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Global Unions to G-20 leaders: Workers need jobs!

'There can be no sustainable recovery in the economy until there is a recovery in jobs.'

Toronto (15 June 2010) - Global Unions are sending world employment and labour ministers a message in advance of the G-20 summit later this month in Toronto.

"There can be no sustainable recovery in the economy until there is a recovery in jobs," the unions say in a statement

"Without adequate employment and wage levels, the risk of weak consumption prolonging the crisis will remain high. Growing public deficits must be addressed by growth of jobs and output, not by measures that would risk tipping the global economy back into recession with catastrophic results."

The statement is in line with a message delivered by the unions in April.

"Governments must adopt an aggressive agenda to ensure more robust growth and growth that delivers more jobs as well as the reforms to global governance to ensure a far stronger social component for the longer term," the unions say.

"These are the key messages that G-20 employment and labour ministers must deliver to the G-20 Leaders’ Summit in Toronto. We cannot afford a lost decade of stagnant labour markets – and with it a lost generation of youth disengaged from productive activity. Governments must now muster the same level of political will that was used to save the global banking system, to tackle the global jobs crisis."

Global Unions are international trade union organizations working together with a shared commitment to the ideals and principles of the trade union movement. They share a common determination to organize, to defend human rights and labour standards everywhere, and to promote the growth of trade unions for the benefit of all working men and women and their families.

NUPGE

The National Union of Public and General Employees (NUPGE) is one of Canada's largest labour organizations with over 340,000 members. Our mission is to improve the lives of working families and to build a stronger Canada by ensuring our common wealth is used for the common good. NUPGE

More information:
Global Unions website
Global Unions statement: 'Beating the Job Crisis' - pdf