PreCaRIousneSs spells crisIS for young workers everywhere
Do you know if you will be working tomorrow? Are you sure you'll have a job, a place to live, an income to allow yourself to be independent and make decisions about your life? Well, millions of young workers around the world don't really have any certainty about their future. Employment that lasts from between a few hours to a few months, is a daily reality for too many young workers. Is it really too much to ask to have a contract of work that lasts for more than a day or a week? Is it possible to have a social system accessible to all, that protects us from unemployment and insecurity? After all, the UN Declaration of Human Rights tell us that "Everyone has the right to work, to free choice of employment, to just and favourable conditions of work and to protection against unemployment." (Article 23). The young workers we've spoken to would like the chance to have a little more certainty and security in their lives, and for this reason, we've decided to take action.
Where did this plan come from?
For several years, the International YCW (IYCW) has been developing analysis and action in response to the different realities faced by young workers everywhere, in all types of employment: young people working without contracts in the informal economy; young women workers - facing discrimination and insecurity; unemployed and apprentices - facing difficulties to enter the labour force, and young workers in temporary and precarious working conditions, facing limited employment possibilities. These different international experiences of life and work, have been helping us here in Europe to develop our focus for action - our starting point for changing the world!
What we've discovered through our action and collection of testimonies of young workers, is a common key concern: labour precariousness and its influence on young workers' lives. Young workers - as interim labourers, as migrants, unemployed, as temporary workers - live the daily insecurity of not knowing when they might work again, or how to guarantee an income to meet their basic needs.
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MAYDAY 2007
JOB
SECURITY REMAINS A DREAM!
"My
dream is to have a place of work - with a contract! I want to have
a stable life!"
The
dream of Maria, aged 20 years, is just one of an anticipated 50
dreams of young workers to be collected during the IYCW's
International Week of Young Workers, from April 24th until May Day
-the International Day of Workers on May 1st 2007.
Originally
from the city of Negresti, Romania, Maria says most young workers
find it difficult to find a job in her home city.
"Young
people accept jobs without a contract just to have money. It's
difficult to survive. The cost of food and rent is really high, so
many live at home with their family and rely on support from friends.
They are always in debt".
As
a worker without a contract, Maria learnt of the difficulties facing
many young workers in her home town.
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MARCH
8th
International
Women's Day
"Young
Women Workers demand further inclusion in a human and equal society
for all"
For
more than 75 years, the International Young Christian Workers (IYCW)
has rganised and trained young women workers and has considered their
situation as one priority of action. Women are still the victims in
so many different ways of exclusion and marginalisation in our
society. We are excluded as women and as workers.
«My
name is Pattrisiya. I'm 22 years-old and I live in Rajagiriya, near
Colombo, Sri Lanka. In our culture, it is very difficult for young
women to access the world of labour as our mother and family do not
want us to work outside. Therefore I feel bad as I cannot express all
my skills and talents. I'm not allowed to study and can only do
those jobs which are usually assigned to women, i.e. sewing, cooking
and all those activities which men do not want to do. Why is it like
that ? When shall the situation change?
My
name is Nalini Peries. I'm 21 and live in Negombo, in Sri Lanka. I
have two sisters. My mother is a housewife and my father works in the
informal sector. I did some work which is generally considered
"typical women's jobs" ,i.e, sewing or embroidering. I had to
produce 50 pieces a day. I was paid 2 Rs a day, that is 0.01 US$. I
was earning 100 Rs/day (0,50 US$), and worked without any social or
legal protection.
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"We
encourage all women and young women workers to lose their fear and to
struggle for a life free of violence, without the fear of suffering
harassment, and physical or psychological abuse."
STATEMENT
MARKING THE INTERNATIONAL DAY FOR THE ELIMINATION
OF VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN
The
International Young Christian Workers is against all forms of abuse
against women, in particular young women workers who, day after day,
suffer different forms of violence in all regions of the world. We
would like to share about some cases which show how violence against
young women workers expresses itself.
"Rosa
María Alave Sandoval lives in the Ilo province in Peru. Her
job consists in cleaning, washing, and ironing in the house of a
prosecutor (her employer). She was accused of stealing $7,000,
without taking into account her service years. Rosa was found guilty
without a fair trial, and she was taken to jail without a prior
sentence, without considering her situation as domestic worker, and
the situation of her children and family. All this shows that there
is now a trading of favours among judges with a view to violating
Rosa María's rights."
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Susanne,
20 years old, along with 10 others works as an apprentice in
dressmaking in Kumashi, Ghana. Neither she nor her friends receive a
salary or an income for the work that they do. They depend on the
support of the relatives for food, transport and shelter. Their
dream of buying their own machine that costs around US$55.00 may
never become a reality.
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David,
25 years old, attends a number of interviews and skills training to
access the job market in Australia. Yet he has to find a job in
order to survive as the government has reduced its obligation on the
unemployment benefit. He worries about his future.
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Julio,
24 years old, an unemployed young worker in Paraguay, was refused a
job in a factory for the fact that his brother worked there. His
brother was active in demanding his rights in the factory.
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Maria,
24 years old, works in a fast food restaurant in Belgium. She works
under precarious and unsafe conditions in the kitchen as the workers
are not provided safe measures to prepare the hot food. She has
scars on her arms from work place accident.
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Dusanth,
20 years old and Parivala, 21 years old (not their real names), both
work in a chain restaurant "Neelagiris" that runs a total
of 20 branches in Sri Lanka. They were promised a pay of US$25.00
per month and were paid less without access to social security.
Workers in this restaurant are forced to do overtime (OT) work
without any payment. They work unacceptably long hours starting from
4.30 A.M to 11.30P.M. Only a small room is given for around 60
workers to live in after their work hours.
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