Brussels Seminar on Export Processing Zones (EPZs)

How does one organize workers in export processing zones around the world? This is the issue that a seminar, organized from the 21 to 23 February 2011 in Brussels, will seek to address.

Press release | 03 February 2011

Geneva, 3 February 2011 (ACTRAV INFO)-How does one organize workers in export processing zones around the world? This is the issue that a seminar, organized from the 21 to 23 February 2011 in Brussels, will seek to address.

Several trade unions from Africa, Asia, Europe and Latin America, will take part in this seminar which will be organized by the Bureau for Workers Activities (ACTRAV) in collaboration with the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC).

According to the International Labour Office, export processing zones are “industrial zones with special incentives set up to attract foreign investors, in which imported materials undergo some degree of processing before being (re-)exported again”

Working conditions in these zones are difficult and workers in EPZs do not enjoy their rights especially that of freedom of association and the right to collective bargaining.

An ILO report published in 2008 estimates that there are about 3,500 EPZs in the world, they are found in nearly 130 countries and territories, and they employ more than 66 millions people.