Global challenges for decent work

Check against delivery.

Translated from the Norwegian.

 

Dear friends,

Thank you for inviting me to this event, and congratulations on the important occasion – the World Day for Decent Work. And thank you also for the opportunity to give a political speech so soon after an election. This initiative reflects LO’s high ambitions in this field, and is both inspiring and motivating.

Promoting decent work is key principle in the Norwegian model. From day one, the red-green coalition Government has stood up for employee rights.

This we have done for four years, together with the trade union movement, which – spearheaded by Roar Flåthen – is working to put this issue on the agenda, to keep it there, and to renew and intensify the fight for decent work.

And as we have just had an election, it seems appropriate to remind ourselves what happened right after the previous election, when our red-green coalition took over from the Christian Democrat, Conservative Liberal coalition.

We reversed the amendments that had been made to the Working Environment Act that allowed for an increase in normal working hours to 13 per 24 hours. There is little doubt as to what would have happened otherwise.

We reversed the amendments to the Working Environment Act that made it easier for employers to require overtime work.

And we reversed the amendments that reduced employment protection and increased the opportunities to employ people on a temporary basis.

So we have now had four years without these amendments being implemented. In other words, that election made a difference, as elections should.

The fight for decent work will continue to be high up on this Government’s agenda. And not only here at home, but also abroad. We are, for example, developing a strategy to promote decent work at the international level together with the trade union movement.

We want employment levels, social security and the criteria for decent work to be given more attention in discussions on how to address the financial crisis. We must set the agenda in the ILO. And we must take this agenda into the next round of trade negotiations in the World Trade Organization (WTO). Employee rights should be part of the discussions right from the start.

In the run-up to the LO Congress last summer, Roar and I agreed on two priorities:

First, we will seek to ensure that new agreements in the WTO include the right of organisation and collective bargaining. Our goal is that the new agreements prohibit discrimination, child labour and forced labour.

Second, we will seek to strengthen national labour inspectorates in developing countries, particularly in countries where Norwegian companies have a strong presence. We will work through the ILO to improve international labour standards, ensure fundamental social rights and promote closer cooperation between employee and employer organisations. We are not suggesting that all countries should follow our model, but some may find our experience of tripartite cooperation inspiring.

We need to have a global perspective and take initiative. One of the strongest trends we are seeing in the world today is the movement of people: increased migration – indeed increasing migration – people fleeing danger, looking for work, seeking a better life. Such is our mobile world. This trend will not reverse. On the contrary, it will intensify.

Therefore both national and international efforts to promote decent work and strengthen employee rights must take into account the large number of people who move to other countries to work, many of whom are ruthlessly exploited. Particularly in other countries, but – let us not forget – unfortunately here in Norway as well.

Achieving decent work for all is a national – but perhaps even more an international – challenge.

Here at home, this is a question of political will. We have that will. And we have a tradition of tripartite cooperation and close dialogue between the social partners that we will continue to make good use of. When I hear people on the right of the political spectrum suggest that this dialogue is too close, I think of the alternative: all those countries where there is hardly any dialogue at all, where the social partners are unable to combine cooperation on what is agreed on with what needs to be fought over, as we do in Norway. The close cooperation between the social partners in Norway is rarely a problem; it is rather one of our greatest strengths – a competitive advantage. And it is a tradition that must be upheld.

But in our international efforts we face difficulties, because there our will is not enough; we need the will of many and we need forums where we can take decisions that make a difference, that count, that are respected.

And it is the global challenges that are my main focus today. They are many and they are complex, but they are challenges that we have to address – together.

We see this more clearly at the international level than at home. The global economic crisis has put the principles of decent work under pressure.

This crisis has revealed weaknesses in the international economic system. This is a subject worthy of a separate address. But the fact remains that one way out of the crisis is through the decent work agenda, something that the ILO and LO have emphasised. Without this focus, the long-term consequences of the crisis will be much more dramatic. I will explain why.

The crisis is running its course. It started in the financial economy almost exactly a year ago, and then hit the real economy and the labour market. Next it could snowball into an economic, social and political crisis as we have seen happening in Iceland and Latvia. And this is affecting the fight for decent work.

