Decent Work Decent Life for All

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Decent Work, Decent Life is a joint campaign led by five organisations that started in 2005 at the World Social Forum in Porto Alegre with the aim to make access to Decent Work, Decent Life possible for all people of the world.

It targets young people, trade union activists, NGOs and decision makers in industrialised as well as in developing countries.

1 Background
2 Definition of Decent Work
3 Call to Action
4 Support
5 References
6 External links

[edit] Background

The ILO Decent Work Agenda^[1] was initiated by Juan Somavia, who took over as ILO Director General in 1999. In a relatively short period of time, the concept has led to an international consensus that productive employment and decent work are key elements to achieving poverty reduction. In the final outcome statement of the UN World Summit in September 2005, 150 global leaders agreed to place full and productive employment and decent work as a central objective of relevant national and international policies.

To encourage nations to live up to this joint statement, five organisations; Solidar, ITUC, ETUC, Social Alert International and the Global Progressive Forum, launched the Decent Work, Decent Life campaign at the World Social Forum in Nairobi in January 2007 and has since then worked in an alliance to make access to Decent Work Decent Life possible for all people of the world.

Since then more than 40 organisations from 19 countries across Africa, Asia, Australia, Europe and North America have officially joined the campaign.

[edit] Definition of Decent Work

The campaign’s definition of Decent Work is:

Decent Work is about equal access to employment without discrimination. Decent Work is about a living wage for workers to allow them and their families to live with dignity. Decent Work is about social protection in case of illness, pregnancy or the normal ups and downs which most of us face in life. Decent Work is being free from exploitation. Decent Work means allowing people to organise themselves to represent their interests collectively through trade unions and engage in genuine dialogue as citizens and workers.

[edit] Call to Action

The Call to Action is the main focus of the campaign during 2008 with the aim of reaching the biggest number of signatures possible to be delivered to European Union representatives on the World Day for Decent Work (7 October 2008) and at the end of the year in Doha to development aid donors attending the International Conference on Financing for Development (29 November- 2 December 2008).

The Call to Action urges the EU, in its internal and external policies, and main aid donor governments to deliver on seven points^[2]:

1. Decent work: Reaffirm the contribution stable and quality jobs make to a healthy economy and just and equal communities and ensure the right to adequate living wages.

2. Rights: Ensure workers’ rights to form and join trade unions and bargain collectively with their employers.

3. Social Protection: Strengthen and broaden social protection coverage by ensuring access to pensions, unemployment benefits, maternity protection, and quality health care to all.

4. Trade: Change unfair trade rules and ensure that trade agreements are used as an instrument for decent work.

5. Debt: Ensure that the priorities of the international financial institutions incorporate social concerns.

6. Aid: Ensure that governments keep their commitment to increase the level of official development aid of rich countries to at least 0,7 % of GDP.

7. Migration: Ensure that migrant workers are not exploited and that they enjoy the same rights as other workers.

[edit] Support

There are 44 organisations from 18 countries that are officially supporting the campaign. Six out of these have also filled in the official endorsement form with personal messages which are then published on the Decent Work, Decent Life website.