The fifth and final stage of the G20 Brazil Labor and Employment Group, led by the Ministry of Labor and Employment (MTE), will take place between July 23 and 26 in Fortaleza. In addition to the Minister of Labor, Luiz Marinho, the event will be attended by representatives of workers, businesspeople, government authorities and multilateral organizations such as the International Labor Organization (ILO), the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).
The WG will produce a declaration by the Ministers of Labor, which will be added to similar documents from other WGs at the summit of heads of state, scheduled for November 18 and 19, in Rio de Janeiro.
Four priority axes mark the discussions of the WG: creation of quality jobs and promotion of decent work to guarantee social inclusion and eliminate poverty; promotion of a fair transition in the process of digital and energy transformations; use of technologies as a path to improving the quality of life of all and gender equality and promotion of diversity in the world of work.
This Friday (19), at a press conference in Rio de Janeiro, Minister Luiz Marinho said that it is always difficult to find consensus among G20 countries for the implementation of concrete measures in the area of work and employment. But that the Brazilian presidency of the group is working so that the final declaration is not just another set of vague phrases without practical effects.
“There is great interest from countries regarding our recently approved law [Lei 14.611/2023]which is in the implementation phase, of equal pay between women and men who perform the same function. I hope that this is one of the points of the declaration that countries work to implement”, said the minister. “What there is no consensus on, we leave aside. And we work on understandings that point to the future. I think that this is the objective that the G20 seeks”, he added.
The Ministry of Labor also intends to reinforce invitations for other countries to join the International Equal Pay Coalition (EPIC). Brazil became part of the coalition in 2023. The initiative has existed since 2017.
Another concrete measure that should come out of the WG is the creation of a repository of public policies in the area of work and employment, which will be hosted on the portal of the International Labour Organization (ILO), bringing together examples of policies that countries will share with each other.
The MTE also reported that a GT group was reestablished to discuss the value of wages among the countries that make up the G20. The initiative arose from concerns about the global drop in labor income. The purpose, therefore, is to devise policies to change the scenario.
The G20 is made up of the European Union, the African Union, South Africa, Germany, Saudi Arabia, Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, South Korea, the United States, France, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Mexico, the United Kingdom, Russia and Turkey, countries that represent around 80% of the world’s gross product; 75% of international trade; two-thirds of the global population and 60% of the planet’s land area.
