DECENT WORK OR RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE?

7 October 2016

Since we launched the global “Decent Work, Decent Life” campaign together with the ITUC and the ETUC at the 2005 World Social Forum in Porto Alegre, Decent Work has been at the core of SOLIDAR’s commitments. In 2007, the trade union movement declared 7 October as the World Day of Decent Work, an annual opportunity to stress that not any job is necessarily a good job and that the quality of employment matters too. Decent jobs are a guarantee to lead people out of poverty, labour has a societal value that must be recognised, and a higher degree of identification raises productivity. Although the intentions are good, reality has so far fallen short of aspirations. Precarious work continues to spread, even in sectors which were considered to be exempt, like air transport or the banking sector. New forms of employment like the zero hours contracts and limited term contracts for the sake of so-called flexibility are gaining ground, including in Europe.

Young people, in particular in Southern Europe, have no access to the labour market and while the Youth Guarantee was a good initiative, unfortunately there are some countries where the administration is neither willing nor has the capacity to set up the required framework. In our neighbourhood countries of the Middle East and North Africa an entire young generation wants to enter the labour market and earn a living. In addition to conflict, the absence of employment prospects is one of the major push factors for migrating, either within the South or to the North.

At present, we are witnessing mass dismissals, for example in Belgium: Caterpillar 2000, ING Bank 3500 and more. The logic whereby a profitable enterprise recruits and does not dismiss is no longer valid: competitiveness and short term profits are the overriding priority, satisfying the shareholders’ interests and the stock exchange. Sounds like class rhetoric? Maybe, but it is the reality.

The new forms of employment created by the digital revolution around virtual platforms and click work will not only continue to wipe out jobs, but will also need new forms of regulation, new forms of industrial relations and new forms of securing the sustainability not only of jobs, but also of our social protection schemes as the new forms of employment will not be limited to national borders. Trade unions have taken up the challenge and we need to work together to challenge this transformation and not to develop rage against the machine. In this evolution the Pillar of Social Rights proposed by the European Commission can be a useful framework if taken seriously. Don’t miss this opportunity!

Decent Work is not for show, it is our common challenge to ensure social progress in a time of industrial technological revolution and globalisation!

SOLIDAR NEWS

2030 Agenda on Sustainable Development: a renewed commitment to achieve decent work and social protection for all
Ten years after the Decent Work Agenda was launched by the ILO, the 2030 Agenda has renewed the global commitment to achieve decent work and social protection for all in Europe and the world.
Read more

Education and lifelong learning enablers for decent work
SOLIDAR Foundation together with its members advocates for putting a stronger emphasis on investment in the development of transversal skills that will give people the ability to transform and adjust to changing societies and work environments.
Read more

#SDG8 is about promoting decent work for all
SOLIDAR members work in more than 100 countries together with independent, representative and accountable community-based organisations and social movements, social economy actors, independent trade unions and local NGOs to promote decent work for all with a focus on freedom of association.
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Johannes Mihkelson Centre: Promoting social inclusion and decent work in Estonia
The visit served to know more about the work of JMC supporting long term-unemployed, rehabilitation of ex-prisoners and integration of resettled refugees and asylum seekers.
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Promoting and supporting social dialogue and decent work for all in the MENA region
Last week SOLIDAR organised a mission to Jordan to attend the opening seminar of the ITUC-led regional Pilot Project on the Promotion of Social Dialogue in Southern Mediterranean Countries (Morocco, Tunisia and Jordan).
Read more

UPCOMING EVENTS

Europe and the Mediterranean. Places of peace and rights: for all or for the few?
8-9 October 2016 | Perugia, Italy
International Conference organised by SOLIDAR and CGIL in the framework of the Peace March Perugia-Assisi
Programme

Book launch event ‘From Europe to Local: Migrating solidarity’
Organised by SOLIDAR and FEPS
10 October 2016 | Brussels, Belgium
Public event
Registration