Participants at an international trade union forum in Shanghai voiced their discontent on Wednesday with current global policies targeting economic growth.

"Many international treaties and documents have been set to reduce poverty, but most are in favor of capital instead of social sectors," Alexander Zharikov, chairman of the World Federation of Trade Unions, told Xinhua News Agency at the 2005 International Forum on Economic Globalization and Trade Unions.

"The key to poverty alleviation lies in implementation. Trade unions should learn how to strengthen themselves and bargain with powers," he added.

"Trade unions and their strategic allies have to fight against neo-liberal, anti-people policies that have increased the debts of developing countries," said Hassan Sunmonu, general secretary of the Organization of Africa Trade Union Unity, citing the Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers promoted by the IMF and World Bank that offer conditional funds to developing countries.

Part of the duty of trade unions is to fight for socioeconomic policies that prioritize job creation, he said.

"In the economic history of most countries, the IMF and World Bank have operated behind the scenes, virtually dictating policy reforms to developing countries," said Mukhlesur Rahman, president of the Brotherhood of Asian Trade Unions.

On the previous day, Wang Zhaoguo, chairman of the All-China Federation of Trade Unions (ACFTU), told the forum that trade unions in all countries should work hard to establish a new order in the international trade union movement that brings benefits to all workers.

"They should actively participate in the affairs of the international trade union movement and in the formulation of international rules based on independence, equality, mutual respect and non-interference in each other's affairs," said Wang, also a member of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China.

The World Federation of Trade Unions was formed after the end of WWII, but most Western trade unions left it in 1949 to form the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions.

The forum, hosted by the ACFTU this year, attracted new participation from India, South Africa, Brazil and Mexico to discussions on encouraging unionization as well as on poverty alleviation.

(Xinhua News Agency September 22, 2005)