In Depth back to UNI In Depth home page 08/27/2002 World Summit for Sustainable Development: Johannesburg 2002 Making sustainability work: decent jobs at the heart of sustainable development ICFTU OnLine... 147/240802/JL-TN Brussels 24 August, 2002 (ICFTU online): During the 10 days of the Johannesburg World Summit for Sustainable Development, over 50,000 workers across the globe will die from work-related accidents and disease, more than will be killed by war or even AIDS. This costs around 4% of the world's combined GDP, and millions of family members of dead or injured workers are thrown into poverty, with no insurance or social protection. Shocking as these figures are, they underline an even larger phenomenon - depriving working people of their rights to decent, safe jobs and union membership is a major barrier to sustainable development. Creating decent employment and recognising workers' rights are central to overcoming the environmental degradation, inequality and social exclusion which are so often identified with globalisation. These issues can no longer be left at the sidelines of global and national policy - they must be brought to center stage. The current rules governing global economic activity pay scant if any regard to the needs and the rights of the people who produce the world's wealth. Companies which seek to maximize their profits can move production to avoid environmental and labour standards, exporting exploitation to countries which often have no option but to accept investment at any cost, undermining the position of responsible employers and leaving workers defenceless and condemned to poverty wages. Increasing global investment flows and lowering trade barriers alone does little to create sustainable employment or sustainable communities. The Johannesburg Summit must focus on the human side of the equation, and the commitments which governments make on this must be put into practice. Throughout the summit at Johannesburg, trade unions will be emphasizing the role that they are playing in sustainable development, and striving to convince governments and the international community that decent jobs and clean and safe workplaces are fundamental. In Johannesburg, trade unions will bring an integrated approach stressing the inextricable links between social, environmental and economic pillars of sustainable development. And through their roles in the workplace and in society, trade unions play a pivotal role in this approach. Experience from factories, offices, farms, transport, forestry, mining and all other sectors, has shown that trade unions are best placed to make the necessary and sustained positive difference, of benefit in the workplace and to the community as a whole. In just one of many examples of combined workplace and community actions, the ICFTU's Philippine affiliate, the Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP), has created seven clinics where its members and their families can visit a doctor free of charge. The personnel in these clinics play another essential role: contributing to preventing the transmission of sexually transmitted diseases including HIV. As UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan explained during a July 2000 meeting of the Global Compact initiative, "unions can mobilize the workforce - for after all, companies are not composed only of their executives." These and other at the Summit will be tackled by several hundred participants at a day-long public meeting organized by the ICFTU, entitled "Fashioning a New Deal", on August 25, the eve of the summit opening. (for a full calendar of trade union events at the summit, see http://www.icftu.org/displaydocument.asp?Index=991215192&Language=EN). "In the 10 years since Rio, as a designated 'Major Group' the ICFTU and the trade union movement have made steps to advance many aspects of agenda 21," explains ICFTU General Secretary Guy Ryder, adding "the union delegation, one of the largest single delegations at the Summit, will be putting its case clearly and forcefully in the formal sessions and in side activities throughout the ten days. This case is built on decades of experience in developing sustainable and effective solutions to problems, whether at the local or at the global level. For more information: "Fashioning a New Deal"- the complete ICFTU/TUAC programme for the WSSD http://www.icftu.org/displaydocument.asp?Index=991216331&Language=EN "Making Sustainability Work"- ICFTU press briefing for the WSSD http://www.icftu.org/displaydocument.asp?Index=991216425&Language=EN The ICFTU represents more than 157 million workers in 225 affiliated organisations in 148 countries and territories. ICFTU is also a member of Global Unions: http://www.global-unions.org For more information, please contact the ICFTU Press Department on +32 2 224 0232 or +32 476 62 10 18. Or contact ICFTU press officer Louis Bélanger in Johannesburg at louis.belanger@icftu.org or +32 (0)476 621018 ______________________ Union Network International http://www.union-network.org - contact@union-network.org