Trade Unions to G20: Half Measures Will Not Fix Broken Global Economy
International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC)
ITUC OnLine March 23, 2009
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In a worldwide push for action by G20 governments to
pull the global economy out of recession and chart a
new course for job creation, financial regulation and
global governance, trade unions across the world are
today delivering a common set of demands to their
national governments. The five-point union plan, which
includes detailed policy proposals, sets out the
actions needed to tackle the crisis and build a fairer
and more sustainable world economy for the future. It calls for:
- a coordinated international recovery and sustainable
growth plan to create jobs and ensure public investment;
- nationalisation of insolvent banks and new financial
regulations;
- action to combat the risk of wage deflation and
reverse decades of increasing inequality;
- far-reaching action on climate change;
- a new international legal framework to regulate the
global economy along with reform of the global
financial and economic institutions (IMF, World Bank, OECD, WTO).
The 'Global Unions G20
http://www.ituc-csi.org/IMG/pdf/No_16_-_G20_London_Declaration_FINAL.pdf
developed by the ITUC and the Trade Union Advisory
Committee (TUAC) at the OECD, sets out the steps which
need to be taken by the G20 in cooperation with other
governments. It is being presented by national trade
union movements to their governments today, and will be
formally submitted to the G20 Leaders'
on 2 April. Trade unions from around the world will be
joining their colleagues from the British TUC in a huge
civil society mobilisation planned for
March, to press home the need for coordinated global
action by governments.
'If the G20 governments in
agree on half-measures, they will have failed to meet
their responsibilities. As the world's largest
economies, they have the responsibility and the
possibility to replace the failed neo-liberalism of the
past with a whole new direction for globalisation,'
said ITUC General Secretary Guy Ryder.
Recovery and sustainable growth can be achieved,
according to the Declaration, but only if the focus is
on job creation and public investment, active labour
market policies, extending social safety nets and
special measures for developing and emerging economies.
The trade unions also put forward an eight-point
specific action plan for global financial regulation,
with immediate action to nationalise insolvent banks.
'Weak or non-existent regulation of banking and
financial activity turned the world economy into an
anything-goes casino, plunging the world into deep
recession and causing the loss of tens of millions of
jobs. This needs to be fixed urgently. Another main
pillar of recovery and reform, creating decent,
sustainable jobs and boosting purchasing power, must
also be given priority attention at the G20,' said John
Evans, General Secretary of the TUAC.
The
deflation, and highlights the fact that growing income
inequality across the world has been a major
contributor to the current recession, as workers'
purchasing power has been insufficient to help maintain
demand for goods and services. Ensuring that all
workers have the right to collective bargaining, and
strengthening wage-setting institutions, will establish
a decent floor in labour markets and feed economic
stimulus through more household buying power. This is
closely linked to the broader requirement for reform of
the IMF, World Bank, WTO and OECD, with the inclusion
of the International Labour Organisation at the centre
of an effective and accountable system of global governance.
'Financial regulation is essential, but it is not
enough. The new global governance must be based on a
strong pillar of social rights, including crucially the
ILO's core labour standards. The real economy, decent
work and poverty reduction can no longer be left at the
fringe of global policy. The G20 should not limit its
horizons by simply making marginal changes to a
discredited system. It needs to lead a complete
overhaul in the way the world economy is run. Those who
think that we can return to business as usual are
seriously mistaken,' said Ryder.
The union proposals also focus on the urgent need for
impetus to tackle climate change, given the enormous
environmental, social and economic costs of inaction.
Already, governments should be using coordinated global
fiscal response to the economic crisis to set the world
on a 'green economy' path. Creation of green jobs, and
action to ensure 'just transition' in communities and
sectors affected by the move to environmentally-
friendly production, are central to achieving the
levels of greenhouse gas reduction needed, and will
contribute to pulling the world out of recession.
'Governments have the levers available now to turn the
world towards a green growth path. Failure to take
this opportunity would be a tragedy for humankind, and
for the future of the planet,' said Evans.
The ITUC represents 170 million workers in 312 affiliated national organisations from 157 countries.
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