{mosimage} Our society is going through changes so profound that they are completely transforming the job market. If present trends continue, only a minority will have access to stable, skilled and well-paid work, while the majority will go from one badly-paid temporary post to the next, with little security or social protection. A considerable proportion of the population will find itself in an even worse situation, completely excluded from the universe of production and consumption, with no possibility to ever escape its situation.

The main problem of our society is that its wealth is concentrated in ever fewer hands.

We believe it is urgent that wealth and work should be shared, in order to provide work for all. Therefore working time should be reduced without loss of wages. This is based on the principle that everyone has the right to live in dignity.

The demands made in this charter have been drawn from the experiences of thousands of young Europeans, and are the result of the work on our campaign during the last three years: "Young workers reinventing tomorrow's world of work!"

A job that respects us!

{mosimage} The link between our training/formation and the work we carry out is bad. Only very few of us have a job that corresponds to our training.

Most of us work with regular working conditions. To have a work contract is very important for young people. But there are still too many informal job situations („undeclared work") and many young people have a second job with these conditions. In these working situations it's very hard to demand our rights.

• Young Workers don't want to work undeclared but there are not enough other possibilities or they do not have enough skills.

• Fixed jobs with a work-contract are not well paid and Young Workers want/need the money as a supplement to their income in order to become independent (e.g. to live independently from their parents), to pay their bills or to buy other goods.

• Many Young Workers work under special contracts which are often temporary, undeclared jobs provide them with more stability.
  

Most of the people work longer than what is mentioned in their working contracts, nearly everyone does extra hours. These are being paid or compensated by free time. Only in a few cases there is no compensation and the extra hours are a kind of gift to the boss.

• Young Workers work extra hours because they are forced to, because they are afraid of their bosses or of loosing their jobs, they need the money or they want to have for e.g. some extra holidays.

• They want to show their motivation while working under temporary contracts and that they are flexible.

• The integration in friendship groups at school is also very important and Young Workers sometimes feel the need to consume
  

Work is not much recognised in the society, even if it is always better to have "a job" than being unemployed. There is a difference between practical work and intellectual work. For young people it is important to get involved in the society, to contribute to the society. The context and the wage, and thus the independence linked to it are important. Young people want to earn money and create something.

• Young Workers want to work in order to shape their own personalities and to get personal fulfilment, it's important to feel useful in society and to work in the sector they were trained and that is related to their capabilities or skills.

• Financial security and money are also important elements - work must guarantee their future lives, they want to have stable lives, to be able to do other things like training or building a family life.

• Young Workers want to work less than 8 hours a day, but they need a full wage in order to meet their needs.

• Working hours are very important, Young Workers think about their future, they would like to have social jobs instead of office work.

• Young Workers look for jobs they like, it's important to have fun at work.

• It's important to see their rights respected and to be able to demand them (e.g. existing rights, human rights, constitutional rights)
  

We demand: 

• Just, stable work for each young worker.

• It is clear we need less overtime. It does not produce jobs for everybody.

• A salary that is sufficient to live, that fits our basic needs.

• A salary, so that we are not forced to do extra hours in order to live.

• Extra hours to be done on a voluntary basis. If we are asked to do extra hours, we decide if we want to do them.

• Extra hours must be compensated either in time or in money.

A job that respects our rights!

{mosimage} The workers' rights are not well known and are not enough respected. Moreover it is getting more and more difficult to demand these rights, even though there are trade-unions or workers' committees.

• Young Workers need a salary or they work in the informal economy.

• They feel alone in their situations, they lack positive experiences in demanding their rights and they are not aware of the importance of demanding their rights.

• There is a certain fatalism - discussing is good, but nothing happens/changes.

• There is too much competition between fellow workers. That creates a lack of trust between them, there is also an attitude of conformism.

• A lot of Young Workers are not clear about the role of the trade unions - these are only relevant to solve concrete situations/problems.

• Trade unions give the image of being service providers, etc.

Only two thirds of the workers are happy with their jobs and there is hardly any stability.

• Young Workers work with a lot of different types of contracts most of them being temporary or precarious; a lot work also without contract.

• Young Workers work under very bad conditions and without clear time schedules.

• Health protection is often not very much developed.
  

In most of the countries, „social security" exists. But it still does not function as we would like it to do.

• For Young Workers social security is mainly governmental services like pension-funds, unemployment benefits, a public classless health system, etc. that needs to be financed.

• Also guaranteed rights like safety measures or paid holidays are part of it according to their understanding.

• There is only poor knowledge about the social security systems as such.
  

Security at the work place is not very developed.

There is discrimination because of the age or gender which is expressed in the wages. Racism is also present at the work places (mostly towards immigrants).

We demand:

• A dignified, just contract for each young worker.

• A subject at school that informs Young Workers about their workers' rights.

