Conference Links

Recommended links and information for delegates attending the Global Power Trade Union conference.

(updated 13 Sept 2013)

ILO- Employment Security
The ILO proposes a model of ‘flexicurity’ when addressing employment security in the global economy. This espouses that there needs to be a greater level of flexibility in the labour market, given the economic challenges in the current climate. It does, however, state that for this model to be at all successful, it requires high employment rates, high employment/income security, and an excellent level of assistance for employment seekers in terms of: re-employment assistance, active labour market programmes and income support.

http://www.ilo.org/global/topics/employment-security/lang--en/index.htm

ILO- Declaration on Social Justice for a Fair Globalization
In the words of the ILO, the Declaration ‘calls for a new strategy to sustain open economies and societies based on social justice, full and productive employment, sustainable enterprises and social cohesion.’ The declaration implies that the structures we have in place at the moment are being weakened by the ‘we can’t afford it anymore’ line from employers.
What they propose is that, if employees and their representatives are willing to be flexible on a number of employment issues and collective agreements, then they should be rewarded with a greater focus on social justice and greater employment security.

The ILO laid a large amount of the responsibility for this at the feet of employers, claiming that multi-international corporations should be reinforcing the concepts of social justice by engaging with employees and their representatives in a constructive manner, representative of true social dialogue. The ILO states that it is part of its mandate to encourage engagement between trade unions and employers, especially between multinationals and unions who operate on a global scale.

The Declaration also reiterates the four key objectives of the ILO: fundamental principles and rights at work, employment, social protection, and social dialogue and tripartism.
http://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/---dgreports/---cabinet/documents/genericdocument/wcms_099766.pdf

ILO- Safety and Health at Work

From their research, the ILO claim that ‘every 15 seconds, a worker dies from a work-related accident or disease’. Also, every day ‘6,300 people die as a result of occupational accidents or work-related diseases’. 317 million accidents occur on the job annually.

This can be used to show the importance of safety standards and the relevance of workshop D, perhaps?

The ILO runs a programme called ‘SafeWork’ that is an international programme to educate people about the dangers of poor workplace safety standards. The goal of the programme is to ‘place the health and safety of all workers on the international agenda’. This can be related to the need for international employment standards that will be discussed at the conference as well- and is also mentioned in the draft of ‘preferable outcomes’ for the conference.
http://www.ilo.org/global/topics/safety-and-health-at-work/lang--en/index.htm