Bank's IFC Approves Loan to Grupo M, Insists on Labour Standards (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: Tttnhm@aol.com

World Bank's IFC Approves EPZ Loan to Dominican Republic's "Grupo M", Insists
on Labour Standards 14/10/2003

Brussels, October 14, 2003 (ICFTU online): The World Bank's private sector
lending arm, the International Finance Corporation (IFC) last week approved a
loan of some US$ 20 million to the Dominican Republic's largest Export
Processing Zone operator, Grupo M, for a new development on the border with Haiti. The
IFC is insisting that the company respect fundamental labour rights, including
the right of its workers to trade union activities, as a condition of the
loan. Serious violations of trade union rights by Grupo M were documented in a
letter sent by the ICFTU to IFC Executive Vice President Peter Woicke on 1
September.

The ICFTU understands that after an hour-long discussion of the proposed loan
by the IFC Board last Thursday, the loan was approved subject to the company
allowing all its employees the right to union representation and collective
bargaining, and ensuring that all other companies leasing factory facilities in
the zone follow the same requirement. These conditions were apparently set out
in a confidential document adopted by the IFC Board, which also requires
Grupo M to commission an "independent investigation" into the violations
documented by the ICFTU.

"The IFC's requirement is an important step forward, however the
investigation into Grupo M's record of trade union rights violations needs to be truly
credible and transparent" said ICFTU General Secretary Guy Ryder, adding that
"this decision is consistent with recent public commitments by Mr Woicke to work
to incorporate respect for fundamental labour standards into all future IFC
loan agreements. We will be closely monitoring developments in this case".

The ICFTU, working with its affiliates in the Dominican Republic, and with
the Global Union for the textiles sector ITGLWF*, documented a series of recent
anti-union actions by Grupo M managers in the company's operations in the
Dominican Republic, including violent assaults against workers seeking to organise
and join trade unions. Since the allegations were made public, and following
the visit of an international trade union delegation to the Dominican
Republic, Grupo M appears to have begun to relax its stridently anti-union approach.
The international trade union organisations will be working closely with their
member unions in the Dominican Republic to support their efforts to achieve
respect for union rights within the company.

* International textile, Garment and Leather Workers’ Federation

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