• Our rights must be respected at the work places.

• Equality between women and men, with fair wages for men and women.
  

A job in order to get involved in the society!

{mosimage}Most of the young people find a job thanks to friends, relatives or acquaintances - only a few through the employment office of which the work is not of a big help. Also the media, especially newspapers and internet, as well as personal contacts play an important role when looking for a job.

• In some countries families and friends help by giving info about vacant jobs, but qualification remains the most important criteria.

• In other counties relatives help young workers to get a job through contacts, even if they don't have the required qualifications.

• It's clear that relatives cannot be the criteria, this has to includes qualifications, experiences but also capabilities and skills.
  

The employment offices have little funding an the work is too bureaucratic.

• Employment offices have to work efficiently and transparently. They must give an orientation to the job-seekers and help them to find a stable job with guaranteed rights and good working conditions.
  

Most of the time the wage is just enough to satisfy one's own basic needs.

Many young people remain for a long time with their parents, because they need work and money in order to be able to pay their rent, food clothes, etc. Young people don't have enough money for other activities. Young people work, because they need money.

There is a big difference between the unemployment rates in the European countries. Generally spoken, unemployment especially among the young people is too high. There are big differences between Eastern and Western European countries.

• Young unemployed people are very often in further training programmes which influence the statistics.

• Unemployed people feel excluded, they do not have the possibility to use and to improve their skills.

• Unemployed people have a lot of free time - but no money to spend for it. Unemployed people have time for further training.
  

We demand:

• A minimum wage for unemployed people.

• A minimum of social security for everybody.

• The employment offices to take their jobs very seriously and to be transparent.

• A job that corresponds to our experiences, capabilities/skills and qualifications for every young worker. Objective criteria must be applied in the selection process.

A training that prepares us for life and work!

{mosimage} The highest objective of school education should be to prepare young people for life and work. School prepares neither for work nor for life, it is much too theoretical. Many more practical contents should be transmitted. The social competences is not being practised enough - young people are not being prepared for life. Many young people only go to school because they have to.

• A theoretical training that is directly put into practice and that is linked to a future job.

• A training that helps to choose the right job.

• We want to learn to become responsible and to assume responsibilities. Social competences need to be practised.

  • To be able to communicate and to work in a team.

  • To know how to react in different situations - to face difficult situations, to criticise and to be criticised.

  • To know how to make friends - to be integrated in society.

• Workers' rights and what to do after school in order to get a job should be taught already at school.

• A training that makes the start in a job as easy as possible.

• Also theoretically trained people (in university) need practical knowledge. 

Apprentices are only cheap labour, they have to carry out tasks that have nothing to do with their training (e.g.: bring coffee to the boss, clean, tidy up, etc.). In some countries young people prefer to follow some vocational training than to study at university. 

• Vocational training must be more practical, there must be a stronger relation between the subject and the work for which the training is done.

• The most important is to have a good training - this facilitates a lot the search for a future job.

• It is also important for the motivation to be paid, to get a salary.

• The tasks in the training should be the same as in the work for which it prepares.

• We need to have good training, that is as close as possible to the reality at work places, in factories.

• This should be a step-by-step process which should be followed-up by a responsible person (tutor) - it's important to learn progressively.

• Also at university the training should be more practical.
  

For apprentices things are sometimes difficult, because they are "only" apprentices.

• The majority of the apprentices are considered as second class workers - they are inferior, they are only good for physical work and not for intellectual work - the educational system gives this image.

• The follow up of apprentices must be improved in order to guarantee that apprentices carry out only tasks for which they are being trained - this is not always the case.

• The other workers must have time to give practical training to the apprentices.

• Employers mustn't make the training a competition with normal workplaces.
  

Most of the time experiences (especially practical experiences), qualification and knowledge are expected. In order to find a job it is very important to be flexible. There is a big competition for only a few job vacancies.

The biggest difficulties while looking for a job are the lack of experiences and not enough qualification.

• In some sectors, with a lot of job vacancies, young people find a job within four weeks.

• You have to have luck or relatives to find a good job - most of the jobs are not declared, not well paid and do not correspond to the previous training.

• For a good job, the process takes longer.

Many students have to work in order to be able to study. In most of the cases these are jobs without any social security at all.

• Young Workers (especially those living in another city) need to work to buy food, to pay for housing, books, materials, trips back home to their parents, etc. - sometimes people stop studying because there is not enough money.

• Scholarships are given to those with good results - others need to work - studies must be free of charge for everyone.
  

We demand:

• School must prepare for life and work.

• A training that prepares for a future job for every young worker.

• A job that corresponds to our training for every young worker.

• A place to be trained for each young worker. Those who finish school need a place to be trained for their future jobs.

• Companies must provide enough places where Young Workers can be trained (We are not talking about further training at work - it is about apprentices).