Welcome to the United Nations
Covid-19 has triggered an extraordinary wave of destruction across the world of work. International Labour Organisation (ILO) estimates that over 250 million jobs have been destroyed thus far and more than 1.6 billion informal workers are facing deprivation without any social protection to fall back on. The ILO also estimates that the number of workers living in moderate or extreme poverty increased by 108 million in 2020, reversing five years of continuous progress.
As highlighted by the ITUC SDG 8 Monitor, the world entered the pandemic already with a “sustainability debt”. The serious SDGs underperformance, in particular regarding the world of work and its endemic pre-existing labour market deficiencies, resulted in making those ones most vulnerable even more exposed to the impact of the crises: low skilled workers, migrant workers, informal workers, women, youth to name a few. It is now imperative to focus on a human-centred recovery from the unprecedented crisis that is afflicting the world of work.
The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are helping us in this respect, being relevant today more than ever, as they provide the vision and show the path towards resilient economies and just societies. Recovery measures and investments must be in line with the SDGs to be lasting.
SDG 8 is key to address the social and economic impacts of the Covid-19 crisis and to drive the 2030 Agenda forward.
Through its targets on decent work, social protection and sustainable growth, SDG 8 plays a fundamental role in trade unions’ call for a New Social Contract on:
1. Jobs: climate-friendly jobs with Just Transition, decupling economic growth from environmental degradation.
2. Rights: the promise of the ILO Centenary Declaration for rights and protections for all workers, irrespective of employment arrangements.
3. Universal Social Protection: social protection for all, with the fight for a global social protection fund for the poorest countries.
4. Equality: Progress has stalled, and in some nations has been set back by the pandemic. Workers demand equality of income and equality of gender and race.
5. Inclusion: Working people want a peaceful world and a just, rights-based development model with the promise of the SDGs.
