15 September, 2011
Globalisation is not just about how things are made, bought and sold. It's also about people and their rights. Precarious work is rapidly becoming the biggest obstacle to the respect of workers’ rights worldwide. Every day, more and more workers find themselves in precarious jobs where they have no right even to join a union, let alone to bargain collectively with their employer.
On 7 October unions across the globe will participate in the World Day for Decent Work (WDDW) and will raise their voices to stop the devastating spread of precarious work, which has been identified as one of the primary focuses for action in 2011 by the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC).
Materials and details of the campaign are on the campaign site http://www.wddw.org/. In previous years, affiliates of IMF, ICEM, and ITGLWF have mobilised strongly around this date and are urged to contribute to global pressure against precarious work by participating in this year’s WDDW.
It is the effective denial of precarious workers’ rights to join a union and bargain collectively that leaves them most vulnerable to exploitation. Some precarious workers are formally excluded from the coverage of national labour legislation, while others have rights on paper, but no rights in fact because laws are not enforced. And others are too afraid to exercise their rights because they could lose their jobs at any minute.
The result is that millions of workers throughout the world and whole categories of employment are effectively being excluded from the reach of ILO Conventions 87 and 98. IMF, ICEM, and ITGLWF have been pushing for the ILO to do more both to identify exactly how precarious workers are being denied their rights to join a union and bargain collectively and to work with governments to remove those barriers.
Now the Workers’ Bureau of the ILO (ACTRAV) is inviting unions from around the world to participate in an International Workers’ Symposium which will take place at the ILO headquarters in Geneva from 4-7 October 2011. The aims of the Symposium are to:
Unions wishing to attend the Symposium should contact [email protected].
On 7 October unions across the globe will participate in the World Day for Decent Work (WDDW) and will raise their voices to stop the devastating spread of precarious work, which has been identified as one of the primary focuses for action in 2011 by the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC).
Materials and details of the campaign are on the campaign site http://www.wddw.org/. In previous years, affiliates of IMF, ICEM, and ITGLWF have mobilised strongly around this date and are urged to contribute to global pressure against precarious work by participating in this year’s WDDW.
It is the effective denial of precarious workers’ rights to join a union and bargain collectively that leaves them most vulnerable to exploitation. Some precarious workers are formally excluded from the coverage of national labour legislation, while others have rights on paper, but no rights in fact because laws are not enforced. And others are too afraid to exercise their rights because they could lose their jobs at any minute.
The result is that millions of workers throughout the world and whole categories of employment are effectively being excluded from the reach of ILO Conventions 87 and 98. IMF, ICEM, and ITGLWF have been pushing for the ILO to do more both to identify exactly how precarious workers are being denied their rights to join a union and bargain collectively and to work with governments to remove those barriers.
Now the Workers’ Bureau of the ILO (ACTRAV) is inviting unions from around the world to participate in an International Workers’ Symposium which will take place at the ILO headquarters in Geneva from 4-7 October 2011. The aims of the Symposium are to:
- Examine economic and legal trends and developments in precarious work
- Discuss trade union strategies and responses
- Identify economic and social policies to combat precarious employment
- Identify innovative approaches to close regulatory gaps (through International Labour Standards).
Unions wishing to attend the Symposium should contact [email protected].