Workers’ wages to fall further, International Labour Organization warns

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The International Labour Organization (ILO) warned Tuesday that global growth in workers’ real wages, which fell sharply in 2008, will decline even more in 2009, despite what is being touted by governments around the world as an economic recovery.

Announcing its “Global Wage Report: 2009 Update,” the United Nations-affiliated agency said “the picture on wages is likely to get worse in 2009.” Its report notes that in half of the 35 countries for which data is available, real monthly wages fell in the first quarter of 2009 compared to their 2008 average, in many case due to reductions in work hours.

An ILO press release states: “In a sample of 53 countries for which data are available, growth in real average wages in the median country had declined from 4.3 percent in 2007 to 1.4 percent in 2008.” The press release goes on to note that among the ten G-20 leading economies for which figures are available, “growth in real average wages in the median country had declined from 1.0 percent in 2007 to -0.2 percent in 2008.” In these countries, in other words, real wages actually fell in 2008.

The report further points out that the deterioration in wages since the eruption of the financial crisis follows a decade of wage stagnation internationally.
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http://www.wsws.org/articles/2009/nov2009/ilor-n04.shtml


http://www.ilo.org/global/lang--en/index.htm
The International Labour Organization (ILO)