1

SDG AGENDA AND A RIGHT TO PRODUCTIVE EMPLOYMENT AND DECENT WORK?INITIAL REFLECTIONS

Gabriele KöhlerUNRISD Senior Research AssociateGerman UN AssociationWoman in Europe for a Common Future

www.gabrielekoehler.net

Global Dialogue on Unacceptable Forms of Work (UFW).Special Session Regulating for Decent Work ConferenceILO, Geneva, 8 July 2015

2

Outline1. Global inequities

Income inequality, indecent work, planetary destruction Decent work and social protection as one type of policy responses Policies for ecololgical balance tbd

2. “Anchors”: ILO Conventions and recommendations (Judy Fudge and Deirdre McCann) Human rights conventions and other approaches the SDGs as an emerging normative framework and the G77!

3. From MDGs to SDGs and “post 2015” The SDGs, decent work and social protection Decent work down, social protection up

4. Abolishing unacceptable forms of work in the “beyond 2015” agenda And how to get there?

3

1) Global inequities

Income & wealth inequalityWorking poor and vulnerable

employment and its gendered face

The planetary boundary

Source: Ortiz and Cummins (2011) UNICEF

Source: Ortiz and Cummins. 2011. Global Inequality. UNICEF

Intra and inter-Country Inequality, 2007

Con

stan

t U

S$

, 2

00

0

valu

e

5

6Using more than one planet

7

Policy response?

Decent work to abolish unacceptable forms of work

To institutionalise work as a source of income, social integration, and dignity - for people and the earth

Social protection Minimum income guarantee as the simplest form of social

protection

Right to comprehensive social security

Right to all (basic) social services

Sustainability in environmental sense

82) Anchors for decent work and social protection

ILO Conventions and Recommendations (Judy Fudge and Deirdre McCann)

Human rights soft law as an anchor to create policies to abolish UFW

The SDGs Recent G77 Declaration

9

ILO-Conventions/Declarations

ILO Philadelphia Declaration 1944 ILO Declaration on Social Justice for a Fair Globalization

2008 Convention on social security C102 (1952) ILO Recommendation on Social Protection for all R202 (2012) Freedom of association C87 (1948) Right to organise C98 (1949) Minimum age C138 (1973) Worst forms of child labour C 182 (1999) Convention on homework C177 (1996) Convention on domestic workers C 189 (2011) Recommendation on formalising the informal economy (2015)

10Key human rights legislation and declarations (“soft law”)

Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) 1948

International Covenant on economic, social and cultural rights (IESCR) 1964

International Covenant on civil and political rights 1964

Convention on the Eradication of all Forms of Racial Discrimination 1969

CEDAW 1979

UN Declaration on the Right to Development 1986

UN International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and their Families 1990

CRC 1990

Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities 1996

United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples 2007

Primary health care for all (World Health Assembly 2008)

United Nations General Assembly Resolution on the right to water and sanitation 2010 Voluntary Guidelines on the Responsible Governance of Tenure of Land, Fisheries and Forests in the Context

of National Food Security, FAO Committee on World Food Security 2012 General Assembly resolution 68/177 on the right to food 2013

11Rights to decent work and social protection

Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948): Article 22: Everyone, as a member of society, has the right to social security.

Article 23.(1) Everyone has the right to work, to free choice of employment, to just and favourable conditions of work and to protection against unemployment.(2) Everyone, without any discrimination, has the right to equal pay for equal work.(3) Everyone who works has the right to just and favourable remuneration ensuring for himself and his family an existence worthy of human dignity, and supplemented, if necessary, by other means of social protection.(4) Everyone has the right to form and to join trade unions for the protection of his interests.

Rights to decent work and social protection

CEDAW Article 11 (a) The right to work as an inalienable right of all human beings;

(b) The right to the same employment opportunities, including the application of the same criteria for selection in matters of employment;

(c) The right to free choice of profession and employment, the right to promotion, job security and all benefits and conditions of service and the right to receive vocational training and retraining, including apprenticeships, advanced vocational training and recurrent training;

(d) The right to equal remuneration, including benefits, and to equal treatment in respect of work of equal value, as well as equality of treatment in the evaluation of the quality of work;

(e) The right to social security, particularly in cases of retirement, unemployment, sickness, invalidity and old age and other incapacity to work, as well as the right to paid leave;

(f) The right to protection of health and to safety in working conditions, including the safeguarding of the function of reproduction.

