ITCILO COURSE A104027
Trade Union on Collective Bargaining
18 to 29 July 2011
Changing World of Work & its
Implications for Collective
Bargaining
Trends in the World of Work
• The content of work, its organisation and the
type and number of labour and industrial
relations is being reshaped;
• The two dominant drivers of this change are:
-
Globalisation;
-
Economic liberalization.
• Also, globalisation and economic liberalization
have significantly impacted the institutions
built around work;
Trends in the World of Work
• The opening of national economies, the intensification of
financial & trade flows, the unprecedented advances in
information and communication, increased flexibility in
the labour market, and changes in management styles
have increased competitiveness;
• This competitiveness has led to fragmentation and
growing reliance on:
Outsourcing;
Deregulation of the labour markets;
Informalization of economic activities.
• Dominance of a model of employment where a core of
secure, stable and protected workers co-exists with a
peripheral workforce lacking security of tenure and longterm career prospects
Trends in the World of Work
• As a consequence:
- Non-standard forms of employment have
surfaced and grown;
- Labour relations have become atomized;
- Labour rights are increasingly perceived as
“costs” hampering competitiveness and
encouraging non-registered work;
- Overall, the quality of employment has
deteriorated.
• Neither “atypical” forms of employment nor the
“informal” economy can be viewed as residual
categories anymore.
Main Features of the World of Work
• Erosion of labour rights and gains;
• Introduction of significant changes in collective and
individual labour relations;
• The role of collective bargaining process in defining
the terms and conditions of work has been weakened;
• Trade union membership has declined over the past
decade almost everywhere – confirming the loss of
strength and bargaining power;
Main Features of the World of Work
• Union membership is discouraged by the legal ambiguity
which characterizes:
News forms of employment;
Workers’ fear of dismissal or of not getting further
employment if they unionize; and
Scepticism about the advantages of joining trade
unions.
• Trade unions are confronted with methodological,
organisational and institutional difficulties in reaching out
to atypical and informal economy workers
Implications of New Policies
• Shift from development cooperation to free trade;
• More competition between unequal partners;
High income countries have more than 80% of the world
incomes, receive more than 3/4th of the foreign investment
and almost 3/4th of the world trade is between them.
Equality of “access” (to international trade) does
not mean equality of “opportunity”; unequal
capabilities lead to unequal outcomes;
Implications of New Policies
• ‘New’ freedom of mobility of ‘Capital’ pits workers in
different countries against each other – affecting also
labour solidarity;
• Changing nature & terms of employment pose
challenges for unions, collective bargaining, social
protection systems & also undermines labour law & TU
rights;
Implications of New Policies
• Richest 20% pockets 86% of the world’s GDP; and the
poorest 20% a mere 1%;
• 3 billion people earn the same income as 61 million.
• 1.3 billion people — over one-fifth of the world’s
population — live on less than $1 a day & lack access to
clean water;
• More than 5 million children die every year under the age
5 of years due to lack of access to health care and lack
of income security;
• 80% of the world population has no adequate social
security, 50% has none;
Implications of New Policies
• In Africa, every day, about 10,000 women & men are being added to
the numbers of working poor (living on less than US$1 per day);
•
Economies are growing, wealth is being generated but conditions of the
majority of the people/workers are not improving, especially women – gap
between countries, between people keep increasing;
•
Jobs??? Not only unemployment but also underemployment, low paid,
exploitative & hazardous working conditions; Jobs without rights;
•
TU memberships declining in most countries;
•
Workers Rights to organise? to bargain collectively?
•
What else? (Participants to share their experiences)
ILO’s Response to Globalization –
Decent Work For All!
All those who work, have rights at work!
• Decent Work approach conceptualized to cover all
shades of workers;
• Sets floor of social & labour standards that should
apply to all;
• Interventions in different but connected aspects of the
world of work
 Needs to be a global goal if the potential of
globalization is to bring benefits to all is to be
adequately realised
DECENT WORK AGENDA
• Restatement of ILO’s historical mandate in
today’s context;
• Represents tripartite consensus within ILO as a
way to respond to the challenges posed by the
globalizing world;
• It is a development strategy that reflects
people’s aspirations for decent jobs, better
opportunities, voice & representation;
• Operationalised in DWCP
WHAT IS DECENT WORK?
Work that is productive,
gives fair income,
security in the workplace & social protection for the family,
equal opportunities & treatment,
better prospects for - personal devt & social integration,
freedom to organise & participate in decision making
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------The concept of decent work encompasses both
individual and collective dimensions (C 87 & 98)
DECENT WORK AS A GLOBAL GOAL
Rights at Work
Human Rights
Employment &
Enterprise Creation
Poverty Eradication
Social Protection
Equity & Social Cohesion
Social Dialogue
Governance & Democracy
Decent Work: nationally defined goal
thru tripartite dialogue, based on
national context & needs
No ceiling,
perpetual progress
Relative
multiple paths
Social Floor basic rights at work
Decent Work to be achieved thru
actions on 4 pillars
Productive employment &
sustainable enterprises
Social protection/
social security for all
Standards & basic
rights at work
Promotion of social dialogue
including collective bargaining
(+ Gender Mainstreaming)
Decent work: mainstreaming gender
A gender perspective helps to:
• Analyse economic and social roles
• Identify forces leading to inequality and
discrimination
• Assess quality and quantity of labour
market
• Improves economic & social efficiency
How can DW be promoted?
