EMPLOYMENT : A review by International Labour Office


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Of every 100 workers worldwide,
only 6 are fully employed.

Another 16 are unable to earn enough to get their families over the most minimal poverty line of US$1 per day.

–International Labour Office Annual Report 2001.

 

 

The shortage of adequate employment opportunities is "the fault line in the world today", according to the Annual Report of the International Labour Office Reducing the Decent Work Deficit: A Global Challenge, presented by ILO Director-General Juan Somavia to the 89th Session of the International Labour Conference, meeting in June 2001 in Geneva. In the report, which is addressed to ministers of labour, employers and workers in the ILO's 175 Member States, Mr. Somavia expresses "profound concern about a global decent work deficit of immense proportions, reflecting the diverse inequalities of our societies".

He said the decent work deficit "is expressed in the absence of sufficient employment opportunities, inadequate social protection, the denial of rights at work and shortcomings in social dialogue". These failings provide "a measure of the gap between the world that we work in and the hopes people have for a better life".

The extent of the employment gap is revealed by ILO estimates, which find that "there are 160 million people openly unemployed in the world". However if underemployed people are taken into account, "the number skyrockets to at least one billion". The report says that "of every 100 workers worldwide, six are fully unemployed according to the ILO definition. Another 16 are unable to earn enough to get their families over the most minimal poverty line of US$1 per day".

The rights gap involves such abuses as "the denial of freedom of association and the incidence of forced and child labour and discrimination". According to the report, an estimated 250 million children worldwide are working. An ILO report on forced labour says trafficking in human beings, especially women and children, is increasing. And "close to two countries out of every five have serious or severe problems of freedom of association".

The social protection gap is described as "truly alarming", with an estimated 80% of the world's workers lacking adequate social protection. In many low-income countries "formal protection for old age and invalidity, or for sickness and health care reaches only a tiny proportion of the population: meanwhile 3,000 people a day die as a consequence of work-related accidents or disease". In higher income countries, income insecurity is a growing problem and "workplace anxiety, depression and exhaustion are often reported".

The social dialogue gap reflects shortfalls in organizations, institutions and often in attitudes that have resulted in a major "representational gap in the world of work resulting from the fact that workers and employers have frequently and for diverse reasons not organized to make their voices heard". Examples cited by the report include the roughly 27 million workers worldwide in Export Processing Zones and millions more in the informal economy who are either excluded from or under-represented in tripartite dialogue.

Persistent inequality, growing exclusion...
While acknowledging that average incomes are rising worldwide and that the global economy shows great potential for innovation and productivity, the report notes that "gains are accompanied by persistent inequality, growing exclusion, insecurities caused by economic fluctuations and a feeling that the ground rules are unfair".

It highlights "a growing polarization of opinion regarding the pattern and direction of globalization", but identifies "a growing awareness that something needs to be done to bridge this divide". Mr. Somavia said he welcomed "a widespread receptiveness to the idea that achieving greater opportunities of decent work for all is an appropriate goal for the global economy". He urged that its potential for bridging the divide on globalization be explored.

"The goal of decent work is best expressed through the eyes of people", noted Mr. Somavia. For workers faced with extreme poverty, decent work "is about moving from subsistence to existence" and is "the primary route out of poverty". For many others, "it is about realizing personal aspirations in their daily existence and about solidarity with others". He added that "everywhere, and for everybody, decent work is about securing human dignity".

Reducing the decent work deficit is "the quality road to poverty reduction and to greater legitimacy of the global economy", noted Mr. Somavia. But there is also an economic dividend: "economic and social efficiency can go together". And an integrated approach is essential--each element of decent work reinforces the others, and all play a part in achieving broad goals such as poverty eradication. [UN NGLS]

 



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