13Rights to decent work and social protection

The Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) (1989):

Article 26:

For every child the right to benefit from social security, including social insurance, and necessary measures to achieve the full realization of this right in accordance with national law.

Article 32:

right of the child to be protected from economic exploitation and from performing any work that is likely to be hazardous or to interfere with the child's education, or to be harmful to the child's health or physical, mental, spiritual, moral or social development.

Provide for a minimum age or minimum ages for admission to employment;

Provide for appropriate regulation of the hours and conditions of employment;

14Right to decent work and social protection

Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) (2006): Article 27 -1

right of persons with disabilities to work, on an equal basis with others; this includes the right to the opportunity to gain a living by work freely chosen or accepted in a labour market and work environment that is open, inclusive and accessible to persons with disabilities. States Parties shall safeguard and promote the realization of the right to work, including for those who acquire a disability during the course of employment, by taking appropriate steps, including through legislation, to, inter alia:

Prohibit discrimination on the basis of disability with regard to all matters concerning all forms of employment, including conditions of recruitment, hiring and employment, continuance of employment, career advancement and safe and healthy working conditions;

Protect the rights of persons with disabilities, on an equal basis with others, to just and favourable conditions of work, including equal opportunities and equal remuneration for work of equal value, safe and healthy working conditions, including protection from harassment, and the redress of grievances;

Ensure that persons with disabilities are able to exercise their labour and trade union rights on an equal basis with others;

Article 28(b) To ensure access by persons with disabilities, in particular women and girls with disabilities and older

persons with disabilities, to social protection programmes and poverty reduction programmes.

15 Special Rapporteurs under the OHCHR

Independent, detailed surveys and research

Outspoken positions Advocacy

16 Special Rapporteurs under the OHCHR

Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights

“…Extreme poverty can be a cause of specific human rights violations, for instance because the poor are forced to work in environments that are unsafe and unhealthy. At the same time, poverty can also be a consequence of human rights violations, for instance when children are unable to escape poverty because the State does not provide adequate access to education.

…The elimination of extreme poverty should thus not be seen as a question of charity, but as a pressing human rights issue. Its persistence in countries that can afford to eliminate it amounts to a clear violation of fundamental human rights.”

Special Rapporteur on Contemporary forms of slavery

“…includes but is not limited to issues such as: debt bondage, serfdom, forced labour, child slavery, sexual slavery, forced or early marriages and the sale of wives. As a legally permitted labour system, traditional slavery has been abolished everywhere, but it has not been completely stamped out.“

17 Special Rapporteurs under the OHCHR

Special Rapporteur on the Sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography

“…sexual exploitation of children online; sexual exploitation of children in travel and tourism, including in the context of major sports events; child prostitution, child pornography and child trafficking for sale and sexual exploitation; and sale of children for the purpose of illegal adoption, transfer of organs, child marriage and forced labour…”

Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health

“…The right to health is a broad concept that can be broken down into more specific entitlements such as the rights to: maternal, child and reproductive health; healthy workplace and natural environments; the prevention, treatment and control of diseases, including access to essential medicines; access to safe and potable water…“

18Special Rapporteurs under the OHCHR

Special Rapporteur on the human rights of migrants

Article 25

Migrant workers shall enjoy treatment not less favourable than that which applies to nationals of the State of employment in respect of remuneration

Article 27

With respect to social security, migrant workers and members of their families shall enjoy in the State of employment the same treatment granted to nationals in so far as they fulfil the requirements provided for by the applicable legislation of that State and the applicable bilateral and multilateral treaties..

Article 28

Migrant workers and members of their families shall have the right to receive any medical care that is urgently required for the preservation of their life or the avoidance of irreparable harm to their health on the basis of equality of treatment with nationals of the State concerned.

19OHCHR Working Group on the issue of human rights and transnational corporations and other business enterprises

Aims to promote and implement Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights

These Guiding Principles are grounded in recognition of: (a) States’ existing obligations to respect, protect and fulfil human rights and fundamental freedoms; (b) The role of business enterprises as specialized organs of society performing specialized functions, required to comply with all applicable laws and to respect human rights; (c) The need for rights and obligations to be matched to appropriate and effective remedies when breached.

