Članice Solidarnosti obeležile Svetski dan dostojanstvenog rada

On the occasion of the World Day of Decent Work, the ZSSS announces: Decent work must become a priority

October 7, 2020

October 7 marks World Decent Work Day, proclaimed in 2008 by the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) .

Decent work not only means decent pay, but also provides workers with a safe and healthy work environment and the possibility of trade unionism, and promotes individuals’ personal development, and is even more important at the time of the outbreak of the new coronavirus.

The outbreak of the infectious virus, as we have seen in previous months, has turned the lives of workers around the world upside down. When the world “stayed at home”, it was often kept alive by underpaid health workers, as well as employees in social welfare and care, in shops, in food, cleaners, communal and postal workers, drivers, food distributors, teachers, police officers and others. We gave them a lot of recognition in the spring and were very grateful to them for the work done. However, the conditions in which they work, the pay they receive, the rights they have, and so on. however changed for the better?

The epidemic revealed the precarious situation of many 

The covid-19 epidemic has also revealed the extremely precarious and unstable situation of many workers who are active within various precarious forms of work, while these are groups of workers who have been overlooked in many places when designing intervention measures.
In Slovenia, as well as around the world, we are seeing a large increase in unemployment among young people and also the elderly, and the real danger is that precariousness in the world of work will only increase. That is why the demand for decent work is extremely important today and radical in its own way. It means a demand for a safe and healthy working environment, decent pay, secure employment, that no social group should be overlooked in intervention anti-crown measures, but also calls for economic recovery during the corona crisis and investment in new decent jobs. Decent work must become the main starting point for looking ahead and for concrete action to follow, both at European and national level.

On the occasion of today’s World Day of Decent Work, we also share the message of the European Trade Union Confederation (Etuc), of which the ZSSS is a part:

Three areas for decent work 

Etuc points out three important areas that we need to address to ensure decent work.

• Maintaining and creating new jobs 
  In the coming months, the European Trade Union Confederation will strive to increase funding or investment in health and social affairs. They want to protect workers who have been and will be affected by the corona crisis in the future. Large sums of money – € 750 billion from the recovery plan and € 1.8 trillion from the future EU budget – must also be channeled into maintaining and creating new jobs.
• Fair pay  
  On 28 October, the European Commission will present its proposal for the regulation of the minimum wage system and collective bargaining, and on 4 November it will present binding rules on wage transparency. These proposals could represent important steps towards a fairer payment.
• Rights for precarious workers
  In the EU, there are a number of initiatives to highlight the lack of rights for workers working as self-employed workers or through different platforms (business models that use modern technology to optimize work organization and costs, while offering services such as food delivery, transportation, cleaning, etc.). It is precisely these workers who need to be provided with social security and decent work, which the market alone will not be able to offer them without proper regulation.