TURIN - Top officials of the International Labour Office (ILO) and the European Commission (EC) met at the Turin Center in Turin, Italy in May to explore new ways of giving the global workforce better access to the benefits of international trade. ILO Director-General Juan Somavia, Peter Mandelson, the Commissioner for External Trade of the EC and J. K. Adda, the Minister of Manpower, Youth, and Employment of Ghana were among the key speakers.
The forum met against the backdrop of a growing divide between employment and output growth. In 2004, relatively robust growth in global output of 5 per cent far outstripped employment growth of 1.7 per cent, confirming a declining ratio of employment to output growth over the past decade. While global output and the labour force grew by 55 per cent and 24 per cent respectively between 1991 and 2005, employment rose by only 22.8 per cent. As a result, recorded unemployment increased by 45 per cent and the long-running trend toward increased informal economy employment continued.
One of the fundamental points addressed was the need for investment and capacity-building in support of the effective national economic and social policies and institutions, in areas such as assessment of the impact of trade policies on employment and working conditions, increasing the employment intensity of growth, and adjustment to change through active labour market policies. Without such measures, the weakest and the poorest are at risk of being left at the margins of globalization.
"We need a policy package in the economic, social, and environmental field that maximizes the benefits of increased trade, minimizes the costs, and ensures that we share the burden and the dividends of international integration fairly, within and between nations," said Somavia.
Commissioner Mandelson agreed. "Trade policy is not a substitute for social policy, but handled properly, multilateral trade liberalization can foster long-term economic growth, combat poverty, and raise living and working standards," he said.
Mr. Enrique Baron-Crespo, Chairman of the Committee on International Trade of the European Parliament and former President of the Parliament, chaired the forum. John Monks, General Secretary of the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC), and François Périgot, President of the International Organisation of Employers, presented the views of the trade unions and employers.