Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung Global Trade Union Program Briefing Paper N° 9/ 2009 International Trade Union Cooperation BRIEFING PAPERS N° 9/ 2009 responsible: Reiner Radermacher Global Trade Union Program www.fes.de/gewerkschaften No Return to Doing Business as Usual The new international trade union movement in the global jobs crisis by Susan Javad and Sarah Ganter The global financial and economic crisis is hitting labour with full force. The ILO estimates that up to 59 mil­lion more people will be out of work in 2009 than in 2007. What has started as a credit crisis in the US is developing into a global job crisis. The governments of major industrialised and emerging countries are trying to find a way out of the crisis. To ensure that workers’ interests are being taken into account, the interna­tional trade union movement demands a seat at the negotiating table and presents itself with newfound strength. 1. From the financial to the jobs crisis Triggered by speculatory behaviour on the financial markets and lack of government control, the inter­national financial crisis has grown into a global crisis. All OECD countries are suffering from staggering falls in economic output, and even emerging and develop­ing countries are being affected by the crisis, albeit to varying degrees. Declining economic activity is accompanied by a dismantling of jobs. The International Labour Or­ganisation(ILO) talks of more than 59 million jobs under threat as a result of the current crisis. Lessons learnt from the past indicate that even when the eco­nomy picks up again after the crisis, these jobs might often be lost for good. While new employment op­portunities will certainly arise, the conditions will mostly be inferior to those of previous jobs. “Workers have not caused this crisis, they are victims of this crisis” 1 is the way Berthold Huber, the first chairman of IG Metall, puts it. And in the words of DGB President Michael Sommer, the trade unions are therefore called upon“to deal with the crisis from a political and moral perspective. We owe this to the workers. Because at the end of the day, they will have to foot the bill.” 2 And this is exactly what the trade unions are deter­mined to prevent. Nor do they wish to see another crisis of this nature in future. The international trade union movement has repositioned itself in the last few years and demands to be part of the political process of crisis management in order to add a labour dimension to the design of a new global economic and financial architecture, and to have its voice heard. 1 Interview in the Saarbrücker Zeitung, 30-04-2009, http://www.saarbruecker-zeitung.de/sz-berichte/themen/art2825,2879267 2 Interview in the Tagesspiegel, 13-10-2008, http://www.tagessspiegel.de/wirtschaft/Finanzkrise-Michael-Sommer%Bart271,2634809