The Brandt Report makes out an unanswerable case for pursuing common interests in social justice, peace and economic development, and for the urgency of redistributing incomes towards the developing countries. But it fails to give due recognition to the role of trade unions, which have wide support in many developing countries. Democratic trade unionism and democratic development itself are inseparable. The Report should have, for example, urged the worldwide removal of restrictions on trade unions and encouraged the adoption of fair labour standards at the national, if not international, level.