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L20 statement to the G20 Labour and Employment Ministers Meeting, 2023

By staff - International Trade Union Confederation, March 2023

In 2022, labour market conditions worsened significantly, chiefly due to tightening monetary policies. While households in all countries struggle with the rising cost of living, low wages and economic growth prospects, many developing countries are close to having exhausted their fiscal space. Austerity and budget consolidation at this stage would further reduce demand and employment levels, as well as impact social cohesion and resilience to future crises.

In this challenging setting, hundreds of millions of people are unemployed or remain outside the labour market. An estimated 214 million people are in jobs of such a low quality that their wages are insufficient to lift them out of extreme poverty.

As leading institutions warn of recession or severe economic slowdown, the G20 Labour Ministers need to act now to cushion against job losses, and to tackle all forms of forced labour, precarious work and poverty, inequality, and the price gauging that corrodes any nominal wage growth. Working people need higher wages which can be delivered through respecting and promoting trade union freedoms and collective bargaining and raising the level of minimum living wages. Labour Ministers must send a clear message to G20 Leaders on the realities and needs in the world of work. We urge Ministers to advocate for a fiscal and monetary policy that delivers a just transition and addresses the enormous investment gaps in public services, social protection, infrastructure, and development. We emphasise that strong social protection systems build climate resilience for workers and communities. We call for action to support gender equality, equal pay, and to put an end to violence and discrimination in the workplace.

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Disclaimer: The views expressed here are not the official position of the IWW (or even the IWW’s EUC) and do not necessarily represent the views of anyone but the author.

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