INTERNATIONAL TRADE UNION CONFEDERATION (ITUC)
Statement by the Commonwealth Trade Unions Group to the 2011 Commonwealth Heads of the Government Meeting (CHOGM) (Perth, Australia, 28-30 October 2011)
Brussels, 15 July 2011 (ITUC OnLine): The statement published today by the the Commonwealth Trade Unions Group sets out a number of specific, measurable and realistic proposals for action by the Commonwealth Heads of the Government.
The statement “Creating socially and environmentally resilient growth through decent work” supports strongly the successful development of intergovernmental cooperation through the Commonwealth in order to attain democracy, human rights and decent work in all its countries. On the occasion of the 62nd Anniversary of the modern Commonwealth, the CTUG calls on Commonwealth leaders to make this unique institution play a greater role in achieving socially equitable and sustainable development for all and re-affirming the principles of equality, consensus and cooperation of the 1949 London Declaration. The CTUG believes strongly in the institutions of the Commonwealth and calls on Commonwealth leaders to give priority, and devote resources, to the work of those institutions.
The CTUG calls on the CHOGM to support a new global economic governance that can adopt new policies to mitigate the crises, including by increased social spending and counter-cyclical economic policies, regulation of financial markets, financial transaction taxes and action on tax havens, elimination of speculation on food and the increase of food production, and commitment to mitigate and adapt to climate change while providing for food security.
The statement emphasises that free, independent and representative trade unions give working people a say in their own future. It highlights the need for promoting consultation and dialogue with trade unions and representative employers’ organisations and asks the Commonwealth Secretariat to monitor progress towards the universal ratification by all Commonwealth countries of ILO Convention 144 on Tripartite Consultation and report to the next CHOGM in 2013. It also urges the Commonwealth to hold annual meetings of Commonwealth Labour Ministers, possibly, alongside the International Labour Conference – Moreover, the CTUG statement underlines that Decent Work is recognised by the United Nations as central to poverty alleviation and that it should be placed at the core of social and economic policy development. Yet currently, decent work and job security are increasingly threatened in many Commonwealth countries.
The priorities of the he Commonwealth Trade Unions Group focuses on the development of a coherent and robust peer review mechanism to audit performance by Commonwealth member states against the Harare Principles; establishment of an annual meeting of Commonwealth Labour Ministers; adoption of a target for full ratification of the ILO core conventions by all Commonwealth countries; agreement on ambitious targets including mitigation goals that would sustain the global increase in temperature within the 2°C objective and pursuit of a Just Transition to the low-carbon economy and the establishment of an observatory to monitor the impact on Commonwealth countries of trade agreements
To see the CTUG submission to the 2011 Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) – Perth, 28 – 30 October, 2011: http://www.ituc-csi.org/ctug-submission-to-the-2011.html
The Commonwealth Trade Union Group represents over 30 million trade unionists in 54 countries. The Commonwealth accounts for 1.8 billion of the world’s people – almost one in three.
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