Trade unions lobby for caution in opening up service sector to foreign enterprises

Pressure on GATS negotiators

(Helsinki 08.02.2003 - Juhani Artto) Public sector unions have lobbied for caution in opening up services to foreign competition. The vague manner in which public services are defined in the 1995 General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS) has worried the trade unions in this connection. Although the stated scope of the agreement excludes public services, certain other parts of the agreement are indirectly in conflict with this.

In late January some 60 representatives of trade unions and NGOs gathered at the Parliament of Finland. They were there to voice their demands, proposals and questions about the international service trade negotiations that seek to reform the global service trade rules expressed in GATS.

Read more about the meeting in Trade Union News from Finland.