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G-20 Summit in Pittsburgh

G20 Commit to Putting Quality Jobs at the Heart of the Recovery

Leaders of the G20 have welcomed the ILO Global Jobs Pact and the building of “an employment-oriented framework for future economic growth”. ILO Director-General Juan Somavia, who was invited to present a report on policies and prospects for jobs and social protection to the Pittsburgh Summit said, “I welcome the significant commitment of the Leaders to “implementing recovery plans that support decent work, help preserve employment and prioritize job growth.”

Press release | 25 September 2009

PITTSBURGH (ILO News) -- Leaders of the G20 have welcomed the ILO Global Jobs Pact and the building of “an employment-oriented framework for future economic growth”.

ILO Director-General Juan Somavia, who was invited to present a report on policies and prospects for jobs and social protection to the Pittsburgh Summit said, “I welcome the significant commitment of the Leaders to “implementing recovery plans that support decent work, help preserve employment and prioritize job growth.”

“The ILO has brought the concerns of workers, enterprises and communities to the G20 table”, Mr Somavia said.

While recognizing that their actions over the past year have staved off a world depression, the Leaders Statement says, “we cannot rest until the global economy is restored to full health, and hard-working families the world over can find decent jobs.”

The G20 Leaders Statement was presented to the press in Pittsburgh on 25 September by President Obama.

“The messages coming from Pittsburgh are that the crisis is not over, that measures taken are on the way to creating or saving up to 11 million jobs in 2009 but that stimulus measures need to be maintained to curb unemployment and precarious work,” Mr. Somavia said.

Mr Somavia urged the “leaders to show the same determination and willingness to foster job creation as they have for saving banks. The Pittsburgh Summit was a big step in this direction”.

Mr Somavia, noting the Leaders’ concerns about finding a more balanced approach to the global economy, said, “For sustainable growth beyond the recovery we need to correct the imbalances which contributed to the crisis. Wages have lagged behind productivity in many countries contributing to imbalances between consumption and savings. We have over-emphasized the economy, especially the finance sector, and undervalued the social and environmental dimensions of sustainability.”

The Summit established a Framework for Strong, Sustainable and Balanced Growth to ensure “a durable recovery that creates the good jobs our people need.”

Under the heading “Putting Quality Jobs at the Heart of the Recovery”, the leaders “commit to implementing recovery plans that support decent work, help preserve employment and prioritize job growth. In addition, we will continue to provide income, social protection and training support for the unemployed and those most at risk of unemployment. We agree that the current challenges do not provide an excuse to disregard or weaken internationally recognized labor standards. To assure that global growth is broadly beneficial, we should implement policies consistent with ILO fundamental principles and rights at work.”

It also states that “our new Framework For Strong, Sustainable And Balanced Growth requires structural reforms to create more inclusive labor markets, active labor market policies, and quality education and training programs.” The Summit asks the ILO to “to develop a training strategy for our consideration.”

The Leaders “also welcome the recently-adopted ILO Resolution on Recovering from the Crisis: A Global Jobs Pact, and we commit our nations to adopt key elements of its general framework to advance the social dimension of globalization. The international institutions should consider ILO standards and the goals of the Jobs Pact in their crisis and post-crisis analysis and policy-making activities.”

“To ensure our continued focus on employment policies, the Chair of the Pittsburgh summit has asked his Secretary of Labor to invite our Employment and Labor Ministers to meet as a group in early 2010 consulting with labor and business and building on the upcoming OECD Labour and Employment Ministerial meeting on the jobs crisis. We direct our Ministers to assess the evolving employment situation, review reports from the ILO and other organizations on the impact of policies we have adopted, report on whether further measures are desirable, and consider medium-term employment and skills development policies, social protection programs and best practices to ensure workers are prepared to take advantage of advances in science and technology.”

For more information on the ILO report to be presented at the G20 please visit www.ilo.org/jobcrisis

Or contact the Department of Communication and Public Information of the ILO at communication@ilo.org - +4122/799-7912, or the ILO Office for the United Nations newyork@ilo.org - +1212/697-01-50.

In Pittsburgh

Mr. Philippe Egger, Deputy Director of the Office of the ILO Director General +4179/593-15-26

Mr. Stephen Pursey, ILO Director of the Policy Integration Department and Senior Advisor to the ILO Director- General + 4179/593-13-71