25 March, 2010Global trade union movement releases statement on "Beating the Jobs Crisis" in advance of the G20 Employment and Labour Ministers' Meeting in Washington on April 20 and 21, 2010.
GLOBAL: In a statement released by the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) and the Trade Union Advisory Committee to the OECD (TUAC) the international trade union movement calls on governments to adopt an aggressive agenda to ensure more robust growth and growth that delivers more jobs.
Trade unions state there can be no sustainable recovery in the economy until there is a recovery in jobs, particularly quality well-paying jobs.
Workers and their families are continuing to bear the brunt of an economic crisis for which they are not responsible. Since 2007, when the crisis broke, 34 million more women and men have become unemployed.
"Quality employment" must be at the heart of the recovery and a new jobs market that follows this crisis. In many countries, the de facto restriction of workers' rights to organise and bargain collectively has exacerbated the effects of the crisis. At the same time, labour market deregulation dramatically increased the level of precarious work. Inadequate pay, job insecurity, vulnerability and fear have become the staples of working life for millions of workers, and especially women, across the world.
Given the situation, trade unions are demanding that G20 Governments must:
- Maintain fiscal stimulus and focus on job creation
- Strengthen social protection
- Provide support for the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs)
- Support a Just Transition towards a low carbon economy
- Help build a sustainable labour market model
- Re-skill and upgrade the global workforce
- Deliver an effective social dimension to global policy implementation
- Upgrade social dialogue at national and international level
- Elaborate further the Charter for Sustainable Economic Activity
The G20 Employment and Labour Ministers meeting in Washington have a dual responsibility: they must first agree on aggressive action to create jobs and ensure that this is followed up by G20 Leaders; they must secondly ensure that the labour market emerging from this crisis delivers quality well-paying jobs. This includes ensuring that precariously employed workers - whose numbers are fast increasing in the G20 countries and beyond - have the full right to join a union and bargain collectively with their ultimate and effective employer.
ITUC and TUAC General Secretaries are requesting trade unions take action and submit the proposals set out in "Beating the Jobs Crisis" to their Labour Ministers prior to the G20 meeting. The statement (in English, Spanish, and French) can be accessed through the web links below and are also available on the IMF website.
Beating the Jobs Crisis:
http://www.tuac.org/en/public/e-docs/00/00/06/AD/telecharger.phtml?cle_doc_attach=2203
Combattre la crise de l'emploi:
http://www.tuac.org/en/public/e-docs/00/00/06/AD/telecharger.phtml?cle_doc_attach=2204
Superar la crisis del empleo:
http://www.tuac.org/en/public/e-docs/00/00/06/AD/telecharger.phtml?cle_doc_attach=2205