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DECENT
WORK FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT - THROUGH INTERNATIONAL WORKER SOLIDARITY
 An unconstrained
global free market economy is never going to create sustainable development,
because millions of people are excluded from decent education and health care,
two key United Nations indicators of sustainable development.
The logic of neo-liberal economics is the blind
pursuit of profit for small powerful elites, at the expense of working people
and their families. Monopoly
capitalism, big business, and the banks are driving this insatiable search for
profit, which is having a devastating impact on the climate through global
warming, while more than 800 million people will go to bed tonight and every
night without having eaten. The International community cannot ensure
sustainable development whilst these conditions continue to exist.
Systematic incorporation of
children and teenagers inside the world of work, and in particular the informal
sector, seems to be part of a Neo Liberal strategy. Work schedules push workers to the extremes
of human endurance, working 10 to 12 hours daily, with constant demands for
overtime working which in many companies is not very well remunerated.
For millions of
workers, the world of work is an undignified life of drudgery. Despite continuous strong economic growth in the global economy,
unemployment, poverty and labour migration is worsening. Almost 1.5 billion workers and their families
are forced to survive on less than 2US$ per day. But it does not
have to be that way.
Thousand of members of the WMCW are participating
everyday in collective struggles to bring about Decent Work for all, by
creating cooperatives, defending the rights of workers in Free Trade Zones,
organising workers in the informal sector and engaging in political struggles
for a decent social security system based on the principle of solidarity.
At a time when the globalisation of the economy is
creating ever growing gaps between rich and poor, and there is an increasing
spread of violent conflicts, it is vital to recall the gospel of Jesus which
summons us to a universal solidarity and a commitment to justice and peace to
create an alternative form of globalisation based on solidarity. This is crucial for the survival of our
planet.
The 1st
May is a day we wish to celebrate with all the workers of the world, of all
faiths and none, all races and colours.
We have a common struggle to build a new world based on solidarity and
where all women and men can make a positive contribution to a sustainable
world, through decent and dignified employment.
Paul Edwards
General Secretary
For the
Executive Council of the World Movement of Christian Workers.
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