INTERNATIONAL LABOUR ORGANIZATION
Did you know that...• The total number of work-related accidents each year has grown to an estimated 125 million worldwide, and millions of workers are seriously injured in workplace accidents or poisoned by agro-chemicals.
• The number of working children worldwide aged between 5 and 14 years of age is 250 million, of whom at least 120 million are working full time and are involved in hazardous and exploitative work.
• Although only about 164 million of the world's estimated workforce of 1.3 billion belong to trade unions, in most countries, trade unions have managed to consolidate their strength in core sectors, enlist constituents in emerging sectors and develop new collective bargaining strategies, often on a global scale.
• Occupational segregation by sex is not only detrimental for women, but is also a major source of economic inefficiency. And it is not always bad for women and good for men -- it can be bad for both.
• Some 800 million people around the world are members of cooperative business enterprises, while a further 100 million are employed by cooperatives.Helping migrant workers
Mustafa J., born and raised in Marseilles of Moroccan immigrant parents, has not succeeded in getting any regular employment since he left the lycée two years ago. In Moscow, Zurab S., a Georgian medical doctor, constantly worries about his family's future, since he has no legal status to work in Russia. Shareen P., a young Sri Lankan, does not know how long it will take her to earn the money her parents paid to a recruiter to get her a domestic helper job in Dubai.
The ILO endeavours to find remedies to such typical situations through projects to combat discrimination against migrants, improve immigration policies and help labour-sending countries to better check abuses in recruitment.
Protecting trade unionists
Joseph B. is a worker in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. He had decided, with his fellow workers, to form a trade union to defend their rights and bargain collectively with their employer. A few days later, he was dismissed. He is now appealing to the ILO to be reinstated.
The ILO protects workers' freedom of association, and provides them with appeal procedures to ensure that this freedom is respected and their rights restored.
no! Your boss can't do that! You know, women have the right to bargain with their employers about their salary without fearing to lose their job."
Equal pay for women and men Shima and Layla, two young Bangladeshi women, are talking as they are leaving work in Dhaka. Angrily, Shima tells her friend, "Can you imagine? I have already been working here three years. This boy Rashed starts here not even six months ago, and he already makes more money than I do. I'm just afraid that if I complain, though, I will lose my job." But her friend Layla reassures, "No,
Equal remuneration is one of the fundamental rights the ILO promotes. The principle of equal pay for work of equal value means that rates and types of remuneration should not be based on an employee's sex, but on an objective evaluation of the work performed.
The ILO in brief
Founded in 1919 and a recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize, the ILO enjoys a unique tripartite structure, whereby all decisions reached by its organs represent the views of employers and workers as well as those of governments.
• It formulates policies and programmes to promote basic human rights, improve working and living conditions and enhance employment opportunities.
• It establishes international standards in these fields and monitors their domestic implementation.
• It conducts an extensive programme of technical cooperation to help countries in making its policies effective.International Labour Organization (ILO)
4, route des Morillons
CH 1211 Geneva 22
Switzerland
Tel.: (41-22) 799 7940
Website: http://www.unicc.org/ilo
E-mail: presse@ilo.org
