Unions urge G7 to deliver on wage growth

Trade unions call on G7 Labour and Employment Ministers to deliver the “sustainable growth and real wage growth” which G7 Leaders committed to at last year’s G7 summit.

In a joint statement by unions from G7 countries pointing out that real wages “in almost all G7 countries remain below 2019 levels”, the unions urge the Labour and Employment Ministers to “make [..] real-wage growth and fair labour income redistribution a priority” and propose “a regular and multiyear exchange of practices amongst G7 members [..] including on how supporting unionisation and collective bargaining contribute to drive wages up”.

“The cost-of-living crisis continues to impact the lives of millions of workers” said Veronica Nilsson, General Secretary of TUAC, “and to push ever greater numbers of working people into poverty.”

In this statement the unions also call for:

• Scaling-up climate action through a just transition for all workers, and for the costs and benefits of the green transition to be “equitably shared”.
• Ministers to look beyond the borders of the G7 and promote workers’ rights world-wide. The unions state that “growing inequality, working poverty, attacks on workers’ rights and blatant violations of human rights such as child labour and forced labour warrant immediate action from the G7 to ensure compliance with international labour standards.”
• Legislation on artificial intelligence, including on existing risks, such as to data protection, the pace of work and extreme levels of monitoring and surveillance.

Unions say that G7 labour and employment Ministers have a particular responsibility to

• uphold the principle of “humans in control” of AI,
• reaffirm that respect for workers’ rights and international labour standards must be guaranteed, and
• reassert the central role of social dialogue and collective bargaining in the use and implementation of new technologies.

This second L7 statement also addresses the two other issues discussed by G7 countries under labour and employment – the care economy and access to skills. It is part of the L7’s advocacy in the lead up to the L7 Summit organized with this year’s L7 hosts – Italian unions CGIL, CISL and UIL – on 10-11 September in Cagliari, and especially in the participation of the L7 delegation at the Labour and Employment Ministerial Meeting on 11-13 September also in Cagliari.

For the full L7 statement to Employment Ministers see here

For the earlier L7 statement to the G7 2024 see here