Young Workers – Makers of Tomorrow’s Unions18/09/2007 for A4-51530 in Riga, Latvia by Evelin Toth Mucciacciaro, ACTRAV-EUROPE

Resource materials:

ILO Report: Youth: Pathways to Decent Work, 2005

Resolution Concerning Youth Employment, 2005

ILO Report: Global Employment Trends for Youth, 2006

Statement of GS – 4th EU/LAC Heads of State Summit, 2006

Toolkit for Mainstreaming Employment and Decent Work, 2007

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Resolution Concerning Youth Employment

Adopted by the International Labour Conference in 2005

Following general tripartite discussion based on Report

Youth: Pathways to Decent Work A part of ILO rights-based campaign for youth

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Recognition of the role of youth

Young women and men are among the world’s greatest assets

Young people bring energy, talent and creativity to economies and create the foundations for future development

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Facts on Youth Employment

Young women and men 15-24 are only one quarter of the world’s working population but they make up half of the world’s unemployed

1 out of 3 youth in the world is either seeking but unable to find work (unemployed), has given up on the job search entirely (discouraged) or is working but is still living below 2$ a day poverty line (working poor)

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EU/Latvia

EU has more than 4.3 mil. unemployed young women and men;

7% of adults compared to 17,5 of the young lack jobs in the European Union;

Youth unemployment in Latvia in 2006: 12,2%

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Issues and Challenges

Today young people are faced with a growing deficit of decent work opportunities and high levels of economic and social uncertainty

Youth in Informal Economy

Vulnerable position of youth on the labour market summarised in the 5 th paragraph of the Resolution

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DECENT WORK FOR YOUNG PEOPLE:KEY MESSAGES

Employment-intensive growth must be promoted; Sound education, labour market and social policies

are necessary too ; Exploiting opportunities in the ICT sector; Work experience while in education should be

encouraged; School dropout problems must be addressed; Vocational training and education must be relevant

to labour market needs;

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KEY MESSAGES Continued Training opportunities for young women must be

expanded; Training must be a part of an integrated package; Entrepreneurship development; Policies are needed to strengthen the demand for

youth labour; Labour market information and vocational guidance

must be improved; Bridging the information gap.

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POLICY COHERENCE Importance of policy coherence and integrated

approach to productive employment for young people requires policies and programmes that will increase both quantity and quality of jobs for youth

It means productive work in which workers’ rights are protected, which generates an adequate income, and is accompanied by adequate social safety nets

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ILO plan of action for youth

I. BUILDING KNOWLEDGEII. ADVOCACY AND THE PROMOTION OF DECENT WORK FOR

YOUTHIII. TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE

research, gathering data, country studies, share best-practice experiences;

campaign to promote the Resolution; working directly with workers and employers in the

development of tool kits to assist governments, W and E organisations to promote awareness of their rights and responsibilities for decent work

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What Does the ILO Do? Give policy advice to policy makers and social partners Help governments develop and implement strategies that give young people

a real chance to find decent and productive work Enhance capacity of employers’ and workers’ organizations to effectively

participate in the setting of policies and programmes in favour of youth employment;

Support efforts to strengthen the capacity of workers’ and employers’ organizations to reach out and engage young workers and their employers to ensure that their specific needs are taken into account in social dialogue processes, including collective bargaining

Emphasize that ILS and rights deriving from labour laws and collective agreements should apply to all young workers

Promote expansion of YEN (www.ilo.org/public/english/employment/strat/yen)

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What can trade unions do? Reach out to young people and organise them taking

into account different factors such as, economic competition, technological change, new form of business organization and employment relationships

Hire young professionals – young talking to young Give them space in trade union decision-making bodies Take young workers’ issues on board Propose innovative changes in trade union work Co-operate with schools and youth NGOs on

awareness-raising about labour rights (freedom of association, right to bargain collectively, ILS)

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‘‘We resolve to develop and implement strategies that give young We resolve to develop and implement strategies that give young people everywhere a real chance to find decent and productive work.’people everywhere a real chance to find decent and productive work.’United Nations Millenium Declaration, New York, 2000United Nations Millenium Declaration, New York, 2000

‘‘Youth is our most valuable asset – our future. We must nurture it.’Youth is our most valuable asset – our future. We must nurture it.’Kofi Annan, EU-LAC Heads of State Summit, Vienna 2006Kofi Annan, EU-LAC Heads of State Summit, Vienna 2006

Thank you!Thank you!