Outcome of the ITUC-FES-WSM Financing of social protection seminar

 At the international level, there has been renewed and increasing commitment to extend social protection in recent years, most notably through the adoption of ILO Recommendation 202 (National Social Protection Floors) and Recommendation 204 (Transitioning from the Informal to the Formal Economy). The Agenda 2030 further strengthens this international commitment with references to social protection in 5 of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDG’s).

However, the question of how such extensions to social protection should be financed and who should finance them has been relatively under addressed within international debates. It was within this context that the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC), the Friedrich Ebert Stiftung (FES) and World Solidarity (WSM), decided to host a Global Conference on Financing Social Protection on 17-18 September 2018 in Brussels. The conference brought together over 100 participants from trade unions, civil society, academia, think tanks, international organisations and governments from across the world to identify the challenges to financing social protection and to explore the solutions available both at the national and the international level.

How to pay to extend social protection?

 ITUC, with FES and WSM brought together 140 participants from over 30 trade unions and civil society organisations in the world to look at ways to finance social protection 17-18 September in Brussels. Worldwide, social protection is increasingly recognised as a priority: by the ILO (with Recommendation 202 on social protection floors adopted in 2012), the EU, the World Bank, the IMF and even the G20. As a result, it features very prominently in the Sustainable Development Goals (1.3).

Gijs Justaert from the policy department of WSM: “Though the consensus on the need for social protection grows, the main question remains: how to achieve universal social protection in each country?”. Alison Tate, Director of Economic and Social Policy at ITUC feels that “extending social protection shouldn’t be seen by governments as an increased expense, as many do - in an environment of austerity, but as an investment that pays off in terms of better skills, greater equality and inclusive economic growth.”

Several international organisations (ILO, WB, IMF, EU and OECD) and development partners shared their views on the question of sustainable financing. Bruno Deceukelier, Asia Coordinator for WSM sees “a big difference in approach between some of them. The World Bank and IMF want to assist the extreme poor or crises affected population, whereas Social Protection with a right based approach would ensure universal coverage, which would also gather larger support from all citizens.” The FES Social Protection Index and other research shows that in the short term, 71 countries could achieve social protection floors for all by investing an extra 2% of GDP or less.

Sulistri, from KSBSI

“In South Asia, the informal workers still have to be reached and covered by the newly adopted social security schemes, because they represent over 80% of the population, as well as labour migrants, both in the sending or the destination countries”, says Umesh from GEFONT in Nepal. 

Sulistri, from KSBSI, and also Steering Committee member for Indonesia of the Asia Network on the Right to Social Protection (ANRSP) echoes this: “As a union we successfully pushed for the inclusion of workers from the informal economy in the law on social security, but it is complicated because the contributions come only from the workers, and have to be paid regularly; if not, they lose their benefits. This seminar looked at eight options to finance Social Protection, and, hopefully with the assistance from ITUC, we can analyse which are most appropriate for us in Indonesia.” 

Prit SoUot from CLC Cambodia, highlights existing gaps: “the NSSF only covers employment injury insurance for the enterprises employing at least 8 workers and that the Cambodian Government’s plan to extend social insurance for disabled, unemployed and retirement needs to be closely monitored.”

Francisca Altagracia Jimenez
AMUSSOL-CASC

Francisca Altagracia Jimenez from AMUSSOL-CASC explained their efforts to cover the informal workers in the Dominican Republic, which wasn’t an evident choice for trade unions, but which has allowed them to increase their membership. “Today, more than 60.000 informal economy workers, 40% of them women, enjoy health care, employment injury insurance and an old age pension.” 

But social protection is not only for the workers, and Drissa Soare from CNTB, Burkina Faso highlights the importance of working together with other actors of civil society, like health cooperatives to help ensure the access to health: “with the support of WSM, we have been working together in a multi-stakeholder network to lobby for better legislation and extend the services and coverage to their members.”

