TUAC NEWS

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Unions call for action on Jobs and Income Inequality at OECD Ministerial Consultations in Tokyo

09/04/2014


A TUAC delegation led by the President of the Japanese Trade Union Centre, Nobuaki Koga took part in consultations with the OECD and the business group BIAC in Tokyo on 8 April. The meeting was convened to prepare the OECD Ministerial Council (MCM) that will be held on the 6-7 May in Paris chaired by Japan. The consultations agreed on the need to promote effective social dialogue between governments and the Social Partners at both OECD and national level.

TUAC put forward a series of recommendations that will be developed at the MCM in May notably urging governments to:

  • Take coordinated action to kick start the recovery process through increased investment in job creation, infrastructure, green growth and sustainable development;
  • Work with the Social Partners to establish a Youth Jobs Pact;
  • Follow on from the OECD’s “New Approaches to Economic Challenges” project by aligning policy to its findings and launch a review of the 2006 OECD Jobs Strategy, so as to ensure the recommendations create quality employment and are compatible with inclusive growth;
  • Support policies that strengthen labour market institutions and collective bargaining to reduce income inequality and halt the continuing increase in precarious and irregular work;
  • Take determined action to stop tax base erosion and profit shifting under the BEPS project, commit to automatic exchange of information, and support the creation and extension of a financial transactions tax;
  • Integrate “decent work” and equity into the OECD Development Strategy and advance a multi-stakeholder process that integrates trade unions in the implementation and monitoring of the strategy;
  • Design upgrading strategies that make global value chains (GVCs) socially sustainable, paying particular attention to reversing the explosion in precarious work, improving workers’ rights and working conditions, upgrading skills, addressing gender inequality and improving understanding of MNE responsibilities under the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises;
  • Improve the performance of the National Contact Points (NCPs) for the OECD Guidelines through a stock-taking exercise by identifying factors of success and failure in the handling of cases;
  • Ensure that workers’ fundamental rights are respected in the process of OECD outreach and expansion by enhancing the initial review process.
The consultations were followed by a series of events marking the 50th Anniversary of Japan’s accession to the OECD. RENGO organised a symposium:  “Towards better life for all and a more equal, sustainable growth – New Challenges of Global Society” on the afternoon of 8 April that the OECD Secretary General attended, and the government of Japan and the OECD, a Symposium on 9 April.