The international community has been right to pursue an extensive counter-cyclical policy. Now we are seeing signs of the crisis ebbing away, of renewed growth and a slight upswing, as we heard from the meeting of the World Bank and the IMF in Istanbul this week. There are grounds for cautious optimism.

Nevertheless, we must remain alert, for the recovery is fragile. There may be a severe backlash. And we must particularly guard against the fight for decent work being compromised, against important principles being sacrificed under the pretext of this being necessary to get the wheels in motion again.

Friends,

As always in crisis situations, it is the weakest who are hardest hit. A global, economic crisis brings with it the risk of a downward spiral of loss of rights, less social dialogue and a breakdown in tripartite cooperation.

We see the needs and demands of different groups being set up against each other. This undermines solidarity and policy consistency, and colours the attitudes of both the political authorities and the social partners.

Many people have lost their jobs, their homes and fundamental rights. Labour migrants, women and children are particularly vulnerable groups. We see an increase in the use of child labour, in cases of social dumping, and worst of all – human trafficking.

The ILO’s International Labour Conference in Geneva this June put the spotlight on the whole breadth of this important social issue.

And I am pleased that this year’s conference had a session dedicated to gender equality: “Gender equality at the heart of decent work”. It was high time. It was 24 years since this issue had last had this degree of focus and been dealt with by an ILO committee.

Women’s rights and gender equality are a high priority for the Government, and are high up on the decent work agenda. There are strong economic reasons – as we know – for promoting gender equality, and it is one of the pillars in Norway’s social and economic development.

Gender equality is about equal pay, anti-discrimination efforts, schemes that make it possible to meet both family and work commitments, the right to leave of absence, paid leave, and the right and opportunity for working mothers to breastfeed their babies. Questions of principle and practice.

As we know from the public debate in Norway, migration too is an area affected by gendered division of labour and differences in pay – with consequences for various types of jobs, degrees of vulnerability and remittances to countries of origin.

I mentioned the ILO conference in Geneva this summer. Here we co-hosted, together with the ILO, Germany and South Africa, a roundtable entitled “Decent work – tools to counter the crisis”, with useful input from LO and the research foundation Fafo. It was attended by representatives from many countries, organisations and the social partners. The report is now available, and it gives a good overview of the new approaches that we are now seeing, and where Norway is leading the way.

The ILO conference culminated in a summit on the global jobs crisis, which was attended by heads of state such as President Lula and President Sarkozy. The general view was that the global economic system needs to be changed so as to reward work rather than speculation.

The political signals are therefore clear: international cooperation, with focus on employment and a healthier and better regulated globalisation and market economy. The summit adopted the “Global Jobs Pact”, which contains recommendations for how to tackle the crisis and combat unemployment. The member countries took this back home with them. 

Turning now to another international forum that met last month. It is positive that the G20 put a spotlight on employment at its meeting in Pittsburgh in the US in September. The G20 countries have committed themselves to implementing measures to promote decent work that are in line with the ILO’s principles. This is an important signal at this level.

The G20 meeting declared that the downward spiral has stopped. But again, everyone is aware of how fragile the situation is, and how dangerous it is to believe that the crisis is over.

And it isn’t over in Norway. We still need to combat unemployment, and promote social protection, employee rights and carefully targeted value creation – with particular focus on green initiatives.

A positive factor seems to be emerging from discussions in key countries and international forums: there is considerable agreement about the diagnosis.

But the question of treatment, of action and follow-up, is another matter. So we have to ask ourselves: How much agreement can we muster on the necessary reforms of the international system?

Decisions are made in a range of formal bodies, from the World Bank and the IMF, which are currently meeting in Istanbul, to regional organisations like the EU. I believe that Norway must actively promote its views both in the informal arenas, where the parameters are often set, and in the formal arenas, where the decisions are made.

