World needs jobs, not austerity measures, TUC tells PM

World needs jobs, not austerity measures, TUC tells PM

Brendan Barber TUC General Secretary has written to Prime Minister David Cameron ahead of the upcoming G20 Leaders' Summit in Canada. The current wave of austerity programmes across the G20 risks sending the world back into recession and lengthening the global job queue. Instead, the UK needs to promote global union proposals on jobs, taxation, financial reform and green industries to drive a fair and sustainable recovery.

10 June 2010

Rt Hon David Cameron MP
Prime Minister

Dear David

G20 Leaders' Summit - Canada, June 2010

Since the global economic crisis began, some 34 million people have lost their jobs. Tens of millions more have been thrown into absolute poverty. Yet without the concerted action of world leaders through the G20 the situation would have been much worse.

With global economic recovery increasingly uncertain and largely jobless, the global trade union movement has developed six proposals for action for the upcoming G20 Summit. I hope you can support them. I will also be discussing them this Friday with Stephen Harper, the Canadian Prime Minister, as part of a global trade union delegation.

Firstly, G20 leaders must retain stimulus measures that focus on jobs and growth. While we have differences over public spending cuts in the UK, I am sure you acknowledge the risk that high levels of structural unemployment and reduced economic output due to fiscal consolidation pose to economic recovery. At the least, public spending needs to keep people in work and reduce unemployment. This will not only support those hardest hit, particularly the young, but is also the best way to keep up aggregate demand in the economy when private sector activity is so weak.

Secondly, we need to develop fair sources of taxation that reduce speculative and risky behaviour and help pay for the costs of the crisis. A financial transactions tax, and stepping up work on combating tax evasion and tax havens, would provide urgently needed funds for maintaining public services, meeting the MDGs and combating climate change.

Thirdly, concrete reforms to the financial system to prevent another crisis are long overdue. George Osborne's recent call to deliver on reforms to bank capital rules was welcome. We also still need action to downsize and diversify the finance sector, clamp down on the shadow economy, and end excessive, risky and irresponsible remuneration practices.

Fourthly, we need ambitious investments to create the green jobs and industries to take us on a 'just transition' to a low carbon and revitalised economy. The UK can become a world leader in this regard.

Fifthly, the G8 component of the Summit must meet its aid commitments and support the MDGs. The UK Government is a clear leader in this regard. To help drive progress, we also want to see commitments to reach ambitious targets on HIV and AIDs treatment and prevention, achieving Education for All (EFA) and implementing the ILO's 'social protection floor' through the creation of a Social Protection Fund.

Finally, world leaders need to keep measures to tackle the global employment crisis at the top of the G20 agenda. The excellent work of the recent G20 Labour Ministers' meeting and the ILO in this regard needs to be given centre stage.

These proposals are outlined in more detail in the Global Union's statement of priorities that I am attaching to this letter. My staff would be pleased to follow-up with the UK G20 Sherpa team to discuss these in more detail.

I hope that you can support the proposals that I have touched on, and take them into the G20 Summit to help build a strong, sustainable and balanced global economy that restores the faith of all working people.

Yours sincerely

BRENDAN BARBER

General Secretary