June 14, 2011

In a keynote address to the International Labor Organization's (ILO) 100th labor conference, German Chancellor Angela Merkel told delegates at the ILO's headquarters in Geneva that cooperation between governments and global financial and social institutions needs to be strengthened, because social justice is linked to economic development. She cited Germany as an example for the importance of this link, saying that it was key for economic recovery in her country in 2009, when Germany's economy contracted by almost 5 percent. In response, the government introduced a short-term job-sharing scheme in which employers agreed to retain their workers in return for employees accepting shorter working hours and a reduction in wages. "What was very clear was that this bond between both sides of industry, between employers and employees, should not be lost," she said. However, Merkel also pointed out that there was a need for a strong social bond between employers and employees in periods of strong economic performance, not just in times of economic downturn.
"The lesson to the world from the crisis should be more investment in social partnerships during periods of growth in order to establish resilient partnerships that can survive times of crisis," Merkel said. Raymond Torres, the Director of the International Institute for Labor Studies at the ILO, said Merkel drew some interesting parallels between history and today's situation in terms of socio-economic development. "She reminded the conference that social justice and social development are very important, and that labor is not a commodity," Torres said. Merkel ended her speech by turning her attention to the turbulent events in Tunisia, Syria and Yemen. She observed that one of the main triggers of the so-called Arab Spring was the high level of youth unemployment. On the other hand, in the United States, the current unemployment rate is 9.1%. There are 14 million people looking for work. That number does not include the people who want/need work but have given up looking. And the Republicans are insistent that social justice of any kind, especially financial stimulus to curb unemployment, would destroy the economy. Proud to live in what we are incessantly told is the greatest country in the world.