Representatives of union federations Fedusa and Cosatu will join G20 trade union leaders in a discussion on global economic recovery with French president Nicolas Sarkozy next week.
This will be to discuss the Group of 20’s response to the crisis, and will follow meetings with the Trade Union Advisory Committee to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.
The talks with Sarkozy are expected to take place in Paris on Monday.
“Fedusa is particularly pleased with the recognition by the G20 leaders that it is of utmost importance to address the concerns of the most vulnerable people in the world, through social protection, decent work and accelerated growth in low-income countries,” Federation of Unions of SA secretary-general Dennis George said.
The body was pleased Sarkozy also invited the International Labour Organisation to the next round of G20 talks, interpreting this a move to include decent work at the centre of economic global recovery.
Fedusa would attend the meetings with its mother body, the International Trade Union Confederation, which represents 176 million workers in 151 countries and territories and has 301 national affiliates.
The G20 is a group of finance ministers and central bank governors plus the European Union, who, with input from the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank, work on key economic and finance policy issues. South Africa is part of the group.
Congress of SA Trade Unions spokesperson Patrick Craven confirmed they would also be represented at the discussion.
