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Tropical Forest Research Network |
GLOBALISATION AND SUSTAINABILITY: THE FORESTRY AND WOOD INDUSTRIES ON THE MOVE - SOCIAL AND LABOUR IMPLICATIONS
By Peter Poschen
The forestry industry is on the move. Globalisation is clearly gaining momentum in forestry and accelerating the structural changes that have taken place in this sector over the last decades. Trade - now equivalent to 30% of world output - is outgrowing production for basically all the subcategories of products (i.e. forestry, timber industries, wooden furniture making, and pulp and paper). Falling tariffs and regulations facilitating and encouraging foreign direct investments (FDI) are important driving forces. There are also environmental factors driving globalisation. In a number of countries the natural forests have been, or are about to be, exhausted and industries are having to relocate, or at least find other sources of raw material. As a consequence, the sources of supply have gradually been shifting from public to private and from natural to planted forests. Conditions for plantations are particularly favourable in parts of the southern hemisphere. The location of future markets as well as of sources of raw material, coupled with the increased financial clout and reach of larger firms, are resulting in a redirecting of the flow of FDI increasingly from North to South and West to East.
Adoption of sustainable
forest management objective
A different kind of move, but one that has been gaining momentum in recent years,
is the widespread adoption of the sustainable development objective by the forest
products industry. Sustainable development in forestry and the forest industries
has been defined as an equilibrium between economic development, the conservation
of the environment and social justice. The adoption of this goal is recent and
implementation still in its early stages, but it has already made a clear impression
on the forest policies and practices of countries and individual firms. In today's
competitive markets, more and more firms have come round to the view that demonstrating
environmental and social responsibility can be a decisive advantage to organisations.
One outcome of this development has been the spread of certification and labelling
as a means of independently verifying claims of sustainability or good stewardship
in a credible manner and communicating this to customers and the public.
Implications for decent
work
All of these developments are having profound social and labour impacts, affecting
all aspects of decent work: employment and income, job quality and social security,
rights at work and social dialogue.
Employment: An estimate based on the best data available puts global forest-based employment at some 47 million work-years (full-time equivalents), including both the formal industrial sector (more than 17 million jobs) and the informal and subsistence sectors (around 30 million). Globalisation, with mobile capital, the worldwide availability of advanced technology and larger firms more inclined to substitute capital for labour will make job creation in the forest industries an uphill struggle even in developing countries, except for those that experience spectacular growth in output. However, some countries and firms have been coping with globalisation and other changes much better than others and have even benefited from them. The impact of globalisation is to a large extent conditioned by the reaction of firms and governments. Even small firms have been able to use it to their advantage.
Job quality: There is no sign that globalisation has had a direct effect on wage levels, which continue to be determined by national labour markets. Attempts to cut wages have therefore been unsuccessful. In order to remain competitive vis-à-vis other sectors, the forest industry is more likely to be forced to increase wages in some countries and sub-sectors. One factor associated with globalisation and structural change that has strongly influenced the quality of employment, generally for the worse, is outsourcing, particularly in the case of forestry contractors. Contractors and their workers have lower quality jobs in more or less every respect: income, job stability, working hours, safety and health, and social security coverage. They receive little support from others in the supply chain but are exposed to severe and sometimes unfair competition. Training systems are not geared to their needs. In such a situation, investments in advanced equipment and work organisation, as well as in qualified staff, are difficult. Skill development is a priority area in all countries and all sub-sectors.
Rights at work: Friction between a globalising forestry sector and social and labour rights has been growing with regard to local communities and indigenous peoples. A number of clashes, some of them violent, have erupted in recent years. The potential for such conflicts is rising as plantation forestry and the harvesting of natural forests advance into new areas. Unacceptable social and environmental cost is believed to be a result of deficits in the design of schemes and investments or of poor management. Giving full consideration to social impact can help to maximise benefits for all concerned.
Social dialogue: The institutions of social dialogue and the organisations involved are often weak in countries where the forest industries have been growing strongly. In all countries, contracting out has complicated organisation and the establishment of forums for social dialogue. While firms are becoming more and more organised and operate internationally, their social dialogue counterparts in governments and workers' organisations have mostly remained confined to individual plants or countries. More social dialogue and stronger partners appear to be very desirable, not least in view of the importance of the social dimension of sustainable development.
Conclusion
In order to make sustainable development a reality, the social dimension will
have to be incorporated more fully and in more operational terms into policies
related to the forestry sector and into industry practice. National fora on
sustainability in forestry, industry-community partnerships, certification,
codes of forest practice, small enterprise development, organisation and dialogue
about forestry contracting modalities are encouraging examples of how globalisation,
decent work and sustainability can be made compatible. The challenge is to turn
good practices into standard forestry practices.
Further information:
Dr Peter Poschen
The International Labour Organisation
4 route des Morillons
CH-1211 Geneva 22
Switzerland
E-mail: poschen@ilo.org