In this context I believe we are at a disadvantage outside the EU – as you know. This is not a new situation for Norway. But the prospect of a weaker Nordic presence and influence in bodies such as the World Bank and the IMF is a cause for concern. This is something we must work hard to prevent, and I have therefore taken an initiative with this in view. We need the Nordic voice in these bodies – bodies that play a leading role on the world stage.

Friends,

Now to some concrete elements in the Government’s strategy for decent work and employees’ rights at international level.

Our overall objective is this: to promote fair globalisation, where workers in all countries enjoy basic rights and their rightful share of the wealth created.

The Government is convinced that more equitable distribution of the benefits and burdens of globalisation will be vital for greater liberalisation of world trade. We need an open system. And it is crucial that openness is perceived as an opportunity rather than a threat. Cooperation with the trade unions and employers’ associations will be essential, at both national and international level, and we will therefore intensify our contact with the social partners.

With regard to trade and labour standards, our strategy is clear: Norway is to actively promote decent work in its trade policy, for example in bilateral, multilateral and regional trade agreements. That is our strategy.

In our trade policy, as I have mentioned, the WTO has been our most important global arena for promoting economic development. For more than 15 years, Norway has been seeking to put decent work on the agenda first of the GATT and then of the WTO. But so far, we have not succeeded. The mandate for the current round of negotiations – the Doha round – has no specific reference to decent work.

Certain countries – and we know which they are – are afraid that such demands could be a form of concealed protectionism. We must demonstrate that such fears are ungrounded.

Let me give a parallel example. A few years ago, environmental issues appeared on the WTO agenda. Several developing countries expressed the same fear – that this would be used against them. But the inclusion of environmental considerations has functioned as intended, and we must apply these lessons learned to our efforts to protect employee rights.

The ILO Declaration on Social Justice for a Fair Globalization addresses this very issue in the following – and I have divided this important statement into two parts: “(part 1) that the violation of fundamental principles and rights at work cannot be invoked or otherwise used as a legitimate comparative advantage and (part 2) that labour standards should not be used for protectionist trade purposes.” This is the ideal interpretation. And here too, international trade union cooperation has an important and constructive role to play.

In connection with the WTO Ministerial Conference in Hong Kong four years ago, Roar and I both emphasised that employee rights should be a WTO concern. And Pascal Lamy, the Director General of the WTO, agreed.

This issue must be included in the next round of negotiations in the WTO, i.e. the one after the Doha round. The work of the ILO and the WTO needs to be more closely coordinated. The ILO is an important player in terms of standards and norms. But it is the WTO that has the teeth and can make sure that the rules are followed.

The main task now is to ensure that the Doha round culminates in a new WTO agreement that both safeguards Norwegian interests and gives developing countries better access to world markets. In the next round, the negotiations should set clear decent work targets.

So to another topic that has been in the headlines recently. The Government is taking an ambitious approach to incorporating employee rights in Norway’s free-trade agreements. It is our position – and it is the united position of the EFTA countries – that references to basic employee rights and the ILO conventions should be included in the preambles to trade agreements. This is our clear ambition. But we want to go further. Following a Norwegian initiative, a working group has been established in EFTA to draw up specific proposals for how labour standards can be further incorporated into EFTA trade agreements in the future. And the social partners will of course be involved in this work. In many ways, this too is policy of engagement.

In the context of the EEA, the EFTA countries are currently in the final phase of negotiations with the European Commission on financial contributions to reduce economic and social disparities in Europe for the period 2009–2014, i.e. the EEA and Norway Grants. This is an investment in European security. The negotiations started in the autumn of 2008, and we are close to reaching agreement.

Norway has proposed that social dialogue and tripartite cooperation should be included as a separate priority sector in the grants scheme, for there are considerable challenges in this sector in Central Europe. Such a step would help to ensure the continuation and scaling up of the projects currently being implemented under the auspices of LO in Romania and Bulgaria. It is also interesting to note that Poland is, in fact, the country that receives most Norwegian “aid” in this context.

Looking now beyond Europe, decent work is also to be promoted in our development cooperation. Norway will utilise the broad dialogue we have with recipient countries – both alone and together with other donors – to promote the principles of decent work. And these efforts should be based on the ILO conventions that these countries have committed themselves to.

