22 January, 2013The citizens of the world want affordable health care, pensions, education, childcare and security against unemployment. Unions have to be political actors and mobilize to fight for an economic and social model that puts people first.
In a global poll commissioned by the International Trade Union Confederation ITUC last year (http://www.ituc-csi.org/poll-only-one-in-ten-in-g20.html ) , respondents from different parts of the world gave a clear message of what they want from their governments:
- Education (94%)
- Affordable access to health care (93%)
- Decent retirement income (91%)
- Access to childcare (90%)
- Unemployment benefits (81%)
In a world where 80 per cent of the population have no health insurance or pension and 40 per cent are living on less than 2 USD per day or 730 USD a year, unions have to be political actors and mobilize to fight for a fair social and economic model that puts people first.
It does make a difference who sits in government and parliaments. They define policies, they make laws. Failed neoliberal policies have increased inequality, poverty and unemployment. Alternative policies based on social justice are possible – and that is what the citizens of the world want. It is a question of political will.
In Brazil, governments led by Presidents Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and Dilma Rousseff have during the past ten years lifted 20 million people out of absolute poverty, created 12 million jobs and raised the purchasing power of the minimum wage by 50 per cent.
Obviously, facing rising unemployment, the absolute priority of the global union movement is job creation (http://www.ituc-csi.org/new-ilo-report-shows-global ) This requires urgent government measures to adopt policies focused on the creation of more and better jobs. In addition, in the developing countries, we need to act now especially on 3 major issues:
- Raise minimum wages
- Ensure social protection
- Formalize informal workforce
In too many countries of the world, minimum wages are well below living wages, which have sufficient income for a worker to meet basic needs. Governments are using low minimum wages as a means to attract foreign investment in labour intensive industries.
An extreme example of exploitation is Bangladesh, a country of 150 million people where half live under the national poverty line. 3.5 million textile and garment workers of whom less than 1 per cent are unionized, mostly work on the national minimum wage of 36 USD per month, which is about a third of a living wage.
In Indonesia unions have obtained major gains after massive mobilization. Last year, the government was forced to raise minimum wages by 40-60 per cent to reach for the first time over 200 USD per month in major industrial areas. Outsourcing was limited by government regulation to certain functions, which will bring almost 20 million contract workers into permanent employment. A year earlier, a long campaign led to an expansion of health care and pension coverage to all citizens by 2015.
Over 40 per cent of the world’s workforce is in the informal sector. In the formal economy, contract and agency work is increasing and often replacing permanent employment. IndustriALL’s global campaign to STOP Precarious Work will therefore continue to promote legislation, collective agreements and global agreements to limit precarious employment. The global Charter signed by Volkswagen serves as a ground-breaking example for IndustriALL’s other union networks in multinational companies.
Another world is possible. But it requires from us political action and mobilization all over the globe, taking care of not only our members, but fighting for a fair and secure society for all citizens.