 Drissa Soare from CNTB, Burkina Faso and Alison Tate, ITUC

In short, as Alison Tate, Director of Economic and Social Policy of ITUC says: “Promoting Social protection is part of the core business of trade unions, as it links directly to the fight against inequality.” This seminar allowed trade unionists and civil society representatives from Africa, Latin America, Asia and Europe to share experiences and good practices. Several of them highlighted the need to work together in strategic alliances to address the huge challenges that remain.  Something WSM and its partners already do within their network on the right to social protection. Something ITUC, FES, WSM and several other civil society organisations do within the Global Coalition for Social Protection Floors.

In short, the conference was an excellent opportunity for WSM and its partners to increase their visibility and highlight some of their work, not only to other trade unions, but also to stakeholders like the ILO, potential donors and partners which could support our rights-based approach to promote the right to social protection for all around the world.

Trade unions as actors for development

Over 15 representatives of Asian trade unions (of which GEFONT, NTUC, CLC and KSBSI) as well as solidarity support organisations (SSOs), of which WSM and IIWE, met in Bangkok, Thailand on 19-20 June 2018 to review, strengthen and coordinate international cooperation initiatives.

Trade unions across the world are involved in international cooperation initiatives. The TUDCN Partnerships work provides a platform for them to share best practice, coordinate their work and construct common tools to strengthen the effectiveness of this work. The TUDCN is undertaking a series of regional meetings to increase the inter-regional coordination of this work.

ITUC says the Government of Bangladesh Is Failing Its Workers

Every year since the Rana Plaza disaster, workers have insisted that the ILO’s Committee on the Application of Standards hear and discuss how the government is failing its workers on the right to freedom of association.  And, every year, the ILO Committee of Experts and the Committee on the Application of Standards have issued clear, direct recommendations to the government in order to comply with the Convention. Unfortunately, the government has wasted every opportunity it has been given to improve the situation for workers. The Bangladesh Labour Act, the country’s primary labour law, and its regulations contain numerous obstacles to the exercise of this fundamental right. Workers in Export Processing Zones are prohibited from forming a union. The government still arbitrarily denies the registration of over half the unions that apply. And workers face dismissal or worse, including severe beatings, for attempting to form unions – while those responsible face no consequences whatsoever.  The ITUC’s 2018 review of the Committee of Experts’ report makes this abundantly clear.

Bangladesh will not appear on the short list of cases of the Committee on the Application of Standards this year – not because there is improvement but rather because there is none. It makes no sense to provide the government yet another opportunity to make the same old excuses and the same old empty promises. Further, the ILO supervisory system has repeated too many times what the government must do to protect the right to freedom of association.  Instead, we are putting the government of Bangladesh on notice. It has one final year to put its house in order. If it does not, the Workers’ Group will file for the establishment of a Commission of Inquiry at the 2019 International Labour Conference.

This also serves as a notice to global brands. If you are truly serious about your commitments to respect labour rights in global supply chains, the case of Bangladesh provides no better opportunity.  In the run-up to the centennial of the ILO next year, let’s see whether together we can make real progress. If not, then we know what to expect next year.

ITUC Launches Migrant Worker “Recruitment Adviser” Platform

ITUC Launches Migrant Worker “Recruitment Adviser” Platform

Since many of the members of the Asian Network on the Right to Social Protection, are actively involved in the support for labor migrants' rights, I thought it could be interesting to share this message from ITUC on the launch of the 'Recruitment Adviser'.

Brussels, 4 April 2018 (ITUC OnLine): The ITUC has launched a new web platform to help protect migrant workers from abusive employment practices, by providing them with peer-to-peer reviews about recruitment agencies in their country of origin and destination.

The Recruitment Advisor, developed by the ITUC with support from the ILO Fair Recruitment initiative”, lists thousands of agencies in Nepal, Philippines, Indonesia, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Singapore, and other countries.