The employment objective:
– Full, productive, freely chosen employment - as a
means for working one’s way out of poverty
to be achieved through (for example):
– ‘Employment-rich’ & pro-poor growth,
– Fiscal, monetary & trade policies,
– Policies, including technologies, that enhance
productivity
– Environment conducive for entrepreneurial activity,
SMEs, Cooperatives
– Promoting skills development (i.e. employability)
– Special programmes for women, youth & other
marginal groups in the society
– Employment services, etc
How can DW be promoted?
Fundamental Rights at Work:
Principle: All those who work, have rights at work!
– Freedom of association & recognition of the right to
collective bargaining
– No forced/compulsory labour
– No child labour
– Elimination of discrimination in employment and
occupation
…. a global social floor
Core Labour Standards
C. 87
Freedom of
Association,
1948
C. 29
Forced Labour,
1930
C. 98
Right to
Collective
Bargaining, 1949
C. 105
Abolition of
Forced Labour,
1957
C. 100
Equal
Remuneration,
1951
C. 138
Minimum Age,
1973
C. 111
Discrimination
(Employment and
Occupation), 1958
C. 182
Elimination of
Worst Forms of
Child Labour, 1999
How can DW be promoted?
•
•
•
•
•
Social protection objectives including policies that
provide safety nets & reduce the level of risk to workers:
Lives, health and well-being
Income and job security
Occupational safety and health
Social security
– protection against health contingencies
– maternity protection
– old-age and survivor pension
Social inclusion - development of policies that address
fairness at work (e.g. Anti-discrimination, excessive
hours);
How can DW be promoted?
• Ensuring representation and voice
• Promoting Tripartitism & including institutionbuilding
• Strengthening dialogue, consultation processes
and capacities of social partners .
• Not just to ensure participation but also as an
instrument of good governance - participatory
approach for needs identification, planning,
budgets, implementation & review;
• Preconditions for Social Dialogue: ???
What is DWCP?
 Translation of DWA into practical action at the
national level;
 Expression of ILO Programme & Budget in a country
(time bound and resourced programme) - Framework
for delivery of ILO services to our constituencies;
 “Results-Based Management”- specifies the Office's
intended results during a specific time period
(country programme outcomes);
 Dialogue about “priorities” at the national level;
 Opportunity for constituents to influence how the
ILO works.
What is DWCP?
• Vary from country to country
• Starts with problem analysis
• Identifies a limited number of priorities
• In line with national development plans, Common
Country Assessment (CCA), UN development
Assistance Framework (UNDAF), ILO’s Strategic Policy
Framework (SPF) and Programme and Budget (P&B)
• Sets intended Country Programme outcomes (CPs)
A six-step cycle
Step 1
Defining the country context
Step 2
Establishing the country
programme priorities
Step 3
Defining intended outcomes,
indicators, targets and strategies
Step 4
DWCP implementation planning
Step 5
Implementation, monitoring
and reporting
Step 6
Review and evaluation
How does DWCP work?
Member states (through tripartite
consultations) set specific “Decent
Work Objectives/Priorities” (just 2-3
priorities) to be achieved with-in a
fixed time frame
ILO supports the Member States to achieve the objectives/priorities
Africa’s Decent Work Agenda
(2007-2015)
• Promote pro-jobs, pro-poor economic growth – to reduce
extreme poverty by half by 2015 & promote social inclusion
 Decent & productive work,
 Social dialogue & tripartitism
 Respect for C 87 & C 98
 Social security floor for all
 Promotion of SMEs, women’s participation &
entrepreneurship,
 Decent Work opportunities for Youth,
 Skills development – for employment, productivity &
competitiveness, including education for all initiatives
 Measures to tackle HIV-AIDS – at community & workplace
--- and ???
Challenges
• How to realise Decent Work?
• Growth first? And decent work later?
• What is the place of fundamental rights of workers in
growth strategy?
• Are workers rights a matter of only ‘being good’ to
workers? A human right issue only? Or do these rights
have a development role to play? (FoA & CB rights)
• What role do unions and workers representatives have
to play in promotion of decent work?
• Do unions have the capacity to play a participative role in
economic development and promotion of decent work?
Decent Work Strategies for the Informal Economy
Adapted to local conditions, integrated policies that address:
Growth strategies and quality employment generation
Regulatory environment, including ILS & core rights
Organisation, representation & social dialogue
Gender equality and the informal economy
Entrepreneurship, skills, finance, management, market access
Extending social protection including social security
Local (rural and urban) development strategies
THE WAY FORWARD
• Formulate convincing policy alternatives and fight for them.
• Demand change for a better future for all.
• Fight against neo-liberalism from four strategic fronts:
Academic: challenge the dominance of neoclassical economics
& promote heterodoxy.
-
Ideology: contest the hegemony of the market, the notion that
private sector is efficient & the call for public private
partnerships.
-
Policy: advocate for policies that will break with the financial
and privatizing frenzy.
-
Political: restore the power of workers & unions at the
workplace & in the public debate.
Thank you!
