Unions contribute to G20 debate
Friday, 14 November 2008
A crisis summit of the G20 this weekend must begin work on a more inclusive, just and democratic system for the governance of the global economy, say Australian unions.
Workers, represented by trade unions, must be given a seat at the table to negotiate a new world economic order following settlement of the global financial crisis.
ACTU President Sharan Burrow will lead a delegation of international unions in meetings with the heads of the International Monetary Fund, World Bank and members of President-elect Obama’s transition team in Washington DC tomorrow.
Ms Burrow, who is also president of the International Trade Union Confederation, said the message from unions to the G20 was there could not be a continuation of business as usual.
The ITUC, along with the Trade Union Advisory Committee to the OECD, has drawn up The Global Unions “Washington Declaration” which seeks to set out a path towards a new approach to the global economy.
The Washington Declaration proposes a co-ordinated recovery plan for the real economy, re-regulation of global financial markets, and a new international system of economic governance.
It also declares that priority must be given to combating the crisis of distributive justice.
“Working families are suffering enormously as a result of the cavalier, unregulated behaviour of corporate cowboys over the past decade,” Ms Burrow said.
“They are the ones who are losing homes, jobs and pensions because of a financial crisis they did not cause.
“As taxpayers, they are being called on to bail-out those who are responsible.
“This can’t be allowed to happen again. We need a new global financial and economic architecture, and working people require a seat at the table in these meetings and institutions.
“How else can they have confidence that bankers and governments meeting behind closed doors are acting in the interests of workers and will get it right this time?”
The Washington Declaration calls for an end to the ideology of unfettered financial markets, “where self-regulation has been exposed as a fraud and greed has overridden rational judgement to the detriment of the real economy”.
It also calls for governments to bring forward infrastructure programs to stimulate demand in the short term, and for a “Green New Deal” to create jobs through alternative energy development and conservation.
Tax and expenditure measures should be introduced to support the purchasing power of middle and low income earners.
Beyond the immediate crisis, we must ensure that it never happens again. We need greater accountability of central banks, regulation of hedge funds and private equity, reform and control of executive compensation and corporate profits, and proper consumer protection against predatory lending.
There must be a new structure of economic governance for the global economy, and efforts must be made to tackle the inequality in income distribution that lies behind this crisis.
More information
Download the 'Washington Declaration' here
Download an evaluation of the summit here