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4.2 Rights at work and development: Working Out of Poverty

Written by: International Labour Organization

Article Overview: A successful strategy for strengthening the governance of labour markets must recognize that they are different from other markets because they concern people. We all live in societies in which social status and self-esteem are strongly tied to both occupation and income.

4.2 Rights at work and development: Working Out of Poverty

A successful strategy for strengthening the governance of labour markets
must recognize that they are different from other markets because they
concern people. We all live in societies in which social status and self-esteem
are strongly tied to both occupation and income. The way others look at us,
and the way we look at ourselves, are both related to the work we do and the
way we are treated at work. As Robert Solow says, “employment and the income
it brings are not simply
equivalent
to a set of bundles of consumer
goods (and savings)”.
The basic difference, as asserted in the ILO’s Constitution,
is that labour is not a commodity and people have the right to be
treated with respect.

Furthermore, people’s perception of whether they are treated fairly affects
work performance. Employers know that equity and perceived equity
are indispensable characteristics of systems for determining working conditions
that promote high morale, low staff turnover, low absenteeism and high
productivity. Union organizers know that underlying most grievances at
work is a sense of injustice. Regrettably, much orthodox economics overlooks
the fact that labour markets work better where there are widely accepted
standards of what constitutes fairness.

An important and long-standing pillar of the work of the ILO is the
discussion and definition of principles that governments, employers and
workers can use to design labour market systems that incorporate benchmarks
of fairness. These discussions are practical, real-world debates that cumstances by workers and enterprises that have to thrive and survive in the
marketplace.

When one surveys the labour laws and practices of countries around the
world, it is evident that the influence of the ILO’s standards is pervasive.
This is not because the Organization has enormous power to force governments,
employers and unions to abide by its Conventions and Recommendations,
but because these standards make good sense and reflect widely held
values. Ratification of an ILO Convention is a commitment to other member
States, backed up by a system of international supervision. More than that,
it is a promise to a country’s citizens to use an international benchmark of
fairness as a guide for the national governance of the labour market.

The list of ILO standards is extensive, and the Governing Body of the
International Labour Office has been rationalizing them to identify those
that are now obsolete or superseded. A few of these Conventions were singled
out as particularly important by the World Summit for Social Development
in Copenhagen in 1995.
For the first time, at the highest political
level, the international community as a whole agreed to promote a set of
core labour standards based on seven ILO Conventions. This was a historical
breakthrough. It put labour standards on the global political agenda in a
clearly developmental context as an integral part of poverty eradication, full
employment and social cohesion. The ILO Declaration on Fundamental
Principles and Rights at Work adopted in 1998 then established an obligation
on all Members of the Organization to respect, to promote and to realize,
in good faith and in accordance with the Constitution, the principles
concerning the fundamental rights which are the subject of Conventions
concerning:
(a) freedom of association and the effective recognition of the right to collective
bargaining;
(b) the elimination of all forms of forced or compulsory labour;
(c) the effective abolition of child labour; and
(d) the elimination of discrimination in respect of employment and occupation.

These instruments were selected because they are universally applicable
and constitute a set of rights which enable people to claim freely and, on
the basis of equality of opportunity, their fair share of the wealth which they
have helped to generate, and to achieve fully their human potential.

Respect for these internationally recognized fundamental human rights
at work is widely accepted as essential to ensuring equity, social progress, the
eradication of poverty, and universal and lasting peace.
They provide a
standard of fairness on which all countries can build an institutional framework
for national labour markets that is appropriate to their circumstances
and which also constitute a commonly accepted floor for the global economy. The values expressed in the ILO Declaration on Fundamental Principles
and Rights at Work form part of the freedoms that are both a primary
end and a principal means of development.

These rights are universally recognized basic human rights and do not
need any economic or other justification. This does not mean, however, that
they cannot stand the test of economic efficiency. Transactions in a free market
are voluntary exchanges of titles to property. The right to own property
is a basic element of market economies, because where title to property is
not guaranteed in law, contract enforcement breaks down and markets fail.
In many ways, the ILO Declaration expresses the basic rights working
women and men need to assert title to their own labour. They enable the development
of the legal tools needed for a system of contracts that ensure that
the exchange of people’s main – and often only – asset, their labour, for the
means to live a decent life is conducted in non-coercive conditions.

The fundamental principles and rights reflected in the ILO Declaration
are thus a foundation for the governance of labour markets in open economies
and open societies. Indeed, where these principles and rights are denied,
labour effectively becomes a commodity, and the dignity and respect
that all people have the right to expect from society are compromised. If this
essential human dimension of labour markets is ignored, social cohesion is
damaged, the productive potential of the workforce is diminished and, most
importantly, the freedom of people to develop their capabilities is restricted.

Fundamental principles and rights at work are particularly vital in the
market for unskilled labour that is the main source of income for the poor.
Discrimination in employment and occupation often exacerbates or perpetuates
poverty, while poverty furthers discrimination at work in a vicious cycle.

Unskilled women and men in poor countries with large-scale
unemployment and underemployment have little option but to take work at
the price and conditions offered. The development of systems for the governance
of labour markets that ensure that workers who must find some
form of work to survive can assert their fundamental rights is central to improving
the returns they are able to get for their labour. This reality is increasingly
recognized in the multilateral system. As the World Bank states,
“adherence to core labour standards promotes effective labour market institutions
that can contribute to economic growth and reduce workplace risks
faced by the poor”.

The decent work approach is based on the conviction that creating the
conditions in which people have the freedom to realize their own capabilities
is a primary goal of development and the main means of eradicating poverty.
Removing the barriers to freedom requires action on many fronts. Enlarging
civil and political liberties needs to go hand in hand with realization of social,
cultural and economic rights. To quote the
Human Development Report 2000, “human development is essential for realizing human rights, and human rights are essential for full human development”.

Respect for fundamental principles and rights at work is a foundation
for building legal codes and collective agreements to govern labour markets and workplaces. Governments, employers and trade unions in countries with
widely differing levels of development frequently use as a reference for this
purpose the Conventions and Recommendations of the ILO. They cover a
wide variety of topics, many of which are directly relevant to the reduction
of poverty, including human resources development, employment policy, social
security, occupational health and safety, labour relations in the public
service, labour administration, migration for employment, indigenous and
tribal peoples, rural workers’ organizations, promotion of cooperatives, protection
of wages, minimum wage fixing machinery, maternity protection and
home work. These and many other issues covered in the ILO’s international
labour code are part of daily work and life in all countries. Where fundamental
principles and rights at work are respected, the institutional framework
essential for the application in practice of the range of ILO standards can
develop.

Related Articles
  1.4 Our experience: Working Out of Poverty
  1.15 Building an employment agenda: Working Out of Poverty
  1.5 Skills development for sustainable livelihoods: Working Out of Poverty
  4.0 Sustainable pro-poor growth and the governance of the labour market: Working Out of Poverty
  1.9 Building local development through cooperatives: Working Out of Poverty

Article Tags: absenteeism, benchmarks, consumer goods, countries around the world, enormous power, fairness, good sense, grievances, ilo, injustice, labour laws, labour market, labour markets, orthodox economics, pillar, robert solow, staff turnover, union organizers, work performance, working conditions



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