UNI Global Union has called for a financial transaction tax that will provide resources for social safety nets in the wake of the global financial crisis.
In an address to the UNI Africa Executive Committee meeting in Cairo, Egypt 9 – 11 March, UNI General Secretary Philip Jennings said the global financial crisis was not caused by workers yet “all of us are paying the price.”
“The business elite are hoping that this rough weather will pass by and then it will be business as usual. We need a financial transaction tax (Tobin tax) that will provide resources for social protection to workers everywhere. Currently, only five per cent of workers globally have social protection.”
He said business executives were earning between 900 and 400 more than the average worker and urged trade unions to ensure that there was a voice in the workplace to reduce the gap between the rich and the poor.
Noting that the services sector was growing rapidly globally, Jennings urged trade unions to lead the way to organise the new generation of workers in the private sector.
UNI calls for a financial transaction tax
08/04/2010The Robin Hood Tax
07/04/2010A tiny tax on bankers that would give billions to tackle poverty and climate change, here and abroad.
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18/03/2010ETUC Resolution – Solidarity for Greece
18/03/2010
ETUC Resolution – Solidarity for Greece
Adopted at the Executive Committee on 9-10 March 2010
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The European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) Executive Committee members attending the meeting of 9 & 10 March 2010, express their solidarity with thePresident of the Greek Confederation of Labour, GSEE, Yannis Panagopoulos, who was brutally attacked by perpetrators alien to the trade union movement.
They note with concern that such condemnable actions inevitably bring to mind the rise of fascism and hope that the democratically elected Greek Government will swiftly bring the culprits to justice.The ETUC expresses its full solidarity with Greek workers in their struggle against job cuts, wage freezes, wage and pension cuts. Europe’s message to the Greek people should be one of stability and social progress and not one of economic stagnation and social dumping.
European trade unions are monitoring with the greatest concern the situation in Greece and in particular the pressure by the mmission, the Eurozone Ministers and the ECB on the Greek government for even harsher austerity measures that will mainly and irreversibly affect the working people and the most vulnerable segments of society and upset the social fabric in Greece.The austerity packages announced so far comprise radical cuts in wages and pensions,extensive tax increases, lay-offs, large scale privatisation of public companies and cutbacks in welfare. Far from containing the crisis, such measures will aggravate it since they will fuel unemployment, demolish welfare, kill domestic demand and strangle economic activity.
We wholly support Greek unions in opposing this short-termist project and ask for realistic, well balanced and socially acceptable plans that are negotiated with the trade unions. We join our Greek colleagues in demanding a drastically different policy mix to support investment, growth and employment, safeguard incomes, provide fair and effective taxation, upgrade the State’s regulatory role and sustain social cohesion and the environment.The burden cannot fall unevenly on the working people of Greece who have already seen the gradual erosion of their rights, pensions and income. We cannot allow financial market speculation to shape economic and social development in Europe and to impose its agenda on society despite the near collapse of 2008 and the ensuing dramatic recession.
Europe needs to be present for its Greek citizens in a spirit of solidarity and cohesionand to shield people and countries from the lethal impact of casino capitalism. Europe needs to address the problems by shifting away from the blinkered belief in the supremacy of the markets over society and move ahead with a new architecture that puts people, solidarity and the real economy first.
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Aristote Ls
