THE PEOPLES OF THE WORLD ASSEMBLED,

NOTING the awe-inspiring and hard-worked advancements in the pharmaceutical industry in what regards producing life-saving drugs, rescuing entire populations from despair and certain death from some of the most deadly epidemics ever known to sapientkind,

ACKNOWLEDGING that, for better or for worse, the search for financial profits and academic recognition are as of now indissociable and main driving forces for development of said life-saving drugs,

FURTHER ACKNOWLEDGING that the poorest nations most of the times only benefit from these breakthroughs after decades of their inception and after countless lives were needlessly and tragically lost, destroying families, entire communities, cities, nations, regions,

REALIZING that both concerns can be through good will and common sense be brought to a common and decent ground, balancing economic interests needed to continue the development of new life-saving drugs and the self-evident right of every sapient being to have access to the best medicines available to the cure of their ailments,

DECLARING AS OBVIOUS that no sapient being’s health should be held hostage to any nation’s ideology, notwithstanding the sacred notion that nations of all stripes are equal before this World Assembly,

RESOLVES:

1) An appropriate part of World Health Authority’s budget shall be directed for buying and distributing, when and where necessary, high-cost life-saving medications and vaccines. Negotiations shall take place between the agencies and patent holders so as to achieve a minimum acceptable price, one that does not hamper the industries affected nor further research, nor depletes the WA economic resources or otherwise adversely impacts the multitude of activities dependant on WA funding.

2) Life-saving medications’ and vaccines patents may be temporarily waivered only in the most extraordinary of situations, like in the presence of imminent or unfolding public health catastrophes, such as lethal airborne diseases with a small period of incubation, strictly for as small a period as necessary, as determined by the WHA and only after every other venue of emergency negotiations between the WA and the patent holders have been exhausted.

3) If such a waiver is to be proclaimed, patent holders shall receive financial compensation proportional to the period between such proclamation and the suspension of said waiver, after a through audit of the values disputed, done by the WHA, the WA Trade Commission, and the WA General Accounting Office, in an appropriate time frame, and always mindful of the imperative of not to adversely impact the universe of WA-funded activities.

a) Funding for such compensation shall come from the usual WA funding mechanisms. Private donations, insofar they may create a perception of bias, are strictly forbidden.

4) The WHA shall, through statistical analysis, identify diseases that affect mainly the poorest populations, diseases for which there have not been as yet serious attempts at a research for a cure or a vaccine.

a) A Health Research & Development Division is hereby created within the WHA, with the aim to research and develop cures and vaccines for said diseases. All breakthroughs arising therewith shall be put into public domain. Products arising from such breakthroughs shall be produced according to standards set by the WHA and its divisions, and distributed when and where necessary.

The World Assembly, believing that the ability to form and join labor unions is an important factor in assuring proper compensation and adequate working conditions; recognizing that industrial actions are sometimes the only means available for workers to influence management decisions; however, also believing that the welfare of the general public must be of paramount concern in weighing the right of workers to engage in such actions; hereby:

1. RESOLVES that all WA member nations must recognize and ensure the right of workers to form or join unions of their choice for the purpose of collective representation, and the right of those unions to establish and join international unions and federations of labor organizations both nationally and internationally.

2. ESTABLISHES the right of all workers to engage in strikes and other industrial actions, including, but not limited to, work slowdowns, overtime refusal, work-to-rule and general strikes, provided that those actions are authorized by a union and do not cause physical harm to persons or property;
a. Employers are not required to pay wages of workers while they are on strike.
b. Workers may not be terminated from employment for participating in a strike or industrial action legally authorized by a union.
c. Employers are prohibited from engaging in actions which interfere with the right of workers to engage in strikes, or actions which interfere with the ability to maintain a strike.

3. DECLARES that national governments may exempt from the rights granted in clause 2:
a. Strikes or other industrial actions not authorized by a union.
b. Strikes or other industrial actions which significantly endanger the health or welfare of the public, such as, but not limited to strikes by medical and police personnel.

4. RESERVES to the respective member nations the right to determine the extent to which the provisions of this resolution shall apply to members of the armed forces, law enforcement personnel, providers of emergency services, and government employees providing essential public services.

5. MANDATES that labor disputes involving workers lacking the right to strike under articles 3.b. and 4 of this resolution be settled through binding arbitration administered by an independent and unbiased third party.

6. DECLARES that national governments may require unions to supply fair notice to employers and relevant government agencies in advance of industrial action.

7. AFFIRMS the right of unions and their national and international organisations to be free to draw up their own constitutions and rules, organise their own administration and activities, and formulate their own programs. National governments may require that unions operate democratically and may set a minimum percentage of membership for legal recognition of unions, not to exceed 50%+1.

8. Union members have the right to form new unions or seek representation from a different union if they feel they are not currently being provided fair and competent representation.

9. FORBIDS discrimination based on union membership where employment is concerned. Union members and non-members must be afforded equal treatment in hiring, work assignment, compensation, promotion, training and education, and disciplinary actions.

10. DECLARES that unions must abide by national law, and that national laws shall not be made to impair the guarantees provided for in this resolution.

General Assembly Resolution #26 “World Assembly Economic Union” (Category: Free Trade; Strength: Strong) shall be struck out and rendered null and void.

RECOGNIZING Resolution #26 as an abuse of the international power invested in the World Assembly

APALLED that the resolution makes no reference to developing nations (only to nations in "severe economic crisis"), not recognizing the importance of tariffs, subsidies, and other such “protectionist devices” to the improvement of developing nations’ domestic nonessential industry, which is vital to economic expansion and advancement

NOTING that Resolution #26 only benefits the few nations with powerful nonessential industries, effectively out-competing the minor industries of less developed nations due to forcibly unrestricted borders

OUTRAGED especially at the fact that the World Assembly Trade Commission (WATC) is given the unchecked power to arbitrarily regulate intra-national subsidies which do not fall under the category of international trade

The World Assembly hereby repeals the “World Assembly Economic Union” Resolution.