These Guiding Principles apply to all States and to all business enterprises, both transnational and others, regardless of their size, sector, location, ownership and structure

203. From MDGs to SDGs and post 2015

•full employment•social protection•participation

24Rio+20 The Future We Want

We reaffirm the importance of supporting developing countries in their efforts to eradicate poverty and promote empowerment of the poor and people in vulnerable situations, enhancing productive capacity, developing sustainable agriculture and promoting full and productive employment and decent work for all, complemented by effective social policies, including social protection floors

Outcome document 2012

25Main recommendations from the post-2015 global consultation

a stand-alone goal on employment in the post-2015 agenda

from the quantity to the quality of growth

combining economic growth with the creation of decent jobs for the poor and most vulnerable

Addressing the structural causes of unemployment and promoting economic diversification

governments must be responsible for driving structural transformation through coherent policies.

Governments to develop economic sectors with high capacity to generate employment

Industrial policy to be brought back into the development agenda

Expanding social protection systems

Strengthening social dialogue and the voice of workers

Complementing ODA with reforms in the international trade, finance and technology transfer systems

2012

26Proposed Sustainable Development Goals (version 30 June 2014)

1. End poverty everywhere

2. End hunger, improve nutrition and promote sustainable agriculture

3. Attain healthy lives for all

4. Provide quality education and life-long learning opportunities for all

5. Attain gender equality, empower women and girls everywhere

6. Ensure availability and sustainable use of water and sanitation for all

7. Ensure sustainable energy for all

8. Promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment and decent work for all

27Proposed Sustainable Development Goals (version 30 June 2014)

9) Promote sustainable infrastructure and industrialization and foster innovation

10) Reduce inequality within and between countries

11) Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe and sustainable

12) Promote sustainable consumption and production patterns

13) Tackle climate change and its impacts

14) Conserve and promote sustainable use of oceans, seas and marine resources

15) Protect and promote sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems, halt desertification, land degradation and biodiversity loss

17) Achieve peaceful and inclusive societies, access to justice for all, and effective and capable institutions

17) Strengthen the means of implementation and the global partnership for sustainable development

28Goal 1. End poverty in all its forms everywhere

1.1 By 2030, eradicate extreme poverty for all people everywhere, currently measured as people living on less than $1.25 a day

1.2 By 2030, reduce at least by half the proportion of men, women and children of all ages living in poverty in all its dimensions according to national definitions

1.3 Implement nationally appropriate social protection systems and measures for all, including floors, and by 2030 achieve substantial coverage of the poor and the vulnerable

29Goal 5. Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls

5.4 Recognize and value unpaid care and domestic work through the provision of public services, infrastructure and social protection policies and the promotion of shared responsibility within the household and the family as nationally appropriate

5.5 Ensure women’s full and effective participation and equal opportunities for leadership at all levels of decision-making in political, economic and public life

30Goal 8. Promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment and decent work for all (30 June 2014)

8.3 Promote development-oriented policies that support productive activities, decent job creation, entrepreneurship, creativity and innovation, and encourage the formalization and growth of micro-, small- and medium-sized enterprises, including through access to financial services

8.4 By 2030 achieve full and productive employment and decent work for all women and men, including for young people and persons with disabilities, and equal pay for work of equal value

8.5 By 2030, achieve full and productive employment and decent work for all women and men, including for young people and persons with disabilities, and equal pay for work of equal value

8.6 By 2020, substantially reduce the proportion of youth not in employment, education or training

31Goal 8. Promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment and decent work for all (30 June 2014)

8.7 Take immediate and effective measures to secure the prohibition and elimination of

the worst forms of child labour, eradicate forced labour and, by 2025, end child labour in all its forms, including the recruitment and use of child soldiers

8.8 Protect labour rights and promote safe and secure working environments for all

workers, including migrant workers, in particular women migrants, and those in precarious employment

8.9 By 2030, devise and implement policies to promote sustainable tourism that creates

jobs and promotes local culture and products

32Goal 9. Build resilient infrastructure, promote inclusive and sustainable industrialization and foster innovation

9.3 Increase the access of small-scale industrial and other enterprises, in particular in developing countries, to financial services, including affordable credit, and their integration into value chains and markets

33Goal 10 Reduce inequality within and among countries

10.2 By 2030, empower and promote the social, economic and political inclusion of all, irrespective of age, sex, disability, race, ethnicity, origin, religion or economic or other status

10.3 Ensure equal opportunity and reduce inequalities of outcome, including by eliminating discriminatory laws, policies and practices and promoting appropriate legislation, policies and action in this regard

10.4 Adopt policies, especially fiscal, wage and social protection policies, and progressively achieve greater equality

34Goal 10 Reduce inequality within and among countries

10.7 Facilitate orderly, safe, regular and responsible migration and mobility of people, including through the implementation of planned and well-managed migration policies

10.C By 2030, reduce to less than 3 per cent the transaction costs of migrant remittances and eliminate remittance corridors with costs higher than 5 per cent

35G-77 2014:

Santa  Cruz- Outcome Document:

New World Order und buen vivir  

36G77 & China: Declaration  of  Santa  Cruz

“23. We recognize the progress achieved in sustainable development at the regional, national, sub-national and local levels and we reaffirm the importance of supporting developing countries in their efforts to eradicate poverty by empowering the poor and people in vulnerable situations, promoting developing sustainable agriculture as well as full and productive employment and decent work for all, complemented by effective social policies, including social protection floors.”

