‘ILO decent work key to meeting sustainable development goals’

GUY RYDER

Why membership of trade unions is declining

THE International Labour organization (ILO) insists its Decent Work agenda is critical to achieving the recently adopted Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

According to the ILO, it is estimated that over 600 million new jobs need to be created by 2030, just to keep pace with the growth of the global working age population. That’s around 40 million per year. It therefore envisaged that there is also need to improve conditions for some 780 million women and men who are

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working but not earning enough to lift them and their families out of two dollars a-day poverty.

The global tripartite organization noted that the importance of decent work in achieving sustainable development is highlighted by Goal eight which aims to “promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment and decent work for all.”

After three years of intensive negotiations and dialogue bringing together governments, civil society but also millions of ordinary people around the world, UN member states unanimously agreed what UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has described as the “most inclusive development agenda the world has ever seen”.

The 2030 Agenda embraces the three dimensions of sustainability – economic, social and environmental. It has 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) that will build on the progress achieved under the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). The goals were formally adopted by world leaders who gathered at a United Nations’ special summit last week in New York, United States.

The 2030 Agenda for sustainable development puts people and planet at its centre and gives the international community the impetus it needs to work together to tackle the formidable challenges confronting humanity, including those in the world of work.

Meanwhile, the steady shrinking of trade unions formed the fulcrum of discussion of about 500 trade unions from 90 countries who stormed Paris, France for the European Trade Union Confederation.

The forum, which began last week Thursday, 29th September, discussed a range of important topics that ranged from youth unemployment to Europe’s migrant crisis.

They will also critically examine the reduction in trade unions’ membership especially in the rich parts of the world in the last three decades.
Recent statistics from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) shows that from a peak of 20 million members in 1979, trade union membership fell to 14.5m in 2013 in America and from 12 million to 6.5 million in Britain.

Indeed, this is the trend in most European countries that include Germany and France.

According to The Economists, the decline is largely due to structural changes in advanced economies. Total manufacturing employment in America has fallen from nearly 20m in 1979 to 12 million today.

The magazine noted that the kind of workers who have lost out — in particular, unskilled men — were precisely those most likely to be in a union in the first place. And what has sprung up to replace them crimps unions further.

In the 1970s, most workers were more amenable to the idea of “class consciousness”. But the story has changed today as most workers roles have been taken over by robots with few workers supervising them.

The emergence of globalization also makes it harder for unions to regulate work; the rise of a more flexible service sector, and government policies and the loss of union clout seem inevitable. More recent reforms to minimum wages and workplace discrimination have also reduced the need to be in one.

The failure of many unions to respond to these changes has further diminished their power. Few manage to appeal to younger workers or those who are self-employed or work part-time. Faced with declining membership figures, some unions have joined forces with others in an attempt to be more effective.