Global growth is slowing, and the economic outlook for 2023 indicates a recession. Workers the world over face stagnating wages and rampant inflation. Here's how trade unions are getting ready.
Global growth is expected to slow, and workers the world over are confronted with stagnating wages and skyrocketing inflation.
Five trade union leaders have shared with the World Economic Forum what they're doing to prepare for economic and social hardship in 2023.
They flagged the need for greater social protections, mass reskilling and a baseline wage floor.
A recession could be on the cards for 2023. Across much of the world, inflation is the highest it has been in decades. Global growth is forecasted to slow and supply-chain disruptions and labour market pressures continue to be exacerbated by the pandemic and other variables. In Europe and North America, labour markets are unlikely to remain as tight as they have been, dimming the expectation that the cost-of-living crisis could ebb by year-end, according to the World Economic Forum's 2023 Chief Economists' Outlook.
In anticipation of the upcoming crises, trade unions have flagged the need for greater social protections, mass reskilling and an increase in wages including the establishment of a baseline wage floor.
As workers, employers and governments confront these challenges, engaging with unions can help government leaders and businesses take action to make the upcoming recession as short and shallow as possible. Trade unions play a crucial role in mediating and directly communicating workers’ concerns to leaders; data from the US show that increased union membership is correlated with higher income share for the middle class.
On top of that, through effective collective bargaining — the process by which workers pool negotiations with their employers — they can secure better terms of employment including pay, benefits, hours, job health and safety policies. Workers can also tackle issues affecting organizational performance and growth, and boost workforce morale.
Against this backdrop, the World Economic Forum asked five global trade union leaders attending the Forum’s Annual Meeting in Davos how trade unions are gearing up for a recession in 2023.
Source : [Recession in 2023? Here's how trade unions are gearing up](www.weforum.org/agenda/2023/01/trade-unions-recession-davos2023/) by videos@weforum.org (World Economic Forum) - World Economic Forum by videos@weforum.org (World Economic Forum) / January 16, 2023