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Trumka at G-20 to Push Financial Transaction Tax

November 2, 2011

As the G-20, a group of finance ministers and leaders of central banks in 19 countries and the European Union, prepare to meet in the South of France on Thursday, representatives of workers from around the world will be there to make their case for economic fairness.  Here at home, IBEW members will attend a rally in Washington, D.C. to support their call.

AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka will participate in the G-20 Labor Summit demanding that world leaders take emergency steps to put unemployed workers in their nations back to work.

Global unemployment is near its record of 205 million, 27 million above its level before the latest world financial crisis.

International labor leaders will push for a global financial speculation tax.  In the U.S., a tiny tax on financial transactions could raise hundreds of billions in revenue that could fund education and create jobs rebuilding our country.

Even some super-wealthy financial players like Warren Buffett have support the new tax that would help to discourage speculation and encourage long-term investment.

In Washington, working families will join participants from Occupy Wall Street and the National Nurses Union on Nov. 3 to support the global movement for a financial transaction tax.

Nurses in Cannes, the site of the G-20, will also hold a press conference to support the tax.

Says International President Edwin D. Hill:

The call for a global financial transaction tax demonstrates clearly that the international movement for economic justice is gathering steam. It’s time for our nation’s leaders, regardless of party, to take a stand for an economy that values work and workers, not just the piling up of excessive profits and wealth.

Photo used under a Creative Commons license from Flickr user Dr. Tongs.