Labour issues deserve attention in international trade talks, according to Transport Equipment and Allied Industries Equipment Employees' Union executive secretary Syed Sharir.

"It's naive to say that labour and environmental issues and trade are not interlinked," the trade unionist told malaysiakini.

He cited an example where the welfare of the workers is affected by the trade policies of a country.

"To attract more foreign investors, the development of unions in certain countries is hindered (thus affecting the workers' welfare). In Malaysia, one good example is the electronics industry," Syed said.

The government, he said, has banned electronic workers from forming a national union.

Syed was commenting on International Trade and Industry Deputy Minister Kerk Choo Ting's statement in Parliament that Malaysia will continue to resist the admission of labour and environment issues at the World Trade Organisation (WTO) because they are "not trade-related".

According to the New Straits Times on Friday, Kerk was reported as saying that Malaysia would emphasise the importance of nation-building and special and differential treatment for developing countries, in reply to a question by Senator Hassan Shukri in the Dewan Negara.

Syed insisted that the fight for labour rights should not be seen as linked to Western interests, adding that the labour issues at WTO should not be a "tool" for the superpowers to further their interests.

Nevertheless, he registered his skepticism towards WTO's ability towards helping the labour movement. With or without WTO, he said that labour and other social issues should be discussed in trade talks.

Penang-based Third World Network (TWN) said that the inclusion of labour and environment issues at the WTO will not benefit the developing countries, labour or the environment as a whole.

"WTO's objective is mainly to further the interest of free trade," TWN's Cecilia Oh said.

"It will make matters worse by putting issues as sensitive as environment and labour in an organisation that people are criticising," she added.

According to her, international conventions such as the International Labour Organisation and various multilateral environmental agreements should be fully enforced to exert pressures on respective governments to respect international standards on labour and the environment.

Meanwhile, the Business Council for Sustainable Development honourary president, Kok Wee Kiat, who is a former deputy minister, told malaysiakini that WTO, primarily as a trade organisation, should focus its priority on trade.

"There are different forums for other issues such as the environment," he said.

Although Kok agreed that from a holistic perspective, the environment and trade issues overlapped, he felt that the emphasis on either one of these aspects will depend on the priority of the country.

"Developing countries, will of course, put economic development first," he said.