The platform allows workers to comment on their experiences, rate the recruitment agencies and learn about their rights. Initially available in English, Indonesian, Nepali and Tagalog, it will be further developed in more languages.

Governments provided the list of licensed agencies and a network of trade unions and civil society organizations in all target countries, ensures the sustainability of the platform by reaching out to workers and speaking to them about their rights.

Public and private recruitment agencies, when appropriately regulated, play an important role in the efficient and equitable functioning of both the migration process and labour markets in countries of destination, by matching the right workers with specific labour needs and labour markets, as well as creating invaluable skills assets for countries and communities of origin when workers return home.

Ultimately Recruitment Advisor will promote recruiters who follow a fair recruitment process based on ILO General Principles and Operational Guidelines for Fair Recruitment and will provide useful feedback to Governments regarding the practices of licensed recruitment agencies, which could be used to complement more traditional monitoring systems.

Recruitment is a critical stage when migrant workers are more vulnerable to abuse. “Unscrupulous recruitment agencies take advantage of the lack of law enforcement by governments or because workers are simply not aware of their rights”, says ITUC General Secretary, Sharan Burrow. “It’s time to put power back into workers’ hands to rate the recruitment agencies and show whether their promises of jobs and wages are delivered.”

“This platform can help migrant workers make critical choices at the time of planning their journey to work in a foreign country. We know that when a worker is recruited fairly the risk of ending in forced labour is drastically reduced,” says ILO technical specialist Alix Nasri. “We strongly encourage workers to share their experiences so others can learn from them. A critical mass of review is needed for the platform to be really helpful for migrants.”

“An organized workforce cannot be enslaved, but when there is a governance failure and no law enforcement, then slavery can flourish. Together we will stop unscrupulous recruitment practices, we will eliminate slavery in the supply chains and we will end modern slavery”, said Burrow.

The ITUC represents 207 million members of 331 affiliates in 163 countries and territories.

Follow us on the web: http://www.ituc-csi.org and http://www.youtube.com/ITUCCSI

For more information, please contact the ITUC Press Department on +32 2 224 03 52 or mail to: press@ituc-csi.org

Recruitment Advisor: Advice for Migrant workers

Recruitment  Advisor  is  a global  recruitment  and employment review  platform  offering easy access to  information  about recruitment agencies and workers' rights when looking for a job abroad.
Recruitment Advisor is developed  by the International Trade  Union Confederation together with  its affiliates and partners national trade union centres from  Indonesia, Malaysia, Nepal and the Philippines that also act as coordination teams.

Working with trade  unions  and  migrant  rights organisations  in each country, the  teams  reach out to  people  to  raise awareness of workers' rights and fair recruitment based on the  national legislations and the  I  LO General Principles and Operational Guidelines for Fair Recruitment and  encourage people  to  share and  learn about  recruitment experiences through Recruitment Advisor.

The best advisors are other workers with experience.
1. Check  the rating of recruitment agencies based on worker reviews.
2. Check  your rights where you will work .
3. Ask for assistance when your rights have been violated.

While expecting the birth of the platform early next year, here is an update from Nepal. The  team   in  Nepal  have done  several  outreach  activities  to  the  migrant workers  to  promote  Recruitment  Advisor  and to  collect  reviews  not  only  in Nepal  but  in  some countries  of destination  like  Qatar,  Malaysia,  and Kuwait. Beside that, the team  has also familiarized different stakeholders with Recruitment Advisor  in  several  events such  as International  Migrant  Day and the role of Journalist organized by People Forum on 14th  December and at the meeting by National Network for Safe Migration, an umbrella organization of NGO's working on safe migration  issue in  Nepal.  On the  18th  Dec, GEFONT members has also participated in the main event of International  Migrant Day celebration, organized  by Government and civil society jointly.

