Trade unions have long called for active industrial policy to create quality jobs and sustainable growth. With industrial policy at the centre of this year’s OECD Ministerial Council Meeting (MCM), TUAC is pressing to ensure it delivers for workers.
The annual pre-MCM consultation in Helsinki on 12 March, ahead of the June ministerial themed “Getting Industrial Policies Right for Open Markets, Growth and Prosperity,” brought together senior trade union representatives from across OECD economies, including Estonia, Korea, New Zealand, Norway, Sweden, and the presidents of all three confederations of host country Finland. . The delegation argued that social dialogue must be put at the heart of industrial policy. With the OECD Trust Survey showing 44 per cent of citizens reporting low or no trust in their national government, the case is urgent: and as OECD ministers have recognised, social dialogue is a key tool for rebuilding trust and strengthening democratic resilience.
TUAC challenged the assumption that deregulation will deliver growth, noting that governments have pursued it for several decades with little result.
Industrial policy must be an opportunity to invest in quality jobs, raise living standards and build resilient, sustainable economies. Deregulation has shifted risks and costs onto workers – we need a wholly different approach built on social dialogue and collective bargaining.
Trade unions argued that achieving this requires a different approach to policy design – one where public investment and industrial strategies are tied to labour conditions, including job security, quality employment and respect for collective bargaining. Without putting employment and job quality at the forefront, industrial policy will not ensure that the economic benefits will be fairly shared between firms and workers, as historical examples have shown.
TUAC stressed that policy design alone is not enough if governments fail to invest in workers. OECD member countries spent just 0.1 per cent of GDP on training in 2023, while funding for active labour market policies fell to 0.41 per cent of GDP – the lowest level since 2004. TUAC called for a step change in reskilling and upskilling, with equitable access for workers in low-paid, precarious and non-standard employment.
The green transition further sharpens these pressures, with workers displaced from high-emission industries facing earnings losses of up to 40 per cent over six years, and new jobs in low-emission sectors often offering lower pay and weaker protections. TUAC urged governments to establish tripartite just transition mechanisms and strengthen collective bargaining to ensure workers are not left behind as industries transform.
Trade unions also highlighted that regulatory frameworks must keep pace with the forces reshaping work, pressing for enforceable rules governing AI in the workplace that require employers to consult and negotiate with workers on AI deployment. Marking the 50th anniversary of the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises, trade unions advocate for better-resourced National Contact Points and binding due diligence across global supply chains.
As OECD ministers prepare to shape industrial policy in June, TUAC stresses that the full engagement of social partners in OECD ministerial processes remains a cornerstone of effective policymaking, and essential to rebuilding the public trust that the OECD itself has identified as under threat.
