PES Manifesto

The golden sixties

Publié jeudi 5 juin 2008 à 11h50
par Richard_Falbr (vu 588 fois et 0 commentaires)

The golden sixties, era when the Unions had the greatest influence and success, will probably never come back. Those were the days when the Unions in democratic states helped to increase the standards of living of the workers, and even diminished the difference between the white and the blue collar workers.

The Unions helped to create the European social model. Backed by the ILO, the Tripartite organization created after the end of the First World War, the Unions together with the employer's organizations and governments which did not want to risk another Great October Revolution adopted conventions later ratified by the majority of democratic states. And so the conventions on the right to organize the working time, the ban of slavery, the right of collective bargaining, were considered and respected as rules of the civilized and democratic world.

Fall of the ILO

After the fall of the Berlin Wall the enemy which was behind it suddenly appeared among us. And the influence of the ILO and its control mechanisms began to fail.

As a member of the Governing Body of the ILO I could see the falling influence not only of the trade unions but also of the employer’s structures. The multinationals in the globalize world do not become members of employer's organizations but their influence is tremendous. They deal directly with governments, using the method of "take it or leave it". And because the governments are fully responsible for the economic and social development of their countries but have less instruments to influence it, they become very often a tool in their hands.

The fading influence of the ILO, the imprudent attitude of some governments of states which ratified its conventions, makes the work of the Unions more and more difficult. Next time we shall analyse the possibilities the Unions have. With a special emphasis on the situation in a new member state, the Czech Republic.

Tags: blogueur de la semaine, dialogue social, emploi, travailleurs