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UNI Global Union today urged the G20 to take on board a set of points from unions and bank employers that create a social contract for the financial recovery.



The G20 will next meet in London in April and UNI is calling on the world’s biggest economies to coordinate their work on the recovery and ensure that it will protect the rights of working people. At a meeting hosted by the International Labour Organisation last week, finance sector unions and employers and government representatives agreed on a set of points that include protecting jobs and recognising that unions play a key role in safeguarding workers’ rights.



“There has been a failure of values in the financial institutions and that has led us to this crisis,” said UNI General Secretary Philip Jennings. “FDR launched the New Deal to respond to the Great Depression in the US. Today we need a ‘New Global Deal’ that includes a social pillar to climb out of this worldwide recession and pull millions of workers up to a higher standard of living in the process.”



UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown is taking his ‘global New Deal’ to Washington today as he meets with US President Barack Obama. His plan, however, gives scant mention to workers’ rights and union rights. Obama, however, has been outspoken in his support of unions and their role in helping overcome the current economic crisis.



“I do not view the labour movement as part of the problem; to me, and to my administration, labour unions are a big part of the solution. We need to level the playing field for workers and the unions that represent their interests,” Obama said at an event with union leaders in February.



UNI has welcomed these comments from Obama as a sign that his administration will reverse US policies that have led to decades of declines in union membership and collective bargaining rights. Obama has been a supporter of the Employee Free Choice Act, legislation that would allow workers to join unions without fear of reprisals from their employers.



“We want Gordon Brown to follow Obama’s lead and bring a plan to the G20 summit that will give working people a voice and protect their jobs and their salaries and benefits,” Jennings said.



UNI Finance, employers and government representatives called for the full involvement of the ILO in the discussions of the G20 to stabilise and improve regulation of financial markets. At the end of their meeting last week, representatives of the three groups said an effective response to the crisis requires linking economic and regulatory solutions with their impact on jobs, working conditions, skills requirements and social protection in the industry.



So far, the approach to solving the crisis has given little thought to working people. Financial supervisors around the world are now setting up international colleges of supervisors for top banking and insurance companies but so far trade unions have not been involved.



“Where is the voice of working people?” Jennings asked. “These top companies should have global agreements that ensure that they behave responsibly toward their customers, shareholders and their employees.