I have just returned from the G20 Mexico Summit and wanted to share some impressions with you prior to sending a further message, which will analyse the G20 declaration in more detail.
The positive signal coming out of the G20 is that the leaders have agreed a Growth and Jobs Action plan. They recognise the depth of the crisis and how the situation has further deteriorated since the last G20 meeting in Cannes in November last year. In the G20 final communiqué, there is explicit mention of how the global crisis continues to impact people’s lives and jobs. With almost 210 million people unemployed, this is self-evident. However, it is also a sign that the critique of “austerity only” and the union voice is being heard.
There was a worry that, as in Cannes, the Greek election and Eurozone crisis would push issues of jobs and financial regulation to one side. The impatience of the world with the inability to sort out the Eurozone crisis was evident and dominated media attention and the G20 corridors. Our aim was to keep pressure on the anti-austerity and jobs agenda, while underlining that the eurozone bailout conditions are strangling the economies of the countries concerned.
We took this message to the G20 and, while there, met with leaders from the IMF, the World Bank, WTO, the OECD and ILO and a significant number of heads of state. We gave it to them straight: unless there’s a change in direction in terms of economic thinking, the economy and demand will not recover, purchasing power will not recover and jobs will not recover. This is also the message we took to the world’s press gathered at Los Cabos.
The members of the L20 (Labour Leaders Group) had a rapid round of meetings with the G20 leaders so the union message was fresh in the leaders’ mind before the G20 plenary itself kicked off. The recognition of the L20 is a major achievement – we have won a seat at the table; it is a form of global agreement at the geo-political level. We stand shoulder to shoulder with the other global unions in this effort. It is also important to note that the ILO plays an increasingly important role in the conduct of the G20, and it will be former union leader, Guy Ryder, who will head the ILO from October, to build on the groundwork of his predecessor, Juan Somavia.
As part of the G20 arrangements, the L20 meets with the B20 – which represents the business sector. This year we presented a joint letter to the G20 on youth unemployment. There was also a social dialogue summit with the B20, attended by the newly elected French Labour Minister and the Mexican Labour Minister. The union push has contributed to elevating the role of the labour ministers in the G20 process. The labour ministers now have their own summit. The labour ministers’ declaration was presented to the G20 summit and adopted. This year Adriana Rosenzvaig, the Regional Secretary of UNI Americas, attended the summit in Guadalajara.
We prepare well in advance of the summit. The TUAC economic working party has the first stab at elaborating our position, which is worked into a statement. Once that’s finalised, we then develop a media strategy to deliver our message on jobs, workers’ rights, social protection and social dialogue to the G20 leaders. We are not just postmen; it is about dialogue at the top. We take the opportunity to get face to face with the global leaders. The ITUC national centre members are instrumental in making this happen. We met, for example, with German Chancellor Angela Merkel the day after the Greek election. I asked for her assessment. She said she was not sure what the result would mean, having seen the financial markets fall once again after an early surge. I spoke to her about the EU’s plan for a so called ‘banking union’ and demanded that UNI Europa’s voice be heard.
I challenged Chancellor Merkel on how she could support collective bargaining at home and permit the troika to dismantle the same in Greece, Portugal, Italy, and Ireland. Chancellor Merkel promised to investigate the work of the troika in this regard. Such encounters do not bring immediate resolutions but encourage a re-assessment and questioning of positions taken. When I accused the head of the IMF, Christine Lagarde, of undermining collective bargaining, her reaction was to state that sector-wide agreements penalise small and medium-sized enterprises. The IMF and the rest of the Troika neither understand nor pretend to understand collective bargaining's role as a fundamental building block to the recovery. Again I will follow up, challenging the IMF position on collective bargaining.
We use several channels to get the message out. We recognise that new media is now equally important as, if not overtaking, traditional media as a tool to reach our audience. I sent around 40 tweets, sometimes directly from the meetings, and prior to the meeting we sent out video news releases and press statements. An interview for the Huffington Post Canada shows how we can get a global message out with a national angle. (See the full interview below). We drove home our message that austerity is not working; that it was supposed to deliver private sector investment, jobs and fiscal consolidation but has not; that women and young people are taking the brunt of the crisis and a new approach is needed.
At the G20 there was a sense of political weakness in the face of tidal changes in financial markets. Policy is aimed to placate them, with little regard to the social consequences. The palliative to financial markets is the harmless term ‘structural reform.’ This is the new way of talking about reforming labour markets. Structural reform is a new euphemism for labour market flexibility and means cuts in minimum wages; weaker, unfair dismissal laws and other thinly disguised attacks on workers. There is a lack of appreciation of the role and status of collective bargaining. Structural reform in this context means ‘master and servant’. Our conversation with Chancellor Merkel concluded with her reiterating that Germany is a social market economy where success has been built on collective bargaining. Our response is that the world could emerge from the crisis much quicker by recognising the key roles that collective bargaining and unions play; labour institutions need to be strengthened, not weakened. We keep working to have this view reflected in G20 declarations.
Some key quotes from G20 Leaders Declaration:
“We are united in our resolve to promote growth and jobs.”
“Quality employment is at the heart of our macroeconomic policies.”
“Jobs with labour rights, social security coverage and decent income contribute to more stable growth, enhance social inclusion and reduce poverty.”
Best regards,
Philip J. Jennings
General Secretary
UNI Global Union
philip.jennings@uniglobalunion.org
http://twitter.com/#!/PJenningsUNI
Read Philip Jennings’ article in the Huffington Post here: http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2012/06/19/philip-jennings-uni-global-union-stephen-harper_n_1610713.html
