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G20 trade union leaders to meet with Prime Minister Harper

A delegation representing trade unions from G20 countries will be delivering a message for G20 leaders through host Prime Minister Stephen Harper in Ottawa on June 18.

That message, contained in a statement released this week, warns G20 governments of the serious risks posed by prematurely imposing fiscal austerity measures across G20 economies and locking the global economy into a global recession.

The global economy is still mired in the most serious jobs crisis since the Great Depression, they warn, and the recovery is weak, fragile and uneven.

“Austerity measures will only serve to weaken, if not cripple, growth and so drive our economies back into recession,” the statement says. “G20 Leaders must not allow bond markets to drive economic policy.”

The trade union leaders want G20 leaders to deliver the promise made at the Pittsburgh Summit to “put quality employment at the heart of the recovery” by focusing on job creation that will sustain the recovery and reduce public deficits over time.

They are also stressing the need for G20 leaders to reinvest in public services, including education, and to focus on progressive revenue-raising measures such as implementing a Financial Transaction Tax as one means of meeting public funding requirements.

See the full statement here. [pdf]