L20 STATEMENT
TO THE BUENOS AIRES
G20 SUMMITBUENOS AIRES, ARGENTINA“The G20 can be an important driver for policies that promote more
and better jobs that respect the fundamental rights at work, comply
with decent work standards, and include vulnerable groups.”
L20-B20 Joint Statement to the G20 Labour and Employment Ministers, 2018

1 Global economic governance has focused on delivering growth and largely disregarded that anarrow minority captures most of the benefits, while the vast majority see their incomes stagnating
or declining. The race to the bottom concerns labour protection, the spread of precarious employment, austerity and other policies that weaken collective bargaining coverage and union density andthat have deprived workers of decent work and fair wages. Meanwhile, and as shown by the OECD,
returns on investment are booming and are reaching a level well beyond 10% annual profitability.
2 The current labour-capital imbalance in income entrenches a sense of economic injustice forworkers and the disenfranchised. Ten years after the financial meltdown, people still feel betrayedby their taxes having saved a speculative-based economy that their political leaders then failed toreform. Having failed to deliver social justice and decent work for all, the multilateral system thatgoverns globalisation is now at risk.

3 Millions of workers are denied freedom of association and the right to collective bargaining,
minimum living wages, employment security, occupational health and safety, and social protection.
Even where workers’ rights are established in law, they are often poorly enforced and underminedin practice by short-term contracts, out-sourcing, the rise of non-standard forms of work, andincreasing informality inclusive of digital platform business. Minimum wages, even when in place,often do not cover workers’ basic living expenses. Raising the minimum wage and strengthening
collective bargaining will do much to reverse the fall in the labour income share experienced inmost countries, address inequality and provide the increase in global demand needed to sustain
economic recovery.

4 Across the globe, women earn on average 77 cents on every dollar earned by men for each hour
worked. Women’s lower pay – combined with their greater concentration in part-time, informal andprecarious work – leads to women’s lower social security entitlements and higher risk of poverty.
Guarantee of universal protection, investment in vital public services and care and minimum living
wages will reduce gender-based inequality.
5 Global supply chains remain infested with forced labour, child labour, precarious work, low wages,

and hazardous working conditions. The G20 Labour and Employment Ministers have addressed
these concerns, and we now need leaders to support the negotiation of the UN Binding Treaty onBusiness and Human Rights and ensure that multinational enterprises address and provide redressfor violations within their supply chains.
6 Tax evasion and avoidance have shrunk government revenues. Increasingly, public debt accumula-tion covers budgetary gaps. Such practices undermine the trust of citizens in public institutions and theeconomic system, as well as exacerbate high, unsustainable debt levels. The practice of a few governments, mostly developed countries, with secrecy jurisdictions and tax havens that help the super-richto avoid paying taxes, is damaging both to the economy and to ethical global governance. Ensuringthat everyone pays their fair share in taxes would increase revenue needed for social protection, publicservices, investment in infrastructure and the care economy, climate action, and disaster relief.
7 The current global rules have constructed an economic system that shifts income from the real

economy to financial bubbles and from hard-working people to rent-takers.
8 Meanwhile, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change asked governments to revise climate

policy and goals to keep global warming below 1.5°C of change. A Just Transition to a zero-emissions economy that keeps the temperature rise under 1.5°C requires not only massive investment
in new and redesigned jobs, skills training, and redeployment in new sectors, but also adequate
income guarantees through comprehensive and universal social protection systems. Social dialogue
and collective bargaining are central components of the Just Transition, delivering socio-economic
results that work better for everyone, building consensus and easing policy implementation.
9 Technological change is certainly benefiting the global economy but not all equally, as benefits