Norwegian companies that operate in developing countries are already obliged to follow these principles, as part of their corporate social responsibility (CSR). Their performance in this area is to be reported in annual reports and in other ways.

At the same time, we must have realistic expectations with regard to the pay and working conditions that small and medium-sized enterprises in developing countries can offer. Such companies tend to have lower productivity and operate under poorer framework conditions than their competitors in developed countries, and their capacity for value creation and profitability may be affected. Standards must be based on international principles, but they must be adapted to the realities in the individual country. Here, I believe, the trade union movement has a key role to play on the basis of its international engagement, competence and networks.

Six months ago, the Government published a white paper on CSR. It is an important document, and was drawn up with the active participation of the social partners. We enjoyed close cooperation with LO in this connection. This topic was also on the agenda of the heads of mission meeting in Oslo in August, when Roar gave a presentation to the 109 ambassadors present.

As CSR is particularly important in countries where the authorities themselves fail to ensure that key employee rights are respected, cooperation between Norwegian companies and Norwegian consular and diplomatic missions around the world will be vital. This is something Roar reminded the Norwegian ambassadors of at the heads of mission meeting – the annual pep talk on important political issues.

CSR may be considered a buzzword today, but corporate social responsibility itself is nothing new. The trade union movement, the business community and NGOs have been promoting CSR for many years. In many ways, you have been ahead of the public sector in this field.

Partnerships between the public and private sector and between the business community and the trade union movement are an essential part of our approach. I believe in dialogue. This is why the white paper proposes further development of our cooperation rather than a “let’s be content with official instructions and legislation” attitude.

So let’s move forward from here. We mustn’t believe that all that is Norwegian is automatically the answer for everyone else, but let’s see whether some of the lessons we have learned can inspire people in other parts of the world. We want to be a driving force in the efforts to establish an internationally accepted framework for corporate social responsibility. This is crucial in order to ensure that the business community exercises CSR globally.

Friends,

I strongly believe that fair globalisation is possible. But here too we must apply the Norwegian Labour Party’s slogan from the election campaign: “Everyone on board”. This brings me to the final issue I want to discuss: one of the major issues of our time, and an area where huge changes are taking place both nationally and internationally, namely migration. People are moving – all over the world. This is creating new opportunities, new conflicts and new tensions. At virtually every level of society. We saw this, for example, during the Norwegian election campaign. And it places a burden of responsibility on us who are in the driving seat, both in terms of what we say and in terms of the actions we take.

As we grapple with this key issue, let us be quite clear about the following fact: migration is a defining force of our times. People are fleeing from need, war, climate change or difficult living conditions. And migrants are a vulnerable group. We see this both at home and abroad, particularly now in the wake of the economic crisis.

We should take a positive attitude towards legal labour migration. This year’s Human Development Report, which is drawn up annually by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), was published two days ago. Norway has a high score on all the positive indicators. My point is not to highlight that Norway is the best country in the world to live in. I expect our social model and policy to give us a place among the countries with the highest living standards, labour standards and quality of life. Our ranking is not a coincidence.

However – and this is the danger – we must not forget that these high standards do not apply to everyone who lives in Norway. And we must not forget that the real message of the report relates to the countries that score lowest, where conflict and poverty prevent people from being able to enjoy quality of life and human dignity.

The UNDP report has another and, in this context, highly significant focus: migration and its positive effects at global level both for societies and for individuals. This is an important perspective.

At the same time, I would emphasise that whether or not labour migration is a positive factor depends, in principle, on whether or not the working conditions are decent.

Here are some facts:

Women account for around half the world’s more than 200 million international migrants.

Labour migrants and their families account for about 90% of all international migration.

Migration from the South to the North accounts for a third of all international migration.

This means that most migration takes place between countries in the South, generally from the poorest countries to other developing countries, i.e. to and from countries that are poor. This is a different picture from the one often drawn of a stream of immigrants pouring into the North from the South.