Breakthrough to end kafala after new commitments from Qatar on workers’ rights

Qatar's system for migrant workers which meant they were practically the property of the employer (the so-called "Kafala" system) has been dismantled, improving rights for over two million migrant workers, many from India, Nepal but also Africa which are, among other tasks, building the football stadia for the 2022 World Cup. This came after after many years of pressure and organizing, by the WSM partners in India and Nepal (see here, also with support from ACV BIE), gathering testimonies (see publication here), by the International Trade Union Confederation ITUC (here) and from the ILO, where a complaint procedure had been initiated and a high level mission conducted, comprising Luc Cortebeek on behalf of the employees.

The new guidance and commitments made by the Government dismantle the system of kafala, which has trapped millions of migrant workers in Qatar. The six steps include:

1. Employment contracts will be lodged with a government authority to prevent contract substitution, ending the practice of workers arriving in the country only to have their contract torn up and replaced with a different job, often on a lower wage.
2. Employers will no longer be able to stop their employees from leaving the country.
3. A minimum wage will be prescribed as a base rate covering all workers, ending the race-based system of wages.
4. Identification papers will be issued directly by the State of Qatar, and workers will no longer rely on their employer to provide their ID card without which workers can be denied medical treatment.
5. Workers’ committees will be established in each workplace, with workers electing their own representatives.
6. A special disputes resolution committee with a time frame for dealing with grievances will be a centerpiece for ensuring rapid remedy of complaints.

"Our efforts are now also starting to bear fruit" says Andre Kiekens, General Secretary of World Solidarity. "We are particularly pleased that the ILO and the Qatari government have now signed a cooperation agreement for the period 2018-2020. This cooperation will ensure that the new legislation does not remain only on paper. Within this framework, an ILO office will be set up in Qatar that will specifically monitor the implementation of all these legislative changes and assist the government in strengthening their labor inspectorate on the construction sites" he adds. The International Trade Union Confederation also welcomed the breakthrough from the Government of Qatar to end the kafala system of modern slavery. “These initiatives have the support of the ITUC, and we hope that implementation will be also supported by the ILO with its technical expertise. Much remains to be done, but these steps open the way for workers to be treated with dignity and for their lives and livelihoods to be protected,” Sharan Burrow commented here.

Following this,  the ILO Governing Body decided to close the official complaint that was launched against the Government of Qatar, considering the various policy measures that were taken by the Government in the last few years (decision here).  The ILO and the Qatari Government have concluded a cooperation agreement, which gives a mandate to the ILO to monitor the Government’s efforts in the country to comply with the measures it has adopted. Let us hope that this will indeed prove meaningful for the nearly 2 million migrant workers in the country.

ITUC Calls for Asbestos Trade Crackdown

Brussels, 13 April 2017 (ITUC OnLine): The ITUC has called for international action to stop the trade in chrysotile asbestos, a toxic form of the mineral which is still being exported, including to developing countries.  A key step would be for chrysotile to be included on the list of substances under the Rotterdam Convention on trade in hazardous substances.  Trade unions and many governments will be pushing for the listing at the next international Rotterdam Convention conference in Geneva starting on 24 April.

New edition of W-Connect: positions, testimonies, practices on Labour Migration

Please click here to find the March 2016 edition of W-Connect, which is a first in two aspects. This newsletter has always had as a goal to share experiences between and from the WSM partners in Asia. 

For the first time, it centers around one topic: labour migration, which was prioritized as an important issue to advocate on by the WSM partners in Asia. This edition gathers political agendas, illustrations of where and when these are advocated for, as well as testimonies and practices.

It is also the first time the editorial oversight was given to two members from the Steering Committee, M Ganesh from Nepal and Miss Sulistri from Indonesia. This way of working will also be applied for the upcoming 2016 editions of W-Connect, with the next edition dedicated to decent living income and the last to access to health. Please enjoy reading our work and may it inspire and motivate you!

