Indian workers have been in the forefront in the preparations for the World Social Forum 2004 in Mumbai. Prior to the Mumbai event, labour concerns did not have any recognisable space in the WSF. To put labour as a crucial agenda, the trade unions took a pro-active role in the WSF process. They had representation in the India Working Committee and the India Organising Committee. A joint platform, ‘Labour in WSF 2004’, was formed comprising of central trade unions, federations, independent unions and labour support organisations, which had come together to address the issues of organised and unorganised sector workers. On the request of trade unions, Centre for Education and Communication, a labour resource centre based in New Delhi, facilitated all activities of ‘Labour in WSF 2004’  and performed as its Secretariat.

‘Labour and the World of Work’ featured as one of the themes of WSF 2004 along with militarism, war and peace; globalisation, economic and social security; sustainable development: land water and food sovereignty; religious, ethnic and linguistic exclusions and oppression, exclusion, discrimination and oppression: racism and casteism; patriarchy and gender and media culture and knowledge. This was for the first time that labour had been included in the WSF as a key thematic concern.

‘Labour in WSF 2004’ saw five events—four self-organised and one organised by the WSF on work and the world of labour. The conference on Work and the World of Labour: Freedom, Equality and Labour Rights; Discriminations and Exclusions; Full Employment, Living Wage and Social Security held on 20 January 2004 was the main labour event during the WSF. It marked the coming together of the three most important international trade union federations: ICFTU, WFTU and WCL on one platform. The goals of the conference as articulated by the labour group were: To understand and articulate the impact of globalisation on the right of workers and employment relations; to understand the concerns among trade unions in the North and the South; to deliberate on core labour standards and social clause; to assess how gender and other forms of discrimination and exclusions have been impacted by globalisation; to organise the informal sector workers and protect their rights; to build a global consensus on creating a new world with full employment and living wage for all and to present people centric alternatives to imperialist globalisation.

Speakers at the conference expressed a great amount of unanimity on the subject on labour and the world of work. The general secretary of the ICFTU, Guy Rider, emphasised on a progressive alliance of trade unions, civil society and political allies as crucial to make globalisation work for the poor. He also emphasised on the need for trade unions to take on board the youth and women in order to move forward.  Alexander Zharikov, general secretary of WFTU stressed on mass action to combat globalisation. Willy Thys, general secretary of WCL called for a united condemnation of the Iraq war from a trade union platform. Prabhat Patnaik, renowned economist at the Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, explained that globalisation had resulted in a global and comprehensive attack on the working class.

The seminar on International Working Class unity Against Imperialist Globalisation held on 17 January attracted the participation of over 500 delegates. Umraomal Purohit, general secretary, Hind Mazdoor Sabha (HMS) said globalisation was working against the development interests of the developing as well as the developed countries and was adversely affecting the employment patterns. To face the challenges of globalisation there should be actions at the national and international level, he added.

The seminar on Privatisation, Disinvestments and its Impact on National Economy and Working Class on 18 January highlighted that the process of privatisation and disinvestments has intensified inequalities in the society and adversely affected social security. M K Pandhe, president, Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU) , commented, “India is not for sale. The ruling classes of the right wing government at the centre are trying to sell India, to privatise India. But the working class simultaneously is progressing with all its might.”

Communalism, Religious Fanaticism and Sectarian Violence, Labour Rights and the Trade Union Movement was the theme of the third seminar of the labour group held on 19 January. It addressed the increasing fragmentation of the society along the lines of communalism, religious fanaticism, caste, ethnicity and violence and its fall-out on the trade union movement. Sanjeeva Reddy, president, Indian national Trade Union Congress (INTUC), said the economy should have a human face and the trade union movement should give leadership in building this.

The fourth seminar of the labour group was held on 20 January with the theme Unorganised/ Unorganised Sector Workers, Right to Work and Livelihood. The speakers at the session expressed great concern over the fact that the unorganised sector was rapidly growing amid increasing unemployment, impoverishment, pauperisation, suicides and starvation deaths. J Chittaranjan, president, All India Trade Union Congress (AITUC), emphasised on the need to increase the minimum wage and fix it in accordance with the norms agreed upon by both employees’ and employers’ representatives and the government.

Apart from the common labour events, trade unions organised separate programmes. One such event was a massive rally of over 6,000 people organised by the Global Unions. The rally demonstrated the strong presence of organised labour at the WSF. Prior to the WSF, the ICFTU, ETUC and WCL along with ILO had organised the World Trade Union Forum on 15-16 January 2004. It provided an opportunity for trade unionists from all over the world to deliberate on issues such as international labour standards and corporate social responsibilities.  Southern initiative on Globalisation and Trade Union Rights (SIGTUR) organised a seminar  where trade unions including AITUC, CITU, Korean Confederation of Trade Unions and Congress of South African Trade Unions discussed their future strategies to protect labour rights. On 19 January there was also a panel discussion organised by ITF and AIRF on mobilising solidarity.

The unorganised sector workers also organised a number of programmes. The National Centre for Labour (NCL) organised sessions on globalisation and informal/unorganised sector labour on 17 January. New Trade Union Initiative (NTUI) organised several sessions, the most important being the programme on independent unionism, outsourcing and job security and women and trade union movement. National Campaign Committee For Central Legislation On construction workers (NCC-CL) organised a session on building international solidarity among construction workers and the National Forum of Forest People and Forest Workers organised a workshop on global environmental politics and its impact on Indian forest communities.

The WSF 2004 was unique because it brought together the central trade unions, unorganised sector unions and labour support organisations in India. It also brought together the major world federations of labour namely, ICFTU, WFTU and WCL.