Trade unions are extremely concerned about decent work opportunities for youth and continue to strengthen our work to advocate for international and national policies to stimulate overall job creation, investments in education and training to enhance the job prospects of young people, and to promote fundamental labor rights for workers of all ages.
Young trade unionists’ views were also shared with the panel by Dirk Janssen, Youth Delegate of the Netherlands to the UN, who had met with youth committees of trade unions in his home country to hear in their words how youth are impacted by unemployment and underemployment. Ambassador Jean-Francis Zinsou, Permanent Representative of Benin to the UN, reviewed the national policies that his government has adopted to confront the challenge of high youth employment, which he warned can lead to volatile economies and unstable societies. Such policies include measures that the international trade union movement supports, including investment in education and training that aim to align the skills of young people with job opportunities.
Still, in developing and developed countries, the picture of youth employment is a dark one. Jane Stewart, ILO representative to the UN, noted that during the recent crisis youth unemployment has increased more rapidly than overall unemployment and today youth are 2-3 times more likely to be unemployed than adults. Many young people entering the labour market are entering with no social protection whatsoever, forced to settle for informal, irregular and insecure work arrangements with low wages, poor and precarious working conditions, and without the freedom to join a trade union or engage in collective bargaining.
A speaker from a US employers’ association agreed trade unions that overall job creation fundamental to increasing job opportunities for youth. But in our view, the issue of concern for youth is not only lack of work, but lack of decent work. Labor rights are human rights and they are indispensible tools for sustained and sustainable economic growth. It is crucial that young people’s work is decent work, and youth-focused job creation must prioritize the protection of these basic rights.