M Ganesh from Nepal and Miss Sulistri from Indonesia

CFTUI from India gets full membership with ITUC

After many years of associated membership, CFTUI, a WSM trade union partner in India, was finally granted full membership during the 15th Meeting of the ITUC General Council in Sao Paulo, Brazil. This is an important achievement, as it will serve to increase the recognition of CFTUI as a social partner in India, alongside the three other affiliates to ITUC from India: INTUC, HMS and SEWA.

In India, there are 13 Central Trade Unions, almost all with links to different political parties, and which are included in social dialogue and tripartite structures. CFTUI still has to go through a verification process in which the Indian central government audits its membership. There seems to be little doubt however that CFTUI meets the formal criteria (minimal 800.000 members and presence in at least eight states and eight industries). It is hence a main priority for CFTUI to lobby for, meticulously prepare and participate in any upcoming verification process by the Indian authorities, hopefully within the next five years. These General Verifications do not take place very often: in 1980, 1989, 2002 and the latest in 2013. Results of the verification are published by the Ministry of Labour (link).

CFTUI is an Indian Confederation of Trade Unions, Trade Federations, Associations, Societies and other organizations of India, dedicated towards welfare and development of the society in general and workers in particular. CFTUI is absolutely free from any control or attachment with the political parties or groups. It relies solely on the workers unity to fulfill its objectives. It believes that there cannot be a true labour movement unless the Trade Unions are independent in thinking and free to decide their strategies.As of 2014, CFTUI has 277 affiliated trade unions across 21 states representing 12 sectors in India with a total membership of 1.313.747.

CFTUI looks forward, though a full membership status with ITUC and ITUC-AP to increase its credibility and increase our fight to promote workers’ rights, in India, Asia and the world.

7 Oct - Decent Work Day globally supported, and in Asia!

Trade unions around the world are once again mobilising on October 7, the World Day for Decent Work, under the banner “End Corporate Greed”, with activities stretching from Japan to Ecuador and South Africa to Russia. Also WSM and ACV-CSC mobilized in Belgium, while many of our partners organized activities in India, Bangladesh, Indonesia or Cambodia.


According to the ITUC website, activities in 33 countries have already been registered on the special website http://2015.wddw.org, and many more are uploaded to the site  here.

Brussels, the “Capital of Europe”, came to a standstill with a huge demonstration organised by the Belgian trade unions against austerity, while unions from the manufacturing sector will hold events across the globe to demand an end to precarious work, organised by Global Union Federation IndustriALL. In India, domestic workers raised their hands and voices to demand decent work.

“Once again the voice of working people will be heard around the globe on the World Day for Decent Work. The global focus this year is on ending corporate greed, eliminating precarious work and formalising informal jobs, as well as living minimum wages. We need to transform the exploitative supply chain model which robs workers while filling the coffers of multinational companies, many of which are culpable of the most egregious exploitation including the use of modern slavery. The trade union movement stands with the most exploited and vulnerable in the global economy, and on this day, the World Day for Decent Work, we will show our determination to build a better world for working families and for the generations to come,” said ITUC General Secretary Sharan Burrow.

ITUC visits CFTUI in India

I just came back from a mission in India where the WSM partner CFTUI was visited by a delegation of the ITUC and ITUC-AP regarding their full affiliation. The delegation was composed out of Jaap Wiener, Deputy Director ITUC, Noriyuki Suzuki, General Secretary ITUC-AP, and myself as WSM Asia Coordinator, as mandated by ACV-CSC.

The mission had as purpose to gather information regarding the potential full membership affiliation of CFTUI to ITUC, having been associated member since 2006. During the two day mission, the delegation interacted with the leadership of CFTUI, the Executive Committee members, leaders from the affiliated trade unions and attended a conference of 400 members from the Delhi shop &establishments unions. It also consulted the existing affiliated members in India, INTUC and HMS. The affiliation request will be handled during the next ITUC General Council, on 12th of October 2015 in Sao Paulo, Brazil.

