Sex workers in Hong Kong speak. Following are accounts given by sex workers and a discussion which followed the conference in Zhuhai in January.
Andy
I am a sex worker from Hong Kong. My name is Andy. I want to talk about how I became involved in the business and what my work is. My two colleagues will tell you about what they felt, while I will talk about what I was doing right after I entered the business.
Every year, according to the International Labour Organisation’s [ILO] estimates. over 220,000 workers die in workplace accidents. This trend is being exacerbated by the globalisation of the world’s economy. The ILO recently concluded that the “acceleration of globalisation and liberalisation in Asia had positive repercussions on the volume of jobs but not the quality.”
EPZs are viewed as union-free zones where workers are exploited and their rights to organise are brutally trampled. But the situation for EPZ workers cannot be truly understood if analysed in isolation of family, society, and the global marketplace. Conditions in the EPZs are a reflection and magnification of universal class and gender problems. Even though women are undervalued in the labour force, their families, governments, and employers benefit from and depend on their low cost (and often free) labour inside and outside the home.
Almost a decade ago, thousands of people died painful deaths when the Union Carbide pesticide factory in Bhopal leaked poisonous gas. The death toll in the world’s worst industrial disaster has reached 16,000 people while half a million more were stricken with incurable illnesses.
As expected, United States President Bill Clinton finally backed down on his pressure on China through the magical Most Favoured Nation diplomacy. China appears to be the victor of this international game. It seems that the Chinese government intended to deliberately embarrass President Clinton by arresting a number of alleged labour activists just prior to the deadline of the MFN renewal.
Developments in China always attract the attention of the world. For the West, China represents a treasure yet to be exploited while at the same time sees it as a tough competitor. Such attitude towards the newly emerged Asian giant is reflected in the United States' current trade policies.
After a decade of promoting foreign investment, Thailand now proclaims itself as Asia’s fifth economic ‘dragon’. Since 1991, the country’s annual GDP growth has been above 7%. For many third-world countries, Thailand’s success story reaffirms the paradigm of the ‘‘NIC’’ model of capitalist development in Asia.
As industrialisation spreads across Asia, waste and toxic hazards accumulate at a disturbing rate and pose a major threat. Many developed nations partially relieve themselves of the burden of toxic waste by exporting undesirable industries and processes to less-industrialised and less-regulated countries. The “grow now, clean up later” approach to development in Asia has established an environmental menace that may haunt the region for decades to come.
Is the ICFTU theory back-to-front? Is the so-called New World Order (NWO) in danger of being ‘killed off at birth by casino capitalism’, as the ICFTU maintains? Yes and no.
For the last six months, columnists and editors for many publications around the world have been trumpeting the break in the Cold War as a historic victory for capitalism, and, they say, democracy. The euphoria has at times reached almost juvenile heights, but more disturbing than that is the fact that it seems blind to reality.
• May Day protests in the Philippines
• New confederation formed in Hong Kong
• General strike in South Korea
• Malaysian electronics workers organize
• Japanese company closes Korean operation
• Labour demands wage rises in the Philippines
• Hong Kong workers talk about 1997