Jelena Radovanovic, Navashna Gajathar, Shannon White, Sophia Lamprou
As humans continue damaging the environment, and income inequality grows worldwide, it is becoming more important than ever to understand connections between the environment and our economy such as decent work. This article discusses what decent work is, its connections to sustainability, and how COVID-19 may inspire new solutions.
What is decent work?
Goal 8 of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) calls for the promotion of inclusive and sustainable economic growth, employment, and decent work for all. If successful, these aims could enable improvements in living standards. The UN (United Nations) sees decent work as the opportunity for everyone to have productive work that delivers a fair income, as well as other benefits such as job security and prospects for personal development. While this might seem fairly simple in theory, there are a number of complexities surrounding the idea.
Who has the power to set economic rules?
Raising the big questions: Who defines what a fair income is? How big is the role of the government when it comes to creating jobs and employment? The relationship between workers and employers has always been complicated. But what can we say about the relationship with the government? Headlines such as: “Government accused of ignoring workers” are painting the picture.
Since the beginning of time, people have formed groups to feel safer, so workers naturally established trade unions to fight for their rights. In this case, SDG8 is trying to be an alternative to Trade unions. Concerned about poverty and growth, decent work should be about providing more and better jobs, rights at work, social protection and dialogue rather than operating in a top-down direction. To keep up with globalization, it should be applied in every country whatever their level of development is and it should meet the needs of all workers. The world needs a pay rise and governments need to stop protecting the corporate wage theft that fuels corporate greed and drives inequality.
The provision of decent work based on principles of freedom, equity, security and dignity, is fundamentally a question of human development. That’s why governments should lead the way to provide working women, men and young people with decent wages, safe and secure jobs, and support that protects workers from corporate agendas that place profit before people.
Unfortunately, according to ITUC (International Trade Union Confederation) Global Poll 2017, 80% of people say the minimum wage in their country is too low and insufficient to enable a decent life. The poll shows how globalization and interconnectedness, coupled with exponential technological progress and innovation, have created incredible wealth but left too many working people marginalized and fearful of an insecure future. The majority feels that the economic system is not fair and that it puts the interests of the richest 1% and corporations ahead of working people and this imbalance is threatening democracy. Time has come to rewrite the rules of the global economy, where we should seek alternatives to economic growth, reduce our production and consumption, and look to share prosperity.
Decent work and climate resilience: two sides of the same coin?
Recent studies have highlighted tensions between Sustainable Development Goals. This is apparent in SDG8 and SDG13 wherein it is believed that, ‘continued economic growth will drive emissions up to the point of overshooting the carbon budget.’ Many believe SDG8 is incompatible with other goals as a focus on the economy may be detrimental to the environment. This incompatibility of climate resilience and economic growth is evident in traditional economic growth models.
Nevertheless, economic growth and climate resilience are inextricably linked. The economic sector is vulnerable to climate change. One can see this vulnerability in the agricultural sector where the direct impact of climate change is experienced. Rising sea levels affect the yield and variety and fish species. In order to realign decent work and climate resilience, states need to move towards low carbon economies. The ILO (International Labour Organisation) believes such a change can create an economy cognisant of the environment and climate change. In the renewable energy sector, although an estimated 6 million jobs will be lost, the green economy will create 24 million new jobs. In some countries, the renewable energy sector has even shown to provide stable and high-wage employment opportunities, thereby bolstering the notion of decent work in SDG8. It is clear that a shift towards a green economy and adopting a climate centric approach can lead to ‘new employment opportunities by making large-scale investments in new technologies, equipment, energy-efficient, smart buildings and infrastructure.’
The post-COVID-19 era of decent work; the good, the bad, and the emerging solutions
According to ILO’s World Employment and Social Outlook: Trends 2021 (WESO Trends), the pandemic-induced loss of jobs is estimated to reach 23 million in 2022, resulting in a global unemployment rate of 5.7%, a new world record since 2013. For many, the pandemic has unveiled the pre-existing decent work deficits and simultaneously exaggerated social discrepancies.
The progress towards achieving SDG8 was already lagging, and these ominous predictions surely make the aspiration of decent work sound like a pipe dream. However, this pandemic should be perceived as an opportunity for radical reforms in the global economy.
Governments have promptly responded to this emergency by scaling up their social protection response. Until now, 195 countries/territories have introduced over a thousand measures for social assistance. But how do we move from damage control to long-lasting, sustainable reformations?
The answer comes from ILO’s Director-General, Guy Ryder: “We need a comprehensive and coordinated strategy, based on human-centred policies, and backed by action and funding. There can be no real recovery without a recovery of decent jobs.” The WESO Trends have proposed four main pillars: promotion of productive working positions; aids to be given to boost household income and labour market transitions; support to institutional foundations, aiming to promote inclusive, sustainable, and resilient economic stimulation; and engagement in bipartite and tripartite social dialogue. So, shall this human-centred recovery strategy be enforced, the COVID-19 crisis could pave the way to decent work.