The strongest point of CFTUI is clearly its membership, which has drastically increased during the past ten years, going from 30.000 members to 1,3 million, and with an additional potential 600.000 to 1 million to join in the coming two years. Its main obstacle is the lack of national verification of its membership, which excludes it from many social dialogue instances. CFTUI has achieved several important improvements of workers’ rights in various areas and states, especially in the informal economy. It does however not yet institutionally play its role in social dialogue, though full membership at ITUC would increase its credibility as a social partner...
 

Also in Nepal, they say: Hands off our right to strike!

18 February 2015 has been designated by the ITUC General Council as a global day of action (link) in defense of the right to strike, which is under attack by an employer groups at the ILO. The Nepali Trade Unions which are affiliated to the ITUC, GEFONT, NTUC and ANTUC have jointly organized a debriefing programme with mass-media today, to highlight this Action Day. 

The 18Feb logo which had been translated into Nepali was unveiled:

GEFONT president, Bishnu Rimal, who presided the function, answered questions from journalists and media. He stated: "We are in the final stages of the constitution drafting. The draft of Nepali Statute includes the right to strike as a fundamental right of the citizens. If the employers group becomes successful in the ILO process, pressure will be mounted here to erase this right from our constitution."

They distributed the ITUC newsletter (Hands off our rights to strike, January 9) in Nepali: "Throughout history, when employers and governments have refused dialogue and negotiation and instead imposed their will, workers have taken steps and faced the risks of withdrawing their labour. That will not change. Workers will continue to take strike action when they have to – but the employer agenda would make them criminals. If ILO conventions are weakened then workers’ hope will diminish. The right to strike is most necessary for the workers working in most precarious conditions and appalling workplaces" reads the letter.

Hon'able member of Constituent Assembly Cde Binod Shrestha and Cde Pemba Lama were present, as well as GEFONT Secretary General Bishnu Lamsal, along with Vice Presidents, secretaries and key leaders of GEFONT affiliates.

More on this activity here on GEFONT's website.

328 trade union confederations of 162 countries with total membership of 176 million are represented in ITUC. 

The Nepali Wider Workers conference

The different trade unions of Nepal organized a wider workers conference in Kathmandu 27 and 28th of October with 1.200 of their members to discuss upcoming changes regarding workers’ rights. It isn't always easy to convey why some of these workers meetings and conferences are events worth supporting, but let me try and illustrate through this one.


First of all, historically. The last time they organized a joint, wider workers’ conference was in September 2005, in the midst of violent conflicts and imposed unconstitutional regime. Political parties were banned and meetings were under strict regulations. The then Royal Regime banned the Civil Servants' Organization and created a fictitious "Union" to represent Nepali workers in International Labour Conference; however, because of the pungent protest of Unions, this failed.  . Thousands of Trade Unionists jointly demonstrated in Kathmandu marking the May Day. This was the first ever demonstration after the Royal take-over on February 1st. Despite this and the immense political and ideological divides that opposed trade unions and the parties they were often linked to, they took the initiative to gather over 2.000 workers and draft a declaration that firmly called for full-fledged democracy and uninterrupted rights. Many changes took place since and are still happening now, so, almost a decade later, this second Wider National Workers Conference aimed at institutionalizing the achievements.

7th October: World Day for Decent Work

So today is the World Day for decent Work, organised since 2008 by the International Trade Union Confederation. It is a day for mobilisation for all trade unions across the globe, from Fiji in the east to Hawaii in the west. Last year, the focus was on Organizing workers. Let's look at what this year's focus is, in Belgium and for ITUC.

C’est aujourd’hui la journée mondiale d’action pour le Travail décent. Les syndicats et leurs amis des organisations de développement et environnementales du monde entier l’affirment très clairement : si l’on continue de faire n’importe quoi en matière de politique climatique, on met à mal l’emploi, tant au Nord qu’au Sud. Le message se répercute dans le monde entier : There are no jobs on a dead planet! (il n’y a pas d’emplois sur une planète morte !)