“We are connected, we are one international movement and we are called to act, called to act for just work more than ever. In fact, the social contradictions, inequality, precariousness, informality and unemployment continue to grow, especially in the midst of the global Covid pandemic,” Sarah Prenger, the IYCW international president, said at the opening of the 15^th International Council of the movement, calling all young workers of the world to act for change.

Sarah emphasized that with a strong and deep belief, young workers are able to act for social justice. “Social change is a shared task; you and I must act now to make change a reality.”

“With deep conviction in our hearts and minds, we must do something for change in our daily life, in our neighbourhood, in our school and in our working place,” Sarah said.

Sarah continued, “You and I must do something, we can make a difference, we can change the world. It is with this conviction, together with you, that I declare this XV International Council open. We should not be afraid of change.”

“The US is providing lots of vaccine doses to other countries right now, including the Philippines, as a gift. But they also do so because they have too many doses which will expire.” (Male, Philippines)

Access to vaccines differs tremendously from one country to another. While restrictions are lifted thanks to rising percentages of people being vaccinated in some nations, others are confronted with rising cases and deaths. By mid-June 2021, less than 1% of the African continent’s population had been vaccinated.[1]

This inequality in access to vaccines just adds to the overall increase in inequalities the pandemic has been showing since it began: inequalities based on age, gender, nationality and wealth. Ironically, this inequality in access to vaccines leads to an even bigger inequality: apart from health risks for those with far fewer vaccines, the virus continues affecting their society and economy.

Seeing this reality, we remember political statements from 2021 promising a different scenario. One of them was a promise from the EU Commission’s head who spoke about a vaccine against Covid-19 as “our universal, common good”[2]. She expressed that announcing a “Coronavirus global response”. COVAX was established based on that principle of global solidarity and common global humankind, aiming at an equal distribution of vaccines starting with 20% of each country’s population to be vaccinated first. However, that obviously did not work, due to Covax lacking money and even more to countries making their own contracts with pharmaceutical companies.[3]

“Digitalisation is the way I can keep contact with my friends during the pandemic. But digitalisation is also the reason why people cannot keep their free time and their working time apart. It is the reason why I feel pressured to not only answer every little message, but to answer it within a few minutes. Digitalisation is a complex issue which demands a complex discussion.”

The spread of the Covid-19 pandemic has brought about a worsening of the social problems faced by the working class at the international level. The pandemic has affected almost all areas of the world of work, with the risk of transmission of the virus in the workplace, and it has affected the daily life of society on a global scale.