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“Growth isn’t the whole story, can’t guarantee decent work, inclusion or equity,” said ILO chief Ryder at the BRICS meet.
The labour and employment ministers of the BRICS countries are discussing issues of legalising labour relations and social insurance, steps designed to increase formal employment at a first of its kind Labour Summit in Ufa.
The summit comes at a crucial time when the ILO has just published a report forecasting the number of jobless will grow in BRICS countries. The ILO also warned unemployment rates will remain higher than the pre-crisis level across Europe, with the big exceptions of Britain and Germany.
Russian Minister of Labour and Employment Maxim Topilin said at the summit on Monday that informal employment remains a fairly serious problem for the BRICS.
He noted that the five countries are aiming at increased access to social insurance, insurance against unemployment, as well as health and pension insurance.
“Today we are working to have the largest number of people covered by insurance. We are also trying to incentivise them to be legally employed in order to have their rights guaranteed,” Topilin said.
Mildred Oliphant, Minister of Labour of South Africa, Xin Changxing, Vice-Minister of China’s Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security, Chairman of the Russian Federation of Independent Trade Unions Mikhail Shmakov, Dennis George, General Secretary of Federation of Unions of South Africa (FEDUSA) were among those who attended the event.
Director-General of the UN’s International Labour Organisation (ILO) Guy Ryder also attended the BRICS event which he described as “an enormous opportunity to tackle common challenges”.
“Growth isn’t the whole story, can’t guarantee decent work, inclusion or equity,” said Ryder at the BRICS meet.
Ryder had expressed the ILO’s readiness to render technical support to the BRICS countries in their efforts to develop economic policies.
He also urged the BRICS countries to pay special attention to youth employment. He pointed to the instability in many BRICS countries that are going through difficult times and expressed concern over the growth of unemployment.
Publishing its annual World Employment and Social Outlook report on Tuesday, the ILO also said the total number of unemployed people globally will top 200 million for the first time in 2017, up from 197.1 million in 2015 and its forecast for 199.4 million this year.
Unemployment in emerging economies would pose a challenge to the leadership in these countries, according to ILO.
“The deteriorating labour market conditions in these large economies will have knock-on effects in their respective regions, as spillovers from migration, reductions in remittances and slower earnings growth affect neighbouring economies,” the report said.
Ryder said on Monday in Ufa that forecast by the UN agency should motivate the BRICS countries to vigorous action.
BRICS countries represent 43 per cent of the world’s population.
Most of the BRICS countries struggle with labour rights issues, where rampant poverty and endemic corruption have compounded workers’ problems.
Unorganised workers in India constitute 93 per cent of the country’s total workforce with no social security coverage.
China makes almost half of the world’s goods while being criticized for ‘overlooking’ some of the worst working conditions for its migrant workers.
Meanwhile, South Africa suffers from having one of the highest unemployment rates in the world.
Unemployment Rate in South Africa increased to 26.40 per cent in the first quarter of 2015 from 24.30 percent in the fourth quarter of 2014.
But in contrast to India and South Africa, workers in Brazil have made marginal gains under the Dilma Rousseff administration with unemployment falling to a record low of 4.9 per cent in 2014.
Rousseff’s Workers’ party (PT) has been in power for 14 years.
From 2003 to 2012, the 40 per cent of the Brazilian population just below the median nearly doubled their share of the country’s income gains, as compared to the prior decade.
TBP and Agencies
