The economic crisis threatens the jobs and futures of people everywhere. Policies which drive countries to restructure, outsource, subcontract and privatise their public services have led to the casualisation and informalisation of many public sector jobs. Women and young workers form by far the majority of workers who find themselves in precarious forms of work, as social spending by governments diminishes and employers look for what they see as a more ‘flexible’ and cheaper workforce.
This growing exclusion also has an alarming impact on the erosion of workers' and trade unions' rights.
Our international peak body, Public Services International (PSI), and other global union federations have chosen to use the day to highlight the growth in precarious work and the resulting erosion of workers' and trade unions' rights.
Global Action
Trade unions in more than 100 countries, from the eastern Pacific to the west coast of the Americas, are mobilising on 7 October to tackle the global economic and employment crisis and demand fundamental reform of the world economy. Organisations from more than 100 countries have already posted information on their events onto the World Day for Decent Work website.
Live internet coverage of the activities around the world, including videos, photographs and messages from events in every continent, is being broadcast on the website, which will be updated via a 24-hour live feed. Large-scale mobilisations are taking place in several countries while events elsewhere will include public rallies and workplace meetings, demonstrations in front of national parliaments, concerts, trade union member-to-member contacts in person and by phone and email, seminars involving trade unionists, academics and politicians and public events in city squares and other venues.
On a video message, ITUC General Secretary Guy Ryder insists “that governments make a decisive and fundamental change in direction: away from the policies which have caused the deepest recession in 70 years, allowing a small minority to amass vast wealth at the expense of working people’s jobs, security and incomes, while hundreds of millions of people remain locked in absolute poverty.”
The world’s trade union movement has described the results of the Pittsburgh G20 Summit as representing progress on the outcome of the April Summit in London, but has warned against complacency and highlighted crucial areas where little or no progress has been made. “The current challenges that the world is facing cannot be used as an excuse to threaten and weaken internationally recognised labor standards. We must reverse the trend towards precarious work and insecurity, and continue to confront violations of workers’ rights wherever they happen,” said Ryder.
A new ITUC report released to mark the World Day for Decent Work, The Path to Recovery, How employment is central to ending the global crisis , describes how in response to the global economic crisis, the worst since the Great Depression with tens of millions of jobs disappearing, the economy must be built on social justice and environmental sustainability, respect for internationally-recognised workers’ rights, effective financial regulation and global governance which puts people first.