are not shared widely and market concentration is high in the digital economy, while digital divides
persist and need to be tackled. Digitalisation is creating the potential for an economy of scale oftruly global dimensions that is exacerbating income inequality. The richest individuals of today haveenriched themselves through an exploitative business model. The digital transformation necessitates a Just Transition strategy of its own that helps workers keep their job or transition to a new
employment opportunity of similar or better quality.
10 Challenges like workers’ data privacy, data ownership, surveillance, platform employment, andcompetition laws preventing organising and bargaining for non-standard workers require global
cooperation and cross-border social dialogue with a view to making the digital economy work forall. The G20 leaders should be preparing the workforce for the future of work with redeployment
strategies, wage and working time readjustments, skills development and social protection. We
also call on governments to establish effective governance and regulatory structures so that digitalenterprises respect the labour and human rights of platform workers as well as pay their fair sharein taxes and social contributions.
11 We welcome the first G20 Joint Employment and Education Ministers Meeting and we call theleaders to endorse and commit to implement its recommendations.
12 In order to ensure global policy coherence, the G20 should be using the framework of the Agenda
2030 for Sustainable Development as a guide in its policy coordination. The annual G20 Ministerialand Leaders Summits should review progress towards the accomplishment of all Sustainable Development Goals and issue special reports to identify impediments and challenges. Further to this, andin order to promote a better policy coherence, we urge for a Joint Meeting between Employment andFinance Ministers.
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13 Policy cooperation in the G20 would only serve its global policy coherence goals if all countries
implemented their commitments. The G20 should establish an improved monitoring mechanism on
government action, and report on implementation, including on failure to implement.
14 In addition, the G20 leaders shall strengthen the ILO’s role in multilateral global governance due
to its tripartite nature, social dialogue and normative role.
15 The global trade union movement calls on G20 leaders to agree action:
16 On Decent Work:mm ensuring minimum living wages, based on the cost of living and regularly adjusted with full
involvement of social partners;
mm promoting the fundamental rights to organise and collective bargaining for all workers,
particularly on wages, providing an enabling environment for trade unions to organise andtaking measures to increase the coverage of agreements;
mm establishing and strengthening collective bargaining as a consensual mechanism to improve
the living conditions of workers and productivity;
mm reinforcing and investing in universal social protection systems;
mm purging global supply chains of precarious work, informality, slavery and child labour andensuring that companies take responsibility for their obligations towards workers, including
by incorporating human rights due diligence throughout their operations;
17 On climate change:

mm revising climate policy and goals to keep global warming below 1.5°C of change;
mm taking action to achieve the objectives of the Paris Climate Agreement including by promoting
and implementing strategies for a Just Transition to a net zero-emissions economy;
18 On digitalisation:

mm promoting social dialogue on technology deployment and investment needs, tripartite
governance of transition and training funds;
mm reinforcing and adapting social protection systems;
mm taking early measures to ensure that non-standard forms of work are not used to avoid responsibility for employment relationships, and ensuring that workers in such jobs enjoy all labour
rights in line with the Labour and Employment Ministers’ Declaration of September 2018;
mm providing comprehensive professional training that covers the technical aspects of each
occupation and also integrates skills related to the culture of work, health and safety, environment, citizens’ values and sustainability, and in general promoting training as a tool that
contributes to the construction of society;19 On gender equality:

mm adopting and enforcing robust anti-discrimination and equal pay measures and addressing
barriers to women’s recruitment, promotion and skills development;
mm implementing work-life balance policies, including quality care services and paid family leave
for both women and men, in order to remove barriers to the labour market for workers withfamily responsibilities and to ensure increased participation for women;
mm addressing violence in the workplace with legislation on domestic violence leave;
20 On taxation:

mm taxing on the basis of a formula apportionment, which would treat multinational enterprises and their subsidiaries for what they are: single entities;
mm working towards the upward convergence of corporate tax rates;
mm stepping up the fight against letterbox company practices and requiring that subsidiaries
are enterprises conducting real economic activities, with employees and management, andphysical establishment;
mm tackling the digital economy challenges, including by adapting the notion of permanentestablishment;
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mm requiring public country-by-country reporting;mm establishing automatic sharing of data between tax authorities;
mm empowering national tax administrations with human and physical resources and training
and improving cooperation for mandate for international joint investigations;
21 With public investment in

mm infrastructure to achieve a rapid transition to renewable energy and cleaner industrialpractices to promote a circular economy, to bridge digital divides, to promote public transportation, and to guarantee universal access to water and sanitation;
mm universal access to quality public services and public education and lifelong training;mm the care economy, to formalise jobs and create new employment, as well as take measures
to increase the quality and attractiveness of work within the care sector.

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L20 STATEMENT
TO THE BUENOSAIRES G20 SUMMITBUENOS AIRES, ARGENTINA