G8: Trade Union Leaders Push on Employment

G8: Trade Union Leaders Push on Employment

Brussels, 9 July 2009 (ITUC OnLine): Representatives of the ITUC taking part in the G8 summit in Italy met this morning with Brazilian President Luiz Inázio Lula da Silva to discuss employment and economic recovery on the eve of the summit, which will be attended by President Lula and other national leaders from G8 and non-G8 countries. The meeting follows a series of discussions with ministers from the host government Italy, including Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi.

Guglielmo Epifani, Raffaele Bonanni and Luigi Angeletti, leaders of the 3 ITUC Italian affiliates CGIL, CISl and UIL respectively, took part in the meeting with President Lula, along with John Evans, general secretary of the OECD Trade Union advisory Committee (TUAC), who is representing the TUAC, the ITUC and their Global Unions partners at the summit, which is being held in the earthquake-hit town of L’Aquila this week.

“President Lula was supportive of our proposals to include trade unions in the new global economic governance structures which it is clear are urgently needed if the world is to really learn the lessons of the current economic and employment crisis. This should include the next G20 leaders’ summit in Pittsburgh in September, which will be of critical importance in turning around the world economy and ensuring proper economic and financial regulation in the future,” said Evans.

The ITUC and its Global Unions partners are concerned that the crisis will deepen further, as unemployment rises steady around the world, and the risk of competitive wage deflation further depressing demand in the global economy.

“Unless and until decent work becomes a central objective of economic decision-making, the fault-lines which brought this crisis about will remain, and any eventual recovery will be permanently at risk. This means the International Labour Organisation must be fully involved alongside governments and other international institutions, to make sure that the Global Jobs Pact adopted at the ILO Conference in June can be made a reality,” said Evans.

Trade Union Contacts in L’Aquila this week:
John Evans + 33 608 674536
Cecilia Brighi (CISL) + 39 33 5539 942

The ITUC represents 170 million workers in 312 affiliated national organisations from 157 countries.

Website: www.ituc-csi.org http://www.youtube.com/ITUCCSI

ENDS

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