In light of the IMF and World Bank delayed bi-annual taking place between November 17th-18th in Ottawa, an educational conference entitled Workers Struggle: battling the IMF, World Bank and War, was organised by CLAC on November 10th in Maison D`Amite on 120 deluth in Montreal.

Among the speakers were Francisco Ramirez, a union organiser with the National Mining Workers in Columbia, Peyal Perkeh, community organiser with the South Asian Centre in Boston and Marco Luciano a union organiser working with UNITE, textile workers union in North America. Among the issues addressed was World Bank and IMF failing policies in developing countries and the workers struggle to induce change through collective action. Three speakers from around the globe came together to talk about their experience and struggle against the effects of globalisation and its implication on the ground.

Peyal Perkeh, a community organiser with the South Asian Centre in Boston delivered the opening presentation. Following a historical account of the World Bank and IMF brought about existence, Ms. Perhkeh went further to speak of India’s and Pakistan’s experience as a result of World Bank adjustment policies in the region. Ms. Perhkeh has been working on small-scale water resource projects as alternative to World Bank funding of big damns in the region. Since India’s adopted the structural adjustment program promoted by IMF and World Bank in 1986, India inflation rates scored, leading to 50% increase in the price of food as well as 20% fall in the average industrial wage Since 1991 grassroots initiative have forced the IMF and World Bank to withdraw its plan to create a damn in rural India. Initially, the IMF loaned the Indian government 400 million for water resource project. Through feasibility studies, it was found out that the project would lead to the displacement of 400,000 people. Through local resistance the project was scrapped and money was taken back to the IMF.

Franciso Ramirez spoke compassionately of the circumstances associated with Plan Columbia, the World Bank and IMF support the multi-national mining corporations operating in the region. He went to further highlight the campaign massacres or what he referred to as terror campaign by the Colombian Government against its own people, resulting in the death of over 450 small peasant minors and the displacement of 16,000 people from their own homes. Traditionally, Columbia has had untapped natural reserves from which thousands of mining workers live off. Through Plan Columbia, these reserves have been handed over to Multinational Corporation for exploitation with the stamped approval and support of the IMF, World Bank, the US and Canadian government. In 1996, the government keen on promoting the de-mining of these untapped reserves, it attempted to change the mining laws to favour further exploitation by multinational thus advocating the use of paramilitary death squads to stifle local resistance to monopolistic mining policies in the region. `We directly suffer from World Bank and IMF Politics`, he argues. In a meeting with CIDA officials in Ottawa to contest changes to the current legislation in favour of private multi-national interest against, his worries were brushed off arguing that better attention to sending Canadian lawyers will be done in the future. According to Ramirez, the CIDA paid worker was advocating the adoption of legislation that would give free reign to multinational mining companies including tax breakers and loopholes that would benefit large corporate companies.

Marco Luciano a union organiser working with UNITE spoke of the hazardous and difficult working conditions immigrants have to face in Montreal’s Sweatshops. He went on to argue sweat shop industry is not a phenomena relevant to developing countries alone, but they exist in our backyard. Factory workers are asked to work extremely long hours in unsafe conditions in order to meet their quotas ands are often sent home without pay. This is not to mention the assumed blame immigrant workers carry for jobs taken away from locals.