G-20 Unions: Time to Change Direction of Global Economy

by James Parks, Nov 14, 2008

The G-20 trade union leaders declared that the global economy should work for the poor, such as this woman who hauls dirt in India for about $2.50 a day.

Trade union leaders from the G-20 countries today called on world leaders to take urgent action to prevent a deep and long-lasting global recession, to make fundamental changes in the way the global economy is run and to turn back decades of deregulation policies that have caused the current crisis.  

The union leaders also say a fresh push for development and decent work is needed, as well as a “Green New Deal” to tackle climate change effectively.  

The AFL-CIO is hosting the meeting of the union leaders in conjunction with the financial crisis summit of G-20 leaders this weekend in Washington, D.C. The meeting is sponsored by the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC), the Trade Union Advisory Committee to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (TUAC-OECD) and Global Unions. 

ITUC General Secretary Guy Ryder says: 

Tens of millions of workers are facing the loss of their jobs and more and more people are falling into poverty, with women frequently the worst affected. Now is the time for a complete change in direction, and we will be putting the case for that change to governments, including the incoming Obama administration in the U.S.A. 

John Evans, general secretary of the TUAC-OECD, adds:  

Immediate action is needed to get the world economy moving and boost employment. Governments need to be prepared to make further, coordinated, cuts in interest rates and to front-load investment in infrastructure, education and health to help stimulate demand growth and reinforce public services. This needs to be accompanied by tax and spending measures to support the purchasing power of low- and middle-income earners, and concrete steps to launch investment in green goods and services, to help address climate change. 

The union proposals are detailed in a recovery and reform program dubbed the Washington Declaration, which you can download here. Along with the immediate steps to stimulate the world economy, the key elements of the program include: 

• Better accountability of central banks,
• Regulation of hedge funds and private equity,
• Proper supervision of banks and global conglomerates,
• Reform and control of executive pay and profit distribution,
• Taxation of international financial transactions,
• Reform of the credit rating industry,
• Ending tax havens,
• Protection against predatory lending,
• Active policies for housing and for community-based financial services.

The Washington Declaration also draws attention to the plight of the world’s poorest countries, where the impacts of global downturn will hit hardest. It calls on richer countries to make decent work a primary goal of the new approach to the global economy, with job creation, fundamental workers’ rights, social protection and social dialogue central to reversing the massive inequality, which is at the root of the present crisis. Trade unions have a major contribution to make in charting the necessary international reform, and the statement calls on governments to ensure their full involvement in the process. Ryder says:  

Governments have found it easy for the past three decades to withdraw from their proper role in regulating markets and ensuring that multinational companies meet global standards on workers’ rights.  Getting good government policies back in the driving seat will be much more difficult, as no government can achieve this alone.  Now is the time for coordinated action to restore proper regulation to put the markets at the service of the people.   

AFL-CIO President John Sweeney says the federation:  

is proud to host our union brothers and sisters from all over the world as we call  on governments and global institutions to build an economy that works for all working people.  In the short term, we must address the financial crisis with a comprehensive economic revitalization agenda to help working families get back on track. And in the long-term, we need broad-based economic changes that will ensure fundamental workers’ rights and curb the massive inequality which is at the root of this crisis.

The G-20 members include the European Union, the United States, Britain, France, Germany, Italy, China, Russia, Japan, India, South Korea, Indonesia, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Canada, Australia, Argentina, Brazil and Mexico. 

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