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UNI General Secretary Philip Jennings will tell the L20 Summit today that workers need a pay rise.

Jennings will be speaking today during the “Rebuilding economies, jobs and wages” session during the L20 which will be attended by union leaders and the leaders of the IMF, the World Bank, OECD, ILO and representatives of the Australian government, including Prime Minister, Tony Abbott.

UNI Global Union’s General Secretary, Philip Jennings said, “The workers of the world - from Brisbane to Bentonville to Bangladesh - need a pay rise. Inequality is the number one threat to the global economy and if we are to fight off flat-lining economies and fend off deflation then wage-led growth is the only solution.

“Walmart, Amazon and the rest – take note. Your poverty wages and Dickensian working conditions are some of the root causes of the human and financial crises that plague our planet today. The boom and bust boomerang economic model will come back to hurt you. Workers are no longer prepared to take it.”

The key messages from the labour movement, including UNI Global Union, the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC), the Trade Union Advisory Committee to the OECD (TUAC) and the Australian Council of Trade Unions will be taken on board by the G20 world leaders meeting in Brisbane later in the week.

Union leaders will urge the Australian Prime Minister, Tony Abbott, to use his role of chair of the G20 Summit to tackle unemployment and slow wages growth at home and abroad. Australia is enduring a 12 year high of unemployment at 6.2% and youth unemployment at 14% while wages growth is at 17 year low. The labour movement has criticised Abbott’s government’s austerity approach and is calling for investment in jobs. Jennings said, “The Australian government is out of tune with our message at a time when there is a culture change across the globe urging a stand against inequality and backing growth.”

Looking forward to the UNI Global Union World Congress in Cape Town, Jennings added, “At the UNI World Congress next month , 2000 union affiliates, pushing for change, will gather under the banner of “Including You” for inclusive, sustainable growth and demand a global pay rise as we are doing here at the L20 and G20 this week.“