TUAC NEWS
TUAC MAY DAY MESSAGE
30/04/2015
On May Day 2015, TUAC sends fraternal greetings to our members and to all workers. We call on the OECD and governments to learn the lessons of the past and take decisive action to promote Decent Work and improve worker’s living and working conditions worldwide.
The economic recovery is floundering as macro-economic policies fail to support quality job creation and fiscal austerity weakens aggregate demand. The rise in inequality continues unabated, acting as a drag on growth, as well as fuelling social – and political – crises.
The policy responses of the OECD and governments should strengthen labour market institutions in line with recent findings of the IMF that “lower unionization is associated with an increase in top income shares in advanced economies during the period 1980–2010…This…sets the stage for further research on the link between the erosion of unions and the rise of inequality at the top.”
On other areas of workers’ rights, the OECD should use the fifteenth anniversary of the National Contact Points (NCPs) of the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises to step up monitoring and introduce consequences for NCPs that fail to provide an effective grievance mechanism.
Meanwhile, on Colombia’s accession process, building trust requires transparency – not closed doors. Colombian trade unions should be involved in OECD processes to review Colombia’s progress in reducing violence against trade unions, tackling impunity and strengthening the enforcement of labour rights.
And, for the victims of Rana Plaza who, two years on from the devastating events of 24th April 2013, are still waiting for full compensation, governments – in particular the G7 – should work together to raise the missing USD 2.7 from the Rana Plaza Donors Trust Fund, so that people can start to re-build their shattered lives.