 |
| Research article summary (published 30 Dec 2001): |
How International Monetary Fund and World Bank policies undermine labor power and rights.
Full Abstract
Based on reviews of hundreds of loan and project documents from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank, this article provides detailed evidentiary support for critics who have long claimed that the international financial institutions require Third World countries to adopt policies that harm the interests of working people. After reviewing loan documents between the IMF and World Bank and 26 countries, the authors show that the institutions' loan conditionalities include a variety of provisions that undermine labor rights, labor power, and tens of millions of workers' standard of living. These include downsizing of the civil service and privatization of government-owned enterprises; promotion of labor flexibility:
the notion that firms should be able to hire and fire workers, or change terms and conditions of work, with minimal regulatory restrictions; mandated wage rate reductions, minimum-wage reductions or containment, and spreading the wage gap between government employees and managers; and pension reforms, including privatization, that cut social security benefits. These labor-related policies take place in the context of broader IMF and World Bank structural adjustment packages that emphasize trade liberalization, with macroeconomic policies that further advance corporate interests at the expense of labor.
Learn Faster Today Improve your study skills
Author information
Author/s: Lloyd, Vincent (V); Weissman, Robert (R);
Affiliation: Multinational Monitor, Washington, DC, USA.
Journal and publication information
Publication Type: Evaluation Studies; Journal Article
Journal: International journal of health services : planning, administration, evaluation (Int J Health Serv), published in United States. (Language: eng)
Reference: 2002-; vol 32 (issue 3) : pp 433-42
Dates: Created 2002/09/04; Completed 2003/01/08; Revised 2007/11/15;
PMID: 12211286, status: MEDLINE (last retrieval date: 11/6/2008)
Sourced from the National Library of Medicine. Abstract text and other information may be subject to copyright.
External Links for this article (including full text providers, if available):
Click Electronic Full-text Provider Links to see options for finding the electronic full text links to this article. Note there may be a subscription or fee required for access to the full text. See our FAQ for information on finding FREE full text articles.
This article may also be located in paper journal collections available in many libraries. Use the Journal and Publication Information above to find the full article.
MeSH headings (categories)
This article was linked to the MESH Headings shown below.
|
|
Related articles
This article has not been indexed for related articles as yet, however you can still use the live related article search links below.
See a large map of 100+ related articles.