TUAC NEWS
L20 to call for urgent action to create quality jobs and reduce income inequality at the G20 Joint Labour, Employment and Finance Ministers’ Meetings
28/08/2015
The L20 will attend consultations with G20 Labour and Finance Ministers that are set to meet in Ankara on 3-5 September 2015. The L20 Statement outlines main priorities ranging from responses to the persistent jobs, youth employment and inequality gaps, to the need for responsible investment practices to lift growth and productivity, the current refugee crisis and rise in informal work.
Creating quality jobs must become the central priority of the G20 with concrete policy commitments and a coordinated follow-up. The Labour and Employment Ministers’ meeting and the joint meeting with Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors must act as a catalyst for action.
In cooperation with L20 Turkey an L20 delegation will be attending the consultations with ministers whereas the main L20 Summit will be held on the eve of the Leaders’ Summit in Antalya on 13-14 November. The outcomes of the Ministerial meetings will set the stage for the Leaders’ Summit, determine future work for the Chinese G20 Presidency in 2016 and test momentum for the implementation of the national G20 Growth and Employment strategies up to 2018.The L20 will call on the Minsters at the Ankara meetings to drive these processes forward and commit to:
Increasing public investment in social and physical infrastructure both to expand growth in the short term and to bring about the structural transformation of economies needed to counter climate change. The L20 growth modelling shows that expansion of public infrastructure investment by 1% of GDP across the G20 could create up to 3.8% more growth over a five year period compared to current policies, and by doing so:
- Commit to raise and set targets for public infrastructure investment as the primary route to growth and employment recovery and promote industry-wide pension schemes based on collective bargaining to build large pools of capital to finance long term investment goals;
- Ensure the effective observance of the High Level Principles on Long-term Investment and engage further on how responsible investment practices and asset manager accountability underpin long term investment behaviour (see also the TUAC issue paper on Long Term Investment & Accountability of the Investment Chain);
- Ensure full transparency and fair risk sharing, whenever public money is used to support private finance as in the case of PPPs and other “blended finance”.
It is crucial for the G20 to start raising low and
middle-incomes and reverse the decline in the labour income share
both to reduce inequality and to inject purchasing power into the
global economy through comprehensive policy programmes and
rebalancing structural policies towards achieving quality
employment by:
- Supporting youth employment by setting G20 targets for increasing youth employment and activity rates, introducing youth guarantees, promoting quality vocational training and apprenticeships, as called for by the L20 and B20, and increasing investment in quality public education;
- Expanding women’s employment and promoting inclusive labour
markets by boosting activity rates of vulnerable groups,
including through investment in childcare facilities and the “care
economy” so as to meet the
G20 “25 by 25 target”
- Tackling long-term unemployment by expanding training opportunities and job creation through active labour market and employment policy measures
- Introducing global social protection floors to ensure
the provision of universal health and elderly care and of basic
public services as called for in the
joint statement by the World Bank and ILO
- Strengthening workers’ rights and social protection systems so as to support the transition from the informal to the formal economy
- Guaranteeing “safe workplaces” by strengthening occupational health and safety systems in G20 countries, moving ahead with the G7 plan to introduce a “vision zero fund” and ensuring that international labour standards and human rights are applied by G20 investors and companies throughout their global supply chains
- Targeting commitments to resettle refugees and asylum seekers and afford all migrants the right to work in the formal economy with associated labour, social political and cultural rights. The Post-2015 sustainable development agenda and the global New Deal should recognise displacement as a development challenge with the acknowledgement of the skills and incomes contributed to host nations as well as humanitarian and protection issues.