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During the interview with Blick published this week, Jennings lambasted the head of the IMF, Christine Lagarde, and Manuel Barroso, the President of the European Commission for suggesting the euro crisis has been overcome.



“What world are they living in? Certainly not the world of ordinary employees! 27 million Europeans are unemployed with more than 210 million globally. There is no rational reason for Lagarde and Barroso to paint a rosy picture. The day Barroso announced everything was in order, the EU issued record high unemployment figures. At the same time in Greece the unemployment rate hit 28.6 percent and may well hit 30 percent by the end of the year.”



Jennings said the business leaders gathering in Davos in a few days must invest in jobs.



“Both the US and Europe are sitting on mountains of accumulated dead money which must be reinvested. The unions have made it clear that another approach is needed: one that is built on a growth, jobs and investment strategy and not austerity that puts the breaks on growth.”

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Jennings pointed out that the US Federal Reserve had announced last month that it was making reducing unemployment its number one priority.



He said, “The European Central Bank must follow the Fed’s lead. As long as European countries do not have two percent growth there will not be enough new jobs.”



Jennings said there could be no growth if the majority of workers had decreasing purchasing power. The World Economic Forum had also identified the growing wealth gap as the biggest global risk.



“This is not just the message from the unions but also 1000 business leaders,” Jennings said.



He added, “we don’t need a miracle solution, there is an easy answer: a living wage that covers all daily needs. Not the growth in the number of working poor who have to be supported by the welfare state and social institutions. In the UK there are seven million working poor on benefits.”



Jennings concluded, “The best thing the business leaders in Davos can do is to give the world a pay rise: the world needs a raise.”



Click on the Related Files tab at the top of the page to read the full text of the Blick story in German