G-8 LABOR MINISTERIAL FOCUSED ON JOBS, PLUS REGIONAL AND ENVIRONMENTAL THEMES

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UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 TOKYO 001412

SENSITIVE

SIPDIS

DOL FOR DEPUTY SECRETARY RADZELY, DEPUTY U/S PONTICELLI

PARIS FOR USOECD

E.O. 12958:N/A

TAGS: ELAB, PREL, ETRD, OVIP, JA

SUBJ: G-8 LABOR MINISTERIAL FOCUSED ON JOBS, PLUS REGIONAL AND

ENVIRONMENTAL THEMES

Summary

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1. (SBU) Deputy Labor Secretary Howard Radzely led the U.S.

delegation to the G-8 Labor and Employment Ministers' Meeting May

11-13. The program included an informal session with social

partners and plenary sessions focused on increased life expectancy,

regional economic disparities, and labor policy responses to

environmental change. Bilateral meetings included the UK, Canada,

ILO, AFL-CIO, U.S. business leaders, and local government. While

the environmental theme generated media attention, suggested policy

responses stuck to traditional ways labor policy can facilitate

transitions to new jobs. End summary.

Niigata Holds Labor Ministerial

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2. (U) Department of Labor Deputy Secretary Howard Radzely led the

U.S. delegation to the G-8 Labor and Employment Ministers' Meeting,

May 11-13 in Niigata, Japan. Other DOL delegation members were

International Labor Affairs Bureau Deputy Under Secretary Charlotte

Ponticelli, Office of International Relations Director Robert

Shepard, and Chief Economist Ronald Bird. Embassy Tokyo

Economic/Labor Officer Marc Dillard accompanied.

Social Partners' Session

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3. (U) The ministerial was preceded by an informal session for

social partners, in which business and union leaders had an

opportunity to engage G-8 delegation heads and representatives from

the ILO, OECD, and European Commission. The Trade Union Advisory

Committee (TUAC) and Business and Industry Advisory Committee to the

OECD (BIAC) presented papers.

4. (U) During the informal session, AFL-CIO President John Sweeney

and Japan Trade Union Confederation (Rengo) President Tsuyoshi

Takagi urged economic and financial officials, including central

bankers, to address the impact of the current macroeconomic

environment on the decent work agenda. They advocated greater

regulation of global capital markets and attention to the impact of

policy on income distribution. The BIAC representatives encouraged

policies directed to boost growth and emphasized open, competitive

/>markets that foster innovation and entrepreneurialism. They

advocated flexibility to make labor markets more inclusive and

better suited to improving work-life balance and addressing

demographic challenges.

5. (U) Rengo hosted a symposium on the same themes in Tokyo May 13

for G-8 union leaders, which was followed by a 90-minute meeting

with Prime Minister Fukuda. After the meeting, Rengo President

Takagi told the press, "We pointed out to the Prime Minister that in

the midst of globalization, problems are arising in the area of fair

distribution." A copy of the labor union leaders' statements has

been emailed to EAP/J.

Plenary Sessions

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6. (U) The ministerial had three plenary sessions, addressing

respectively: 1) "Enabling Well-Balanced Lives in Harmony with

Increased Longevity," 2) "The Contribution of Labor Market and

Employment Policies to Addressing the Needs of Vulnerable Workers

and Areas," and 3) "The Contribution of G-8 Members to the

Challenges of Global Sustainability." Deputy Secretary Radzely

contributed to each session and, as a lead commentator, presented

the U.S. WIRED (Workforce Innovation for Regional Economic

Development) Initiative to the second session.

TOKYO 00001412 002 OF 002

7. (U) Indonesia's Minister of Manpower and Transmigration Erman

Suparno and Thailand's Minister of Labor Uraiwan Thienthong

participated as outreach partners in the third plenary session.

They currently preside over the ASEM and ASEAN labor ministers'

groups. According to media reporting, Minister Suparno also used

his time with the host, Japan's Minister of Health, Labor, and

Welfare Yoichi Masuzoe, to press for benefits for Indonesian nurses

expected to come to Japan under the Japan-Indonesia Economic

Partnership Agreement.

8. (U) Minister Masuzoe distributed a "Chairman's Conclusions" text

at the end of the ministerial. A copy has been emailed to EAP/J.

Bilateral Meetings

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9. (SBU) Aside from the formal program, Deputy Secretary Radzely

held bilateral meetings with the U.S. Council on International

Business's Executive Vice President Ronnie Goldberg, AFL-CIO

President John Sweeney, ILO Director General Juan Somavia, UK

Minister of State for Employment and Welfare Reform Stephen Timms,

Canadian Deputy Minister of Human Resources and Social Development

Janice Charette, and Niigata Governor Hirohiko Izumida. He also had

a chance to exchange views with Japan's Minister of State for Gender

Equality and Social Affairs Yoko Kamikawa.

10. (SBU) A number of G-8 delegation members remarked about how

strongly Japan's domestic politics drove the agenda, particularly

concerns about work-life balance and regional economic disparities.

Despite the efforts to discuss those themes, however, media and

social partner attention focused on labor and the environment, where

delegates' suggested policy responses turned out to be very

traditional. Labor ministries, they concluded, could facilitate

worker transitions for any opportunities or challenges created by

environmental change -- the same approach used for changes induced

by technology, trade, and other structural shifts.

11. (U) This message was cleared by the DOL delegation after its

departure from Japan.

SCHIEFFER

G-8 LABOR MINISTERIAL FOCUSED ON JOBS, PLUS REGIONAL AND ENVIRONMENTAL THEMES

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