Responding to the Global Economic Crisis
Workers across the world are victims of the worst global recession in nearly a century. Unite and USW members are suffering as the economic downturn claims millions of jobs and livelihoods, and jeopardizes the future for working families everywhere.
Every sector has been impacted. Hundreds of thousands of jobs in everything from manufacturing to paper to financial services have been lost in the UK, and North America.
In response to the economic freefall,Workers Uniting has produced an action plan for how governments should address this global crisis.
WHY ‘WORKERS UNITING’?
Workers Uniting is 3 million members of Unite and the USW working together to protect their jobs, pay and benefits in the face of the ever increasing power of multinational companies.
Global corporations are systematically lowering the pay of workers in every country in the world by playing us off against each other. Workers Uniting fights back for working families.
The economic crisis has not only eroded the standard of living of working people and undermined workers’ rights; it has diluted the ability of governments and global institutions to regulate economic activity. This makes the current crisis even more difficult to address. The union will not accept a situation where governments sit back as corporations threaten to permanently eliminate hundreds of thousands of jobs in our countries.
Workers Uniting calls on governments across the world to provide meaningful economic stimulus to mitigate the impact of what is clearly a devastating worldwide recession. We demand that governments regulate financial markets so that economic activity meets the legitimate interests and needs of both investors and working people.
Workers Uniting advocates a recovery plan that incorporates the following principles:
- Full employment, fair wages, decent working conditions and economic security in retirement.
- Retaining and creating jobs in manufacturing.
- Strong regulation of financial institutions.
- Tax systems that ensure wealthy individuals and big corporations pay their fair share.
- Freedom for workers across the world to join a trade union and bargain collectively.
- Effective and sustainable public services, including health care, education, housing and
childcare.
For a full copy of the report please v isit the Workers Uniting website: www.workersuniting.org.
WHAT IS WORKERS UNITING?
Workers Uniting is the name of the new international union created by Unite – the biggest union in the U.K. and the Republic of Ireland and the USW – the biggest private sector union in the U.S. and Canada.
