Decent work

Cost of Basic but Decent Living

Decent workisemploymentthat "respects thefundamental rightsof the human person as well as therights of workersin terms of conditions of work safety and remuneration.... respect for the physical and mental integrity of the worker in the exercise of their employment. "

Decent work is applied to both the formal and informal sector. It must address all kind of jobs, people and families. According to theInternational Labour Organization(ILO), decent work involves opportunities for work that are productive and deliver a fair income, security in the workplace and social protection for families, better prospects for personal development andsocial integration,freedom for people to express their concerns, organize and participate in the decisions that affect their lives andequality of opportunityand treatment for all women and men.

The ILO is developing an agenda for the community of work, represented by its tripartite constituents, to mobilize their considerable resources to create those opportunities and to helpreduce and eradicate poverty.The ILO Decent Work Agendais the balanced and integrated programmatic approach to pursue the objectives of full and productive employment and decent work for all at global, regional, national, sectoral and local levels. It has four pillars: standards and rights at work,employment creation and enterprise development,social protectionand social dialogue.

Elements

The elements of decent work are:

• Job Creation - no one should be barred from their desired work due to lack of employment opportunities
• Rights at Work, includingminimum wage- Workers rights include the right to just and favourable conditions, days off, 8-hour days, non-discrimination and living wages for them and their families, amongst others
• Social Protection - all workers should have safe working conditions, adequate free time and rest, access to benefits like healthcare, pension, and parental leave, among many others
• Social Dialogue - workers should be able to exerciseworkplace democracythrough their unions and negotiate their workplace conditions as well as national and international labour and development policies

Sustainable development and decent work targets

Sustainable Development Goal 8

TheSustainable Development Goalsalso proclaims decent work for sustainableeconomic growth.The Goal aims to increase labor productivity, reduce the unemployment rate, and improve access to financial services and benefits. Encouraging entrepreneurship and job creation are key to this, as are effective measures to eradicate forced labour, slavery and human trafficking. With these targets in mind, the goal is to achieve full and productive employment, and decent work, for all women and men by 2030.The ILO Decent Work Agenda's areas of concern has been mentioned in other development targets such as in reducing poverty and increasing access to education.TheUNbelieves that the ILO Decent Work Agenda plays an active role in achieving sustainable development.

Challenges in implementation

Although few disagree with the Decent Work Agenda in principle,actually achieving decent work poses challenges and controversies. In Africa, for example,informal employmentis the norm, while well-paying jobs that offer social-protection benefits are the exception.This has been attributed to difficulties in obtainingformal sectorjobs due to the creasing pressure ofglobalization.But there do exist debates on whether reducing the size of the informal economyor organizing its members into trade unionswould bring aboutsocial welfare.

In 2006, the ILO highlighted the range and breadth of "decent work deficits", including "unemployment and underemployment, poor quality and unproductive jobs, unsafe work and insecure income, rights that are denied and gender inequality" and drawing these deficits to the attention of states attending a meeting of the UN'sEconomic and Social Council(ECOSOC).

In order to achieve the Decent Work Agenda, national and international entities must commit to the objective of the creation of quality jobs and tackle its challenges.However, an obstacle is that it is difficult to convince the citizens of a country that aiding development and job creation abroad is also beneficial domestically.To remain competitive in the world economy, governments are tempted to close markets and lower labor standards which is believed to cause depressing wages and working conditions.

Various actors can affect the provision of decent work, although existing conditions and incentives do not always lend themselves to advancing the Decent Work Agenda. To illustrate:

• National governments create decent work through economic andindustrial policies.However, the forces of globalization – such as downward pressures on wages and reduced macroeconomic policy flexibility – have diminished the ability of national governments to achieve this goal on their own.
• TheEuropean Unioncommitted itself to "contribute" to the decent work agenda in its 2006Communication,Promoting decent work for all: The EU contribution to the implementation of the decent work agenda in the world.

World Day for Decent Work

October 7 is the World Day for Decent Work (WDDW).During that day trade unions, union federations and other workers' associations develop their actions to promote the idea of decent work. Actions vary from street demonstrations to music events or conferences held in many countries.

Decent Work, Decent Life Campaign

Five organizations,Solidar,ITUC,ETUC,Social Alert Internationaland theGlobal Progressive Forum,launched the Decent Work, Decent Life campaign at theWorld Social Forumin Nairobi in January 2007, and has since then worked in an alliance to promote decent work for decent life as solution to poverty. The idea to run a Campaign on Decent Work was conceived at the World Social Forum, 2005, in Porto Alegre. The Campaign targets young people, trade union activists, NGOs and decision makers in developed and developing countries.

The Campaign’s objectives focus on building awareness of Decent work and on promoting decent work as the only sustainable way out ofpoverty,democracyandsocial cohesion.

Success

In November 2007, decision makers from European governments and institutions signed the Call to Action of the Decent Work, Decent Life Campaignadding up to the recognition of the Decent Work Agenda. "There is also a growing interest on the part of the EU and international civil society in decent work, as illustrated for instance by: the launch of the Decent Work/Decent Life [Campaign]…".

The Campaign’s Call to Action focuses on seven issues, namely; decent work,workers’ rights,social protection,fair trade,international financial institutions,development aidandmigration.

Decent Work, Decent Life for Women Campaign

The Decent Work, Decent Life for Women Campaign was a two years campaign launched onInternational Women’s Day2008 (March 8) by theInternational Trade Union Confederation(ITUC) and theglobal union federations(GUF). The campaign aims to advocate decent work for women and gender equality in labour policies and agreements and to seek gender equality in trade union structures, policies and activities. The second objective aims at increasing number of women members in trade unions and women in elected positions.

The Campaign's necessity stems from multiple forms of discrimination in both policy and practice on a daily basis women are facing such as the gender pay gap,the lack of maternity protection and the higher unemployment rates among women.Because of thegender bias,women are often paid less and are not given the opportunities to advance in their careers compared to their male counterparts.In Asia, women are mostly employed in the domestic works which is one of the lowest paid, least valued, and least organised sectors. Women's wage growth rate in Asia, excluding China, from 2006 to 2011 was 0.9%.

At the moment 81 national centers in 56 countries participate with various events in this Campaign.

See also

• Convention on domestic workers
• Critique of work
• Dignity of labour
• Forced labour
• Happiness at work
• International labour law
• International Labour Organization(ILO)
• International Monetary Fund(IMF)
• International Trade Union Confederation(ITUC)
• Job satisfaction
• Labor rights
• Neo-liberalism
• Occupational safety and health
• Right to work
• Social clause
• Trade union
• Washington Consensus
• World Bank Group
• World Trade Organization(WTO)

External links

• WDDW, World Day for Decent Work
• International Labour Organization
• A Fair Globalization, Making it Happen
• Decent Work: a better world starts here. A web movie available in 25 languages
• ILO – Decent work agenda