At a Labour Summit taking place on 6 and 7 May, leaders from the G8 trade unions and Global Unions organisations are calling on the G8 Labour Ministers and German Chancellor Angela Merkel to put the need for social rules around global trade and capital flows at the centre of their discussions. The Labour Summit is being held one month before the Heiligendamm Summit of G8 heads of government.

The union delegation, led by OECD-TUAC and AFL-CIO President John

Sweeney and Michael Sommer, President of the German DGB, is taking part

in the G8 Labour Ministers' meeting in Dresden on 6-7 May and also

meeting Chancellor Angela Merkel in Berlin. The unions will renew their

call for the G8 to establish an international regulatory task force on

private equity.

In a statement released ahead of the Summit, Global Unions are calling

upon G8 Labour Ministers to act upon a series of policy issues to build

a proper social dimension of globalization. On employment, it calls upon

ministers to ensure active growth-orientated economic policy management,

decent minimum wage floors and balanced labour market "activation

policies". On social protection, Ministers should affirm the right to

affordable universal social security systems and work to build strong

and well functioning labour inspectorates. Concerning corporate social

responsibility, they should work for the integration of core labour

standards across all international institutions. The unions will also

maintain pressure on the G8 countries to do more to tackle the HIV-AIDS

pandemic. ITUC Online, 07/05/07.