Labour leaders call on G20 to drive forward jobs growth

 

Global labour leaders met in Moscow on Wednesday to try and find a way out of the world’s unemployment crisis.

The Labour 20 Summit titled “Confronting the jobs crisis at the G20”is organised by the Federation of Independent Trade Unions of Russia (FNPR) and the Friedrich Ebert Foundation (FES Moscow).

It takes place on the eve of the social partners’ consultations with the G20 Labour Ministers and two days before to the Joint G20 Finance and Labour Ministers’ meeting.

The L20 is calling on the G20 Labour and Finance Ministers to implement an emergency jobs plan in response to a global unemployment figure that is set to rise to over 200 million by the end of the year.

Youth unemployment has already topped 75 million globally.

L20 leaders are also calling for climate action, green jobs, decent work, progressive taxation measures, an end to attacks on collective bargaining and a universal social protection floor.

 

Global poll

On the same day as the start of the summit, the 2013 ITUC Global Poll was unveiled.

Amongst the damning poll results, it was revealed that citizens around the world have lost faith in their leaders, with voters accusing governments of working for the interests of big business rather than ordinary citizens.

More than half of the respondents (59 per cent) said their government is more focused on the interests of ‘’private companies, investors and financial institutes” than ‘’working people and their families’’.

With regards to the global job crisis, 80 per cent of people polled said their government had failed to effectively tackle unemployment in their country.

In addition, 64 per cent of global citizens said that current labour laws do not provide adequate job security or fair wages, while 91 per cent supported the right to join a union, showing strong support for laws that protect workers’ rights.

 

600 million new jobs

About 21 million jobs are needed each year to return to pre-crisis employment rates by 2015 – but G20 countries are currently way off target.

The ILO estimates that 600 million jobs over the next decade are necessary to bring unemployment down to pre-crisis levels and to provide new jobs for those entering the labour market.

Sharan Burrow, General Secretary of the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC), said tackling rising unemployment, youth unemployment and the lack of decent work must be an urgent priority for the world’s leaders.

“Unemployment and inequality is poisoning our economies and society. Income-centred growth, promoting aggregate demand is the only solution,” said Burrow.

“A jobs plan, with decent work and turning words into action, would be a major step forward for G20 Labour Ministers to deliver on their promises. Jobs, collective bargaining, a minimum wage on which people can live, social protection and essential services are the core elements of reducing inequality and unemployment.”

Conducted in 13 countries this spring by TNS, a global market research company, the polling results from Belgium, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Japan, Russia, Spain, South Africa, the UK and the USA represent the opinions of more than half of the world’s population.