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After two days of intense lobbying activities where union leaders from around the world have met with global leaders including US President Obama, Japanese Prime Minister Hatoyama of Japan and German Chancellor Merkel, the unions have been making an aggressive case for the G20 not to return to business as usual.



“The world agreed to a jobs pact in June at the ILO conference,” said UNI Global Union General Secretary Philip Jennings. “Now the world has to find the resources to build a social protection system for all workers everywhere.”



Jennings was part of the group of about 50 trade union leaders from around the world at a trade union summit organized around the G20 meeting in Pittsburgh. The trade unionists met with 11 of the heads of state at the summit to press their case for real economic and social reform. They also met the bosses of the International Labour Organisation (ILO), International Monetary Fund and World Trade Organisation. On Wednesday, they participated in a rousing downtown rally, which brought together an alliance of unions and NGOs to push for investment in green jobs.



“We are trying to shake the world leaders out of the complacent view that we are out of the tunnel,” said UNI General Secretary Philip Jennings. “The light we see coming towards us is record unemployment. Unemployment is at a historical high and the situation will deteriorate into 2010.”



Now the ball is in the court of the G20 leaders, UNI said. Will they be up to the task of building a new global economy, building employment, ending exorbitant CEO pay, bringing regulatory reform, and a greener economy?



“No single government can deal with this crisis alone,” Jennings said. “We look to the leaders to commit to a globally coordinated strategy that puts people at its centre. This is how UNI will judge the G20 Summit.”



The Trade Union G20 Pittsburgh Summit on the Global and Economic and Financial Crisis was held on September 23 and 24. At the meeting, trade union leaders are discussing their global response to the crisis and lobbying their heads of state as well as other political and trade groups to push for real reforms that benefit workers.