During the United Nations General Assembly in September 2015, the notion of decent work along with its four aspects, job creation, social protection, labor rights, and social dialogue, were highlighted as key elements of the new Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) for 2030. SDG 8 of this program aims to promote sustainable and inclusive economic growth, full productive employment, and decent working conditions. It represents a crucial area of engagement for the International Labour Organization (ILO) and its constituents. The fundamental aspects of the concept of decent work have also been widely integrated into the goals of the new United Nations development vision, which includes a total of 17 objectives. Since 2008, and at the initiative of the labor movement, Decent Work is celebrated on October 7th of each year.
On the occasion of the 2023 edition of the World Day of Decent Work, Hind Benammar, the Executive Secretary of the Arab Trade Union Confederation (ATUC), stated: “Discussing decent work in the Arab region, where the unemployment rate reached 12% last year and where one-third of the population lives below the poverty line, requires relating this concept to economic indicators, as stipulated in SDG 8.”
While several Arab countries have succeeded in consolidating the foundations of decent work primarily through struggles led by the labor movement, the health crisis has led to a significant decline in the SDG 8 indicators of progress, including the fairness of development outcomes, the extent of social security coverage, the eradication of all forms of inequality, and respect for trade union freedom, as noted by the Executive Secretary of the ATUC, stating that regular monitoring of the Arab labor market situation has shown that this regression continues even though the COVID crisis has passed. In 2023, the ATUC documented significant violations in the region, particularly concerning the right to trade union activity, the right to negotiation, and the right to strike.
Hind Benammar added: “Beyond the Arab region, there is a global trend today to weaken the labor movement by limiting one of its pillars, namely the right to strike, which is a universally recognized means of peaceful protest and pressure. In this context, we are fighting relentlessly under the banner of the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) and in coordination with all trade unions worldwide to defend the right to strike at all levels. We have also submitted a request to refer all labor disputes related to the violation of the right to strike to the International Court of Justice in order to resolve these disputes and stop violating the workers’ right to strike.”
The International Confederation of Trade Unions (ITUC), on its part, has launched a global campaign to call on governments and employers to increase workers’ wages. Under the slogan “It’s Time for a Pay Rise”, ITUC’s campaign advocates for a comprehensive global action to lift workers out of the precarious situations they face, especially from employers who continue to record significant profits while refusing to respond to any wage demands.
Luc Triangle, ITUC Acting General Secretary, declared in this context that, although wages “are the foundation of a sustainable and equitable economy,” they are still a taboo subject for many employers who continue to resist increasing them and “sharing prosperity with workers who produce goods and provide services that generate this wealth.” He, also, added, that “while corporate tax evasion and fraud have reached record levels, the public sector is also deprived of the necessary resources to ensure a decent pay”.
This situation can partly be explained by the decline in workers’ unionization rates. ITUC’s advocacy clearly demonstrates that unionized workers “earn between 10 and 25% more than non-unionized workers.” However, the latest edition of the ITUC Global Rights Index has clearly shown that workers’ rights, particularly the right to union affiliation, are increasingly suppressed in almost all regions of the world. “The best and often the only way for workers to obtain decent wages is through union membership,” Luc Triangle emphasized.
On its part, the ILO has published an analytical note on the progress made in achieving SDG 8 on decent work for all. Entitled Sustainable Development, Decent Work and Social Justice: An update on progress towards SDG 8, the study has demonstrated that “the world is far from meeting nearly two-thirds of the indicators measuring progress towards SDG 8” and that “the international community is now almost as far from reaching the targets of SDG 8 as it was in 2015.”
The information note indicated that progress on the environmental and social aspects of SDG 8 is generally less pronounced than on the economic front. It presents recommendations to improve the prospects of achieving the 12 objectives of SDG 8. These recommendations include the need to implement policies supporting a just transition to environmentally sustainable economies and societies for all, providing additional multilateral support for decent work, universal social protection, and social justice in low-income and lower-middle-income countries, and increasing multilateral and national action through integrated policies, whole-of-government approaches, and whole-of-society approaches.
The ILO has also recommended “addressing the unsustainable debt burden and increasing the budgetary space for developing countries to invest in policies, systems, and institutions that underlie progress towards the SDGs, including social protection and labor protection, youth employment, and gender equality.”
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