For 20 years, trade unions from the industrialised countries of the OECD have made their views known to the "Group of Seven" (G-7) Economic Summits. They gather in Paris, the seat of TUAC and the OECD, to draw up a joint statement which they present to the host of the G-7 Summit prior to the Heads of State and Government meeting itself. The active involvement of two global trade union organisations, the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU) and the World Confederation of Labour (WCL) ensures that the voice of developing countries' trade unions is heard.

The G-7 groups the most advanced industrialised countries, forming a nucleus of world economic governance, and its composition reflects their relative economic power in the three major economic regions of the world: United States, Japan, Germany, France, Italy, United Kingdom and Canada. The 1997 Summit meeting in Denver (United States) marks a turning point in the history of the Group as it was much more a political rather than economic summit, dominated by the first formal involvement of Russia's President Boris Yeltsin. The G-7 Summit has effectively become a "Summit of the Eight".

To find out more about the trade union position and the Denver Summit, click on the following links :

Trade Union Statement to the 1997 Denver G-7 Economic Summit

The G-7 - Role and Membership

Outcome of the "Denver Summit of the Eight" - the TUAC analysis

Denver Summit of the Eight official website with text of final communique, press statements etc.