Photo: Vatican Media Screenshot

Discussions at the 2021 ILO Conference have obviously been impacted by the global Covid pandemic. Items set on the agenda before the outbreak, such as “Inequalities” or “Social Protection,” became even more urgent, and it was necessary to call globally for action for a human-centered recovery.

The ILO Director General’s report showed the serious impact of the pandemic on the loss of jobs and the increase in inequalities, such as inequalities based on age, gender, and wealth. The IYCW took part in that discussion and commented on the topic, with statements read by Cecilia from the YCW Americas Team and by Basma from the YCW African Team.

In this 2021 Conference, Pope Francis addressed the ILO urging the organization and its members to continue to exercise “special care” for the common good, stating, “The time has come to eliminate inequalities, to cure the injustice that is undermining the health of the entire human family.”

The Young Christian Workers (YCW) was born and developed in Spain throughout the 20th century, as in so many other countries. Because of its youth, worker and Christian character, it was always deeply marked by all the contradictions, fears and hopes of those turbulent times. On the one hand, it was rooted in the Spanish Catholic tradition, recognizable not only in its religious dimension, but also in its very relevant social, political and cultural role. On the other hand, it faced without complex the profound changes and the new realities and challenges that were constantly emerging from the workers' struggles.

This double condition placed it, during all this time, in a difficult state of equilibrium, nevertheless very creative and deeply innovative: it always wanted to be and was, without renunciation or concessions, part of the worker movement and part of the Church. This self-taught and non-formal militancy read reality through the eyes of the history of the worker movement and its struggles against exploitation, and through the eyes of a liberating Gospel, whose reference is the person of Jesus of Nazareth.

Brussels (IYCW News) - KAB Deutschland in collaboration with JOC Europe, the European Christian Workers Movement (ECWM) and other faith-based workers’ organizations, held a virtual webinar, a discussion based on the ILO Addendum to the 2020 General Survey on promoting employment and decent work in a changing landscape, on May 27, 2021.

ECWM President Olinda Marques opened the session, saying that together we do better and can reflect on the very important question of promoting employment and decent work in a changing landscape.

IYCW President Sarah Prenger made a comment on the ILO addendum. She emphasized the enormous impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on young workers and jobs.

"The pandemic is affecting young people in different ways: disrupted education; difficulty in finding work and re-entering the labor market; reduced earnings; and deteriorating conditions of work. Precarious jobs are on the rise,” said Sarah. To meet the challenges, Sarah placed the accent on the need to strengthen social protection, health care and education, and to ensure infrastructure improvement. "Care" activities also need to be recognized as work with legal status, wages and protection.