The statement is based on the following:
1. The United Nations General Assembly unanimously decided that the period from August 2010 to August 2011 would be designated as International Year of Youth.
2. TUCA is the largest trade union confederation of the Americas and represents more than 50 million workers in this region and plays an important role in the development and defense of the labour rights of young workers.
3. Young workers continue to be those most affected in the job market by the global economic crisis with higher levels of unemployment than adult workers and with a higher percentage of youth workers employed in casual and precarious work. This situation could result in young workers being permanently excluded from social protection regimes.
4. An increasing number of young people are unable to gain entry to the job market as the number of candidates greatly exceeds the number of available jobs. This prevents young workers from fulfilling their potential and from contributing fully to society on a social, economic and political level.
5. Young people in search of their first job encounter many obstacles such as the lack of decent work which corresponds to their education and experience.
6. The violation of trade union rights and collective bargaining by governments and employers are factors that have impaired youth trade union affiliation and their full participation in trade union organisations;
7. The ILO Conventions 102 and 155 state that social security is a legal and economic instrument established by States to ensure that all citizens have enough money to live and have access to healthcare.
8. Our governments have committed to complying with the Millennium Development Goals, which includes goal 1B, which aims to “Achieve full and productive employment and decent work for all, including women and young people”. The successful realisation of Goal 1B is critical to the realisation of the other Millennium Development Goals.
9. Our governments have a tendency not to include education and job-related training in their Youth Policy and create instead policies that do not fully address the problems that currently exist.
10. Young women workers suffer the most from discrimination in the labour market, not only on account of lower salaries and inhumane jobs but also because they experience the highest levels of unemployment and are the most vulnerable. This is particularly evident in the case of domestic workers.
11. The policies for promoting youth employment in our countries have failed due to the lack of commitment from governments and business to respond in a responsible manner to youth unemployment. They hide the reality of youth unemployment and propose flexible working, entrepreneurship and informal contracts as solutions.
TUCA is committed to empowering young workers, which they consider as both a social and a trade union issue. TUCA acknowledges that young trade unionists must organise themselves better to strengthen their position and to make their demands for solutions that will benefit the working population as whole, heard more clearly
In view of the above, we would respectfully request that the Declaration to be adopted by the governments present at the Youth World Conference also consider the following:
1. We urge the governments present to issue a clear and categorical commitment to the promotion of decent work for young workers and to consider this a priority of the conference.
2. We ask that governments commit to taking the necessary steps for the construction, design and implementation of comprehensive youth-related policies that encompass the principle of decent work and that include comprehensive and ongoing education and professional training. We ask that adequate State resources be allocated for this purpose and that the governmental organisations assigned to this task communicate in a more effective manner.
3. We ask that governments develop and implement national policies for the creation and protection of youth employment in consultation with trade unions through tripartite social dialogue for the elimination of precarious working conditions, outsourcing and other casual contracts in order the ensure that union freedom and other rights guaranteed by the ILO Conventions are respected.
4. We call for the reaffirmation of the commitment to decent work for young workers in line with the ILO’s Global Job Pact. The ILO considers this the most important factor to tackle the global crisis. We therefore ask that this pact be recognised and be used as a basis for the development of political policies similar to the United Nations Development Assistance Framework (UNDAF) for Decent Work Country Programs
5. We ask that the States guarantee complete social protection to young workers, with equal and free access to quality services.
6. We call for the adoption of and the compliance with the declarations contained in the United Nations International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) (art. 6 right to work; art. 7 the right to just and favourable working conditions, art. 8 union freedom and the right to strike, art. 9 the right to social security, art. 10, protection of family and minors; art. 12 right to health) and also the declarations of the ILO conventions
7. We demand full protection for young workers’ human rights and in particular their right to trade union freedom, which includes not to criminalise, kill, or persecute young workers on account of their union membership with the express aim of destroying the trade union movement, particularly in countries such as Colombia, Guatemala, Honduras, and recently in Panama.
8. We call for a guarantee that young trade unionists will be invited to participate in all decision-making processes and in the development of political policy in this area.
In conclusion, we, the young trade union participants at this meeting, state that this document reflects the views of all young workers. At present, a proportionally small number of young trade unionists have been invited to participate in this global event. We consider this is a strategic and concerted decision to exclude us from the debate and from decisions on new resolutions such as those that pertain to the development models for our countries.
