Over 200 representatives from trade unions (Banking, Insurance, Education, Port and Dock workers, government employees, central trade unions) and civil society organisations gathered in Mumbai on 16 November 2005 for a convention against the WTO-GATS. The aim was to strategise on defending the services sector in the context of positions being taken by the Indian Government regarding services in the current WTO negotiations.

The meeting commenced with the documentary: ’WTO: Why is it really bad for you’. The short film, through voices of activists, highlights the key flashpoints in the negotiations in the run-up to the December 2005 Hong Kong Ministerial Meeting of the WTO.

Dr. Shanti Patel, former parliamentarian and former Mayor of Mumbai city, chaired the first session. He recalled the struggle for independence from the British, of which he was a part, and said that agreements like the GATS would result in India’s hard won sovereignty being signed away for the benefit of corporations. He called for a campaign to defend the services sector with the vigour of the freedom struggle. Any commitments to be made in Hong Kong should be closely scrutinised by the Indian parliament and state legislatures. Unless this is done there should be no deal in Hong Kong, he emphasised.

Former Indian Ambassador to the GATT, and former Member, Planning Commission, S. P Shukla spoke about the resistance mounted by India and Brazil in the 1980’s to stop services from entering into the GATT. In this context India’s pro-GATS positions in the current negotiations were cause for extreme concern. Services play a crucial role in meeting national policy objectives and GATS commitments would prohibit India from charting its own development path, he said. He added that India’s pro GATS positions would only benefit a small elite section of India and the poor would ultimately pay the price.

S D Dhopeshswarkar of the All India Bank Employees Association chaired the second session on sectoral issues. A D Golandaz of the Maharastra State Electricity Board Union said that opening up the electricity sector would be disastrous for rural electrification. S Nagarajan from the All India Bank Officers Association said that foreign banks operating in the country were draining resources from the country without any substantive investments. The Financial sector performed important developmental functions and hence public control over public money was essential. Kranti Jejurekar, Principal of Siddharth College said GATS commitments in the Education sector would lead to the monopolizing of quality education only for the rich classes. Kishore Thekedath of the Bombay University College Teachers Union linked GATS with the ideological attack on education sector especially in the social sciences. P R Krishnan of the Centre for Indian Trade Unions (CITU) recalled the glorious role of Mumbai’s working class in the struggle for freedom and said that CITU would be in the forefront of the campaign against GATS. Comrade R G Karnik from the Maharastra State Government Employees Union spoke of the impact of privatisation, which is closely linked with GATS, on public services and said that state government employees would actively campaign against this process. Sanjay Wadaokar from Thane pledged support of the Hind Mazdoor Sabha for the campaign.

S P Shukla and Gajanan Khatu chaired the final session. The open letter to Indian Parliamentarians, which was initiated from Maharastra, was introduced and an appeal was made to get more signatures before it was presented to MPs in the winter session of the Indian Parliament. It was also decided to have sectoral meetings on GATS and publish short briefings on crucial services sectors. There was also an urgent need to contact professional bodies such as the Chartered Accountants Association and Architects Federations, said Khatu. The convention endorsed the call of the Indian Peoples Campaign Against the WTO for a National Convention on December 3 2005 and National Day of Protest on December 13 2005 when the Ministerial Meeting begins in Hong Kong. It was decided to organise a campaign, which would take the issue to the general public, and also to organise a big protest against WTO in Mumbai on December 13 2005.

A call was also given to moblise for the Maharastra level convention on WTO and Agriculture that will be held on December 4 2005 at Pune.

The convention was jointly organised by:

All India Bank Officers Association, All India Bank Employees Association, All India Bank Officers Confederation, All India Life Insurance Corporation Employees Federation, All India Port and Dock Workers Federation (Workers), All India Trade Union Congress, Brihan Mumbai Mahapalika Shikshak Sabha, Central Government Employees Coordination Committee, Centre for Indian Trade Unions, Focus on the Global South - India, General Insurance Employees All India Association, Hind Mazdoor Sabha, India Centre for Human Rights and the Law, National Union of Seafarers of India, Maharastra State Government Employees Confederation, Maharastra State Zilla Parishad Employees Confederation, Vikas Adhyan Kendra and YUVA

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