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Bimbola Oyesola, Geneva, Switzerland
On the 100th anniversary of the International Labour Organization, unions from around the world attending the International Labour Conference marched to the Broken Chair at the UN office in Geneva to call for a fair social contract for the 21st century.
Unions, including the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), American Federation of Labour and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO), IndustriALL affiliates from the CGT and FO in France, CGIL in Italy and the KMWU in Korea, marched through Geneva calling for a new social contract.
The challenges facing workers include the urgent need to take action on climate change, Industry 4.0 and growing precarity. A new social contract must take Just Transition and the future of work into account.
The unions called for an ILO fit for the 21st century, with a universal labour guarantee that provides all working people with the core rights of the ILO fundamental principles:
Freedom from child and forced labour
Freedom from discrimination at work
Freedom of association and collective bargaining
The right to a living wage, health and safety at work, and control over working time.
President of Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Comrade Ayuba Wabba, and the director of the International Department, American Federation of Labour and Congress of Industrial Organizations(AFL-CIO), Cathy Feingold, were among the top labour leaders that led hundreds of workers to protest in Geneva to demand a new social contract to end poverty and inequality across the globe.
Wabba and Feingold are president and vice-president of the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC), respectively.
They led workers’ representatives from across the world to make the demand at the 108th centenary session of the International Labour Conference in Geneva.
Addressing the rally in front of the United Nations Building, called the Palais des Nations, in Geneva, Wabba stressed the need for world leaders to address the issue of inequality and poverty globally, and demanded for a new social contract to address this.
The ITUC president regretted that even though workers across the world are working tirelessly, they don’t have anything to show for it and can’t take care of their family.
Wabba said: “The rally today by workers under the auspices of International Trade Union Confederation, representing 207 million workers from all the continents of the world, from 163 countries, is to make the point that workers need a new social contract.
“A new social contract that will address the issue of inequality and poverty around the world. Workers are working, yet workers cannot have anything to show to take care of their family and the essence of this (protest) is also to look at the global economy.
“Despite the fact that the global economy has more than tripled, the wealth is being concentrated in the hands of few and therefore the majority are in poverty.”
He added that: “We have seen in all countries of the world, there is an issue of increased militarisation, where budgeting for military is increasing and social spending is reducing.
“We believe that the foundation of ILO is to address the fact that poverty and inequality anywhere is a threat to prosperity and, therefore, we thought we need to make the point here and also other issues.”
On the issue in Nigeria and the NLC/TUC planned rally in Geneva, Wabba said: “We dropped some of our Nigerian issues here because we thought that the issues have being overtaken by events.”
“You remember that I also told you that we are going to protest here because we found out also that on issues of corruptions; that wherever those corrupt officers go to, we will organize and be ready for them around the world.
“This is because most of them bring their money here and it is important we get our workers around the world sensitized; that you cannot commit atrocity in one country and run to another country. When you do so, we can use our network to track you wherever you are.
“Workers are now united and in solidarity with another, because we realized this issue of divide and rule certainly cannot succeed, therefore we have called for the global leaders of which more than 40 of them are here in this ILO for this very important centenary.
