The representatives of the Business 20, Civil 20, and Labour 20 were invited to the third G20 Sherpas' Meeting, held in St.Petersburg on May 11-12, 2013, to discuss the upcoming G20 meetings. Alexey Zharkov, the Federation of Independent Trade Unions of Russia, and John Evans, TUAC General Secretary presented the Labour 20 policy positions prior to the G20 Labour Ministers' Meeting with Social Partners on July 18 in Moscow.
Russia's Presidency has placed job creation on top of this year's G20 agenda, which is welcomed by the L20. The G20 Labour Ministers' Meeting will be a crucial occasion to translate words into action on job creation, Evans emphasized. Therefore, participation of the labour unions' representatives in the Labour Ministers' Meeting is of crucial importance. He also stressed the need to invite the Labour 20 representatives to the G20 Leaders' Summit in September.
Detrimental impact of the austerity policies is a central theme in the L20's statement to the Labour Ministers, next to rising unemployment, particularly of the young people, deteriorating working conditions and income equality, and a notable decline in public trust. Given this context, the G20 needs to put emphasis on equitable and sustainable growth, Evans noted.
The ‘G20 Jobs Plan' in support of aggregate demand and quality employment, investments in infrastructure and green technologies, a fair and progressive taxation, support for small and medium-sized enterprises, and improvements of social conditions in global value chains are the key priorities for the Labour 20. In this regard, the L20 states that monitoring process that tracks the G2O commitments implementation, as well as a prolonged mandate for the Employment Task Force that could fulfil that task would enhance overall policy effectiveness.
The Labour 20 and the Business 20 are currently working on elaborating a common approach to quality apprenticeships. Both the B20 and the L20 argued for stronger support for employability, and investments in education and lifelong learning.
Official website of Russia’s G20 Presidency
