GSTU STATEMENT IN CONNECTION WITH THE WORLD DAY FOR DECENT WORK 2011
On the 7th of October, 2011 the international trade union movement will for the fourth time mark the Word Day for Decent Work (WDDW). Initiated in 2008 by the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) whose affiliates include a number of national trade union centers from CIS countries, this Day provides an opportunity for trade unions to lend mass support to the ILO Decent Work Agenda adopted in 1999.
This Document aims to provide all workers in the world with quality jobs, decent and fair wages and reliable social protection, with full respect for the right of workers and trade unions to free organising and collective bargaining in conditions of democracy, equality and strengthening of the dignity of the working person.
These principles have won broad support and understanding in the international trade union movement, and with every passing year, increasingly more people take part in WDDW events. Today, they have become a public display of strength and influence wielded by the trade union and workers’ movement, and its commitment to the struggle for the rights and interests of the working masses on this planet.
The persisting global financial and economic crisis whose consequences are still felt in different countries and regions has shown that the decent work principles are still topical. Trade union representatives actively raise the question of their implementation before the G-8 and G-20 leaders, and insist on them being included in the agendas of their summits.
The ITUC has proposed that this year’s WDDW concentrate on the fight against precarious employment that implies temporary, casual and low-paid jobs, unprotected by national labour legislations or social security. Workers in such employment are generally stripped of the right to organise or join the existing unions.
Implementation of decent and reliable work is also an acute problem in our region. The CIS countries are still hit by a considerably high degree of unemployment, unreasonably low wages, pensions and social benefits, and atypical employment. Discrimination in employment has not been eradicated, and, despite the opposition from trade unions, the use of agency labour is spreading, the social stratification is deepening, and the state of labour migration causes a lot of criticism.
The General Confederation of Trade Unions calls upon its affiliates to mark the World Day for Decent Work under the slogans and demands that are most pressing for workers in their respective countries or industries, and give the widest possible publicity to the events in the mass media.
General Confederation of Trade Unions