The ITUC is deeply concerned by the reckless trade measures announced by the Trump administration.
Workers must not pay the price of an imposed trade war – International Trade Union Confederation
Tag: ITUC
ITUC: Time for democratisation of global institutions
The ITUC calls for a major democratic reform of the international financial architecture as a key demand in its For Democracy campaign, as the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank hold their spring meetings.
The share of global wealth that goes to wages has fallen by 13 per cent over the past 40 years, even as the world economy has quadrupled in size. This is largely a result of falling trade union density caused by the long-term erosion of workers’ rights detailed in the ITUC Global Rights Index.
Workers are increasingly forced to take strike action as employers take profits for themselves and shareholders while refusing even modest pay demands.
Instead of supporting working people and their dependents, many governments side with bosses and keep the real value of wages at such low levels that families are struggling to survive. The right to strike was violated in nine out of 10 countries last year.
Read ITUC’s article
The ITUC warns that the World Bank’s new “B-Ready” project signals bad news for working people, as it will undermine labour rights and social protection across employment sectors.
Described as the Bank’s “corporate flagship”, B-Ready presents itself as an index that supposedly measures the business and investment climates in 180 economies worldwide annually.
ITUC’s Analysis https://www.ituc-csi.org/IMG/pdf/b_ready_memo_en.pdf
The 10th edition of the authoritative Global Rights Index shows that the global cost-of-living crisis has been met with a crackdown on the rights of working people in every region of the world.
There is an urgent need to coordinate an international response to the major financing gaps affecting social protection systems around the world.
ITUC’s annual World Economic and Social Outlook suggests that:
- The Ukraine conflict, an uneven recovery from the pandemic and ongoing bottlenecks in supply chains have created the conditions for stagflation in 2023.
- The absence of increases in labour incomes have created a cost-of-living crisis that threatens the livelihoods of households and risks depressing demand.
- The global jobs gap stood at 473 million in 2022, a rate of 12.3%, with a gender jobs gap to match the gender pay gap: The jobs gap for women is 15%, compared with 10.5% for men.
- Global employment is projected to expand by only 1% in 2023, down from 2.3% in 2022.
- Only 47% of people worldwide are covered by at least one social protection benefit.
- The unemployment rate for young people aged 15-24 is three times higher than that for adults.
The current model of globalisation puts profit ahead of people. The flawed rules of the global economy see working people take home an ever-smaller share of the wealth they create while corporations are allowed to extract, exploit and undermine. These rules are human-made and we can change them. It’s time for a New Social Contract between workers, government and business.
In June 2019, governments, workers and employers are coming together for a historic meeting to negotiate the International Labour Organization (ILO)’s Centennial Declaration. This is a once in a generation opportunity to let us fix the global economy and get it working for people.
What do we want:
- Rights for all workers, whatever employment arrangements they have.
- Fairer wages, including minimum wages on which people can live a decent life.
- More control for people over their working time and more oversight over their bosses to make
- sure they can’t discriminate or evade responsibilities.
- Building justice into the climate and technology transition.
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