June 2014

374) Decent work down, social protection up

Social protection and health insurance are protective, re-distributive objectives, not very costly and en vogue

The right to decent work challenges the logic of the capitalist system

full employment and decent work would require genuine political, economic, social and ecological transformation

38

Social protection up

1. Social protection and health insurance are protective

2. Not very costly

3. Currently en vogue

4. Urgent and doable

5. Need to be linked to re-distributive objectives

6. Do not un-seat capitalist order

39

Establishing the right to decent work

1. productive assets and wealth would need to be restructured

2. production chains would need to be equitable and sustainable

3. existing gender- and class-biased distribution of remunerative work would need to shift

4. existing gender- and class-biased distribution of care work would need to radically change

5. time budgets would need to be renegotiated

6. consumption and production patterns would need to be radically altered

7. the share of remuneration in GDP would need to be increased

8. The share of value added in lower income countries would need to be increased

9. education and skills training would need to be re-organised

10.the informal economy would need to be formalised

IT CALLS INTO QUESTION THE SYSTEM OF CAPITALISM

404) Abolishing unacceptable forms of work in “beyond 2015” agenda

But how to get there???

41Abolishing unacceptable forms of work in “beyond 2015” agenda

Keep social protection movement strong and implement social protection floors – a United Nations Convention on Social Protection?

Rally around decent work Use ILO Recommendation on formalising the informal sector Build in the environmentalist movement Use all pertaining ILO Conventions & Recommendations, as

well as the human rights instruments, and the SDGs, and progressive statements from governments

42Abolishing unacceptable forms of work in “beyond 2015” agenda

powerful progressive civil society, including trade union and informal workers organisations, political activists, and academics

progressive governmentsvisionary and empowered UN

43Some sources:

Alberto D. Cimadamore, Bob Deacon, Sigmund Grønmo, Gabriele Koehler, Gro Therese Lie, Karen O’Brien, Isabel Ortiz, Thomas Pogge, Asuncion St. Clair, 2013. Poverty & the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs): a critical assessment and a look forward. CROP Poverty Brief. http://www.crop.org/ViewFile.aspx?id=423

Alberto Cimadamore, Gabriele Koehler and Thomas Pogge, 2015. “Poverty and the Millennium Development Goals: A critical look forward” London: ZED Books. To be published December 2015

Judy Fudge, Deirdre McCann 2014 Unacceptable Forms of Work (UFW): A Global and Comparative Study. Study prepared for the International Labour Office, October 2014, revised 11 December 2014

Naomi Klein. This changes everything. Capitalism vs. the Climate. London, Penguin.

ILO 2014. World Social Protection Report. www.ilo.org

Richard Jolly, Tom Weiss, The “Third” United Nations . UN Intellectual History Project. Briefing note 3. 2009. http://www.unhistory.org/briefing/3ThirdUN.pdf.

Gabriele Koehler 2015. Seven Decades of Development and Now What? In JID 2015…

Isabel Ortiz and Matthew Cummins. 2011. Beyond the Bottom Billion, Global Inequality. UNICEF. w.unicef.org/socialpolicy/index_58230.html

Isabel Ortiz, Sara Burke Mohamed Berrada Hernan Cortes . 2013. World Protests 2006-13. New York: IPD and FES. http://policydialogue.org/files/publications/World_Protests_2006-2013-Complete_and_Final_4282014.pdf

UN Development Group 2012. GROWTH AND EMPLOYMENT IN THE POST-2015 AGENDA MESSAGES FROM A GLOBAL CONSULTATION http://www.worldwewant2015.org/node/392756

UNRISD 2010. COMBATING POVERTY AND INEQUALITY. Structural Change, Social Policy and Politics. Geneva. ISBN 978-92-9085-076-2 http://www.unrisd.org/unrisd/website/document.nsf/(httpAuxPages)/92B1D5057F43149CC125779600434441?OpenDocument&panel=additional