The International Labour Organization (ILO) has supported the G20’s position that more needs to be done to protect workers and support businesses, particularly in low and middle-income countries.
Director-general of the ILO, Guy Ryder, said the organisation welcomed the G20 Labour and Employment Ministers’ commitment for “full global cooperation” to safeguard people’s jobs and incomes, but warned that current support measures were not enough.
“As the crisis spreads to low and middle-income countries, we will need to do much more to protect workers and support enterprises, because these countries are less prepared for a protracted crisis. Otherwise, the combination of large informal economies and low social protection coverage will spell disaster for people and economies,” Ryder said, adding, “Our aim should be to help these countries support their people, weather the crisis, and to build back better. We need global solidarity to support investment in these economies, in their social and environmental renewal, in their people and in the institutions of work that will effectively protect workers and their families. If not, the already large inequalities will widen, poverty will deepen, social progress will be lost and the path towards recovery will be very hazardous.”
In a statement issued after a virtual extraordinary meeting last week, the G20 ministers committed to take “in full global cooperation, a human-centred approach to promote employment, bolster social protection, stabilize labour relations and promote the Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work .”