In light of the new International Labour Organisation’s (ILO) ‘World at Work’ report the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) is holding the world’s first global inquiry for workers.
The ILO report exposes the devastating affect austerity measures imposed by governments on the working class has had in driving up global unemployment.
Prompted by these findings the ITUC launches its own global inquiry as wages, pensions, social security rights to union representation and collective bargaining come under new attacks.
New evidence in the ILO’s ‘World at Work Report 2012’ shows how workers’ rights have been eroded by governments between 2008 and 2012 under the guise of the economic crisis.
• 60% of workplace reforms by governments have taken away workers’ rights
• 15 out of 25 countries have relaxed collective dismissal rights for economic reasons
• 65% of workplace reforms have taken away the rights from temporary workers
Sharan Burrow, General Secretary, ITUC said: ‘Governments are failing working people by clinging to failed economic policies.
‘The political contract between people and elected politicians has broken down.
‘In a wide range of countries, finance and big business is increasingly dictating policies to governments as they weather the global economic crisis.’
The ITUC inquiry will hear first-hand testimony from workers in Bulgaria, Greece, Indonesia, Mexico, Portugal and Romania.
Sharan Burrow added: ‘We are mobilising to defend basic rights in countries where the new frontlines in the attack on workers’ rights are opening up.
‘Politicians must raise their ambitions and respond to the needs of working people.’
The ILO report that prompted the ITUC inquiry warns that ‘the global employment situation is alarming and shows no sign of recovery in the near future’.
The full title of the ILO’s report is the ‘World of Work Report 2012: Better Jobs for a Better Economy’
It says that around 50 million jobs are still missing compared to the situation that existed before the crisis.
It also warns that a new and more problematic phase of the global jobs crisis is emerging.
The report states: ‘First, this is due to the fact that many governments, especially in advanced economies, have shifted their priority to a combination of fiscal austerity and tough labour market reforms.
‘Such measures are having devastating consequences on labour markets in general and job creation in particular.
The report adds: ‘They have also mostly failed to reduce fiscal deficits.’
Director of the ILO Institute for International Labour Studies and lead author of the report Raymond Torres, said: ‘The narrow focus of many Eurozone countries on fiscal austerity is deepening the jobs crisis and could even lead to another recession in Europe.’
Torres added: ‘Countries that have chosen job-centred macroeconomic policies have achieved better economic and social outcomes.
‘Many of them have also become more competitive and have weathered the crisis better than those that followed the austerity path.
‘We can look carefully at the experience of those countries and draw lessons.’
The report draws attention to another factor adding to the global jobs crisis: ‘Second, in advanced economies, many jobseekers are demoralised and are losing skills, something which is affecting their chances of finding a new job.
‘Also, small companies have limited access to credit, which in turn is depressing investment and preventing employment creation.
‘In these countries, especially in Europe, job recovery is not expected before the end of 2016 unless there is a dramatic shift in policy direction.’
The report adds a further factor adding to the crisis: ‘Third, in most advanced economies, many of the new jobs are precarious.
‘Non-standard forms of employment are on the rise in 26 out of the 50 economies with available information.
‘There are, however, a few countries that managed to generate jobs while improving the quality of employment, or at least one aspect of it.
‘For example, in Brazil, Indonesia and Uruguay employment rates have increased while the incidence of informal employment has declined.
‘This was mainly due to the introduction of well-designed employment and social policies.’
The report points to another factor affecting global unemployment: ‘Fourth, the social climate has aggravated in many parts of the world and may entail further social unrest.
According to the reports Social Unrest Index, 57 out of 106 countries with available information showed a risk of increased social unrest in 2011 compared to 2010.
The report said: ‘The two regions with the largest increases are Sub-Saharan Africa and the Middle East and North Africa.’
The report concludes that ‘fiscal austerity combined with labour market deregulation will not promote employment prospects in the short term.’
However, the report argues that if a job-friendly policy-mix of taxation and increased expenditure in public investment and social benefits is put in place, approximately 2 million jobs could be created over the next year in advanced economies.
Other main findings of the report include:
• Employment rates have increased in only 6 of 36 advanced economies (Austria, Germany, Israel, Luxembourg, Malta and Poland) since 2007.
• Youth unemployment rates have increased in about 80 per cent of advanced countries and in two-thirds of developing countries.
• Poverty rates have increased in half of developed economies and in one-third of developing economies, while inequality rose in half of developed countries and one-fourth of developing economies.
• On average, more than 40 per cent of jobseekers in advanced economies have been without work for more than a year. The majority of developing economies show a decline in both long-term unemployment and inactivity rates.
• Involuntary part-time employment has increased in two-thirds of advanced economies. Temporary employment has also risen in more than half of these economies.
• The share of informal employment stands at more than 40 per cent in two-thirds of emerging and developing countries.
• In 26 out of the 40 countries for which information is available, the proportion of workers covered by a collective agreement declined between 2000 and 2009.
• 28 per cent of the selected group of emerging and developing countries implemented policies to reduce social benefits during the crisis compared to 65 per cent in advanced economies
• At 19.8 per cent of GDP in 2010, global investment remains 3.1 percentage points lower than the historical average, with a more pronounced downward trend in advanced economies.
• In all regions, investment in small firms has been impacted disproportionately by the global crisis.
