When: 7th October 2010
Where: Worldwide
What: Trade unions in more than 100 countries, from Fiji across the globe to the west coast of the Americas, are mobilising on 7 October to demand stronger government action for economic recovery and reform, under the slogan “Get the World to Work”.
To date, union organisations from 32 countries have registered their World Day for Decent Work activities on the special website http://www.wddw.org , and new entries on the site are being posted every day. Many organisations are organising actions in the week leading up to 7 October, with a massive demonstration in Brussels organised by the European TUC on 29 September, and with the ITUC’s US affiliate, the AFL-CIO, joining the “One Nation Working Together” rally in Washington, D.C., on 2 October.
Despite talk of recovery, there are few signs of an end to the crisis of employment. Every job lost is a human drama, and so far 34 million jobs have been lost as a result of the crisis since it broke in 2008, and 64 million people have been pushed into extreme poverty. The world is at a tipping point: either it can break with the failed policies of the past which brought in the crisis and move forward to a fairer, sustainable and more prosperous future, or it can fall back into the injustices and misery of the past with the prospect of increased poverty and mass unemployment as a permanent feature of our societies.
The three core messages for the WDDW this year are:
‐ Growth and decent jobs, not austerity, are essential to beating the crisis and ending
Poverty.
‐ Quality public services are essential for a decent life and must not be slashed in the
name of fiscal consolidation. ‐ The financial sector must pay for the damage it has caused.
Who: The International Trade Union Confederation ITUC, with 301 national affiliates in 151 countries and territories, its regional organisations Asia-Pacific (ITUC-AP), Africa (ITUC-AF) and the Americas (TUCA) as well as the European Trade Union Confederation and sectoral Global Union Federations.
Special Website on the World Day for Decent Work: http://www.wddw.org
For further information, please contact:
Mathieu Debroux, ITUC Press Officer: +32 2 224 02 04 or +32 476 62 10 18 [email protected]
Kristin Blom, ITUC Campaigns Officer: +32 2 224 02 00 or +32 487 38 44 91 [email protected]
