As leaders from across the world prepare for the upcoming G20 summit in Pittsburgh, PA, three Global Union Federations, representing 55 million industrial workers, are calling on the economic powers to focus on the worldwide jobs crisis.
Leaders from the International Textile, Garment and Leather Workers’ Federation (ITGLWF), the International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and General Workers’ Unions (ICEM), and the International Metalworkers’ Federation (IMF) stress the immediate need for summit leaders to recognize true recovery can only happen if people are working.
The federations call attention to the “Pittsburgh Declaration,” a statement by the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) issued last week that demands more job-creating stimulus, a changed mindset by international financial institutions regarding jobs, human and trade union rights, and more stringent financial governance and market regulation.
“What has occurred thus far,” says IMF General Secretary Jyrki Raina, “is that huge sums have been poured into financial institutions, while these same institutions have failed to manage their fundamental task—to finance a viable industrial economy. We demand that governments address the critical issue of employment, particularly the human adversity brought on by precarious labour, a form of work that undermines the industrial structures of the global north and destroys equitable development opportunities in the south.”
The G20 is made up of the finance ministers and central bank governors of 19 countries, including the U.S. This week’s meeting, which starts September 24th, will be their third summit in less than a year.
