Labour 7 statement to the G7: Putting social justice at the heart of international cooperation
The G7 meets in 2025 in a time of profound geopolitical shifts and tensions. While the world stands divided in the face of existential threats and global challenges, the G7 has a responsibility to reaffirm the fundamental principles underpinning the rules-based international order: respect for human rights and the rule of law, international cooperation, peace and democracy.
Armed conflicts are causing enormous suffering and have devastating spillover effects at a global level. Trade unions of the Labour 7 stand in solidarity with people affected by wars on all continents, fighting for their freedoms, for social justice, for democracy, for their rights and those of future generations. The Labour 7 urges members of the G7 to overcome divisions and to reaffirm their commitment to uphold human rights and international humanitarian law, as well as to promote peace and respect for the principles enshrined in the UN Charter.
In recent months, the resources have been found to significantly increase military spending, when for more than a decade, public services have been starved of resources under wrongheaded fiscal consolidation and austerity policies. This armament race must not undermine social spending nor deprive countries and people of necessary investment in health, education, infrastructure, the ecological transition, job creation, skills development, and social protection. In G7 countries and beyond, inequalities are rising, essential public services are deteriorating, and the cost-of-living crisis, just like in-work poverty, remains a reality for millions of workers and their families. G7 members should commit to pursuing economic, employment and fiscal policies that promote collective bargaining and real-wage growth, decent job creation, the reduction of inequalities and a just transition to net zero economies. Urgent policies must be adopted to tackle all forms of discrimination, including those against women and vulnerable groups, LGBTQI+, ethnic minorities or people with disabilities.
The year 2024 was the warmest ever recorded and environmental disruptions are multiplying, with severe humanitarian, social, and economic consequences, including in G7 countries. Workers are on the frontline of the crisis, being exposed to both environmental degradation and worsening working conditions, as well as to the radical transformation of the labour market. The G7 and its members cannot look the other way—they must commit to net zero pathways based on science and must adopt Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) that put a just transition founded on the protection and promotion of fundamental labour rights, including collective bargaining, at the centre. Gathering some of the biggest historic greenhouse gas emitters, as well as fossil fuel producers and consumers, the G7 must live up to its responsibility and commit to enhancing climate finance and advancing a just transition for the workforce, in line with the Paris Agreement and the ILO Guidelines of 2015.
As labour markets are profoundly affected by climate change, the advancement of artificial intelligence and demographic shifts, social dialogue is needed to make sure that the costs and benefits associated with these shifts are shared fairly across societies. Furthermore, as fundamental enabling rights, freedom of association and the right to collective bargaining play an essential role in ensuring decent working conditions, including in enforcing living wages and non-discrimination, enhancing social cohesion, and boosting inclusive economic development. The Labour 7 urges G7 members to support workers’ efforts to organize and bargain collectively, both within G7 countries and beyond, as key enablers of sustainable development. The G7 must effectively follow up on previous commitments made, including those contained in the G7 Action Plan on artificial intelligence adopted in 2024.
At global level, however, evidence indicates that violations of labour rights are rising, as illustrated by the ITUC Global Rights Index. Countries are experiencing dramatic setbacks in development, with increases in poverty preventing access to education, health and the realization of other basic human rights, including gender equality. Most people living in extreme poverty have a job but do not earn a living wage. The majority of workers work in the informal economy, with almost one in two not benefitting from any form of social protection. This situation could be further exacerbated by trade wars. The G7 should promote a global level playing field, putting international labour standards at its core. In particular, G7 members must uphold ILO fundamental principles and rights at work, advance WTO trade rules that encourage the ratification and effective implementation of fundamental ILO conventions, and secure policy space for governments to promote decent work and enforce sustainable development commitments in trade agreements.
The global SDG (Sustainable Development Goals) financing gap continues to widen, despite alarming situations of underdevelopment and decent work deficits. If it continues to grow at its 2015–2023 rate, it will reach USD 6.4 trillion by 2030, according to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). The politicization of, and severe cuts in, Official Development Assistance (ODA) are likely to accelerate this trend. Meanwhile the debt crisis intensifies, as 92 countries are projected to have spent more on external public debt service than on SDG investments in 2024. In this context, ahead of the 4th UN Conference on Financing for Development (30 June–3 July 2025), the Labour 7 urges the G7 to deliver a clear commitment to reform the international financial architecture and to meet their commitment to dedicate 0.7% of their GNI to ODA. The Labour 7 calls upon the G7 to upscale both climate and development finance, including through increased public finance support and additional macroprudential tools on private finance, as well as through measures to lower the cost of capital for developing countries. For the L7, the 2025 Jubilee is an opportunity to advance and reach consensus on debt cancellation and sustainable restructuring of public debts.
This climate and development finance crisis is taking place despite the world growing richer and having the resources to meet internationally agreed objectives. However, global wealth has never been so unequally distributed. Today, the world’s richest 1% own more wealth than 95% of humanity. The concentration of wealth and increased corporate power have allowed large corporations to play an increasingly important—and destabilizing—role in the shaping of global rules and agendas. The Labour 7 urges the G7 to put the reduction of inequality, both between and within countries, at the centre of its work—including through fair and progressive taxation and the promotion of responsible business conduct. G7 members should endorse work undertaken by the G20 towards the adoption of a global wealth tax on the ultra-rich and promote a financial transactions tax as well as a windfall tax on multinational enterprises. They should also actively support the ongoing negotiations for the development of a UN Framework Convention on Tax, building on existing G20/OECD initiatives for tax coordination. The G7 should also scale up its work to ensure corporate transparency and accountability through the ongoing UN negotiations on a binding treaty on business and human rights.
The Labour 7 reiterates its willingness to work closely with the G7 to strengthen multilateralism. In these challenging times, transparent and meaningful engagement with G7 social partners, the Labour 7 and the Business 7, is more important than ever. We expect the G7 to stand by its principles and reaffirm its commitment to the values of international cooperation, democracy and human rights.