At the same time, poor countries are overrepresented in the group affected by a major exodus of people with higher education. Another interesting fact is that, in relation to population size, it is middle-income countries such as Mexico, Morocco, Egypt, the Philippines and Turkey that experience the highest level of voluntary migration. It has also been noted there are more nurses from Malawi in Manchester than there are in Malawi itself.

As a rule, labour migration boosts economic growth rather than the opposite. Labour migration also has positive ripple effects for countries of origin (i.e. the countries migrants come from) by reducing poverty and the pressure on resources, and through the transfer of money and expertise. Take the annual private remittances from migrants. In 2008, these amounted to more than USD 300 billion. This is three times the total of all international development aid, and this money can be used to fund health services, education and private sector development.

This is why many developing countries include migration in their development strategies. For many years, India has been training far more computer engineers than it needed. The Philippines has also been training more health workers than have been required for the domestic market. This is worth giving some thought to.

Whether they come from the South to the rich countries in the North, or from rural communities to larger urban areas, most are driven by the desire for a better future.

Leaving your home country or region can in itself be stigmatising. In transit, many do not have proper protection or security under the law. In the recipient country, migrants may have to put up with unacceptable working conditions, poor access to health and social services, and education, and they may be subjected to various forms of exploitation and abuse. This is an even greater problem for women migrants than for men.

Our policy – at both national and international level – must be drawn up against the backdrop of this larger international picture.

We would like to see clearer international rules. But here in Norway, we shouldn’t need an order from outside in order to do the right thing at home. We should be at the forefront of efforts to draw up a policy for decent work and successful integration.

Friends,

And now to my final point: we also see that we have challenges to address at home.

There have been two cases of social dumping in the media over the last few weeks. The news on NRK television on 1 October included a report on Polish construction workers who were earning NOK 30 on a job for Bergen municipality. And we remember the case of the Bosnians doing construction work for the Choice chain, who were paid NOK 24 an hour. According to further reports, agreement still has not been reached between Choice and these workers, despite promises from the leadership.

In both these cases there were two sets of contracts: one Norwegian and one Polish/Bosnian. In the latter case, the workers received tax demands on the basis of the wages stipulated in the “false” Norwegian contract, not the real Bosnian one.

These cases are from the construction industry and involve men from Eastern and Central Europe. But what about the men and women in the service industry, the health sector, those working in private homes. We need a focus on them too.

These examples show that together we need to increase the pressure to ensure decent work in Norway – in all sectors and for all people working in our country.

One of the best ways of fostering integration and development is to ensure decent work for labour migrants. When people have come to Norway legitimately, are contributing to the community through the work they do, are part of a new Norwegian “we”, they must be treated with respect, and their rights must be safeguarded.

It is up to us to ensure that labour migration does not result in an “underclass” of foreign workers with poorer conditions and standards than the rest of society. The important balance of rights and duties – a key political concept – needs to be repeated here too. Unless labour migrants have the same rights and duties as Norwegian workers, it will not be possible to attract people with the skills we need from other countries. This is necessary for innovation and value creation, but it is also necessary if we are to successfully address demographic developments over the next decades.

This will be difficult. Strong interests will have to thrash out their differences and reach agreement. The trade union movement has a key role to play in the ILO, and in international cooperation in general. Here at home, we will not be able to implement a successful integration policy or the decent work strategy without the trade union movement and our tripartite cooperation.

This is why we need the trade union movement to take active part in the debate on labour migration. We need a sagacious trade union movement that can see things from both a principle and a practical viewpoint. Given its value base, the trade union movement has the best starting point for creating order, not only in the labour market, but also in the political debate – here in Norway as well as in the international arena.

This is one of the major debates of our time. How can we create a new Norwegian “we” based on the balance between rights and duties? This was the question 100 years ago in the face of the predominant social and political issues of the time. And this is the question now – in our present-day global world. In other words, the decent work agenda is an important component of integration policy.

The Government’s engagement in the decent work agenda will be – as I expect you realise – no less important during this term in office. And again – just as before – we will move forward shoulder to shoulder with the trade unions.