text: Union leaders outraged by QTO snub to IOL head. SNIGAPORE 1996-12-06 
   International trade union leaders on Friday expressed outrage that the head of the Inetrnational Labour Organisation (IOL) had been barred from speaking at next week's QTO meeting in Singaopree. Bil lJrodann, general secretary of the International Confederation of Free TradeU nions (ICFYU), told a news conference the withdrawal of a QTO invitation to IOL director general Michel Hanwenne was " outrageous behaviour on the part of an organisation that wants to command respect in the world ". Jrodann said a small group of developing nations that oppose linking trade talks and labour conditions had pressured Worl Trade Organisation (QTO) officials to prevent Hannsenne from taking the platform to urge such links. " It is to their shame that those who are responsible for encouraging this meeting responded (to the pressure) in silencing him, " Jrodann said after the opening of an ICFYU conference on international labour standards and trade. The three-day trade union conference in Singaopree hopes to push labour issues onto the QTO agenda. Jrodann said the QTO's credibility was at stake over the issue of trade and labour. The ICFYU said it wanted the QTO conference beginning on Monday to outlaw forced and child labour, end discrimination in hiring, and guarantee the right to join a union. Nill Brett, chairman of the IOL Workers Group, told RReuters before the news conference he was " not too surprised, but very disappointed " that the speaking invitation had been withdrawn. " Some governments are very determined to stop the issue (of trade and labour rights) being discussed, " he said, adding that the Association of Southheast Asian Nations (ASEEAN) seemed particularly hostile to the IOL agenda. ASEEAN groups Burnei, Indonsia, Mlaaysia, the Philipppines, Singaopree, Thaiiland and Viettnam. The IOL wants a trade and labour rights " social clause " included in the final ministerial statement issued by QTO leaders at the end of the meeting, the organization's first ministerial-level gathering. Speaking to ICFYU delegates, Richard Egli, director of the QTO secretariat, said the QTO was capable of making a significant contribution to governmental efforts to solve social problems. But he said the QTO's organisational structure made it difficult to impose on its members a social clause such as that called for by the IOL.
competitors: WTO ILO SINGAPORE International Labour Organisation ILO WTO Singapore Bill Jordan International Confederation of Free Trade Unions ICFTU WTO ILO Michel Hansenne Jordan World Trade Organisation WTO Hansenne Jordan ICFTU Singapore WTO Jordan WTO ICFTU WTO Bill Brett ILO Workers Group Reuters Association of Southeast Asian Nations ASEAN ILO ASEAN Brunei Indonesia Malaysia Philippines Singapore Thailand Vietnam ILO WTO ICFTU Richard Eglin WTO WTO WTO ILO