Instituto Ethos

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None of these problems are solved overnight

Louise Emille

The seventh panel of the 2006 International Conference reviewed the challenge of disseminating best practices in the promotion of decent work. It also discussed the paths to the OECD guidelines implementation for multinational organizations, as well as the challenges to the progress in the implementation of the Anti-Slavery Pact.

The first speaker, sociologist Laís Abramo, director of the ILO Office in Brazil, presented some concepts created by ILO and included in the Decent Work National Agenda. According to Abramo, “decent work is understood as a work appropriately remunerated, performed under freedom, equity and safety conditions, able to ensure a decent life.” Decent work is that job necessary for people to have a decent and reasonable life, with no extravagance, according to the basic standards of each society.

The sociologist recognized this thinking can be considered utopist, but she believes that each society should define which possibilities and needs must be addressed, and persevere in pursuing them. “Decent work is a fundamental condition for overcoming poverty, reducing social inequalities, ensuring democratic governability and sustainable development”, she added. Although the Agenda proposes several plans to fight compulsory and child labor, among others, it is not a program yet. According to Abramo, these problems can be eliminated within a reasonably short time.

The chairman of the Social Observatory Institute, Kjeld Jakobsen, presented some goals and objectives related to decent work, in which the most important thing is to verify and measure labor problems. Jakobsen said it is not the Institute’s responsibility to seek solutions for these problems, but rather to present them in such way that companies and labor-related organizations like unions will make their best efforts in search of decent work.

Caio Magri, Ethos Institute – Business and Social Responsibility partnerships manager, presented the conclusion reached by the three debaters, contributing his arguments to the theme panel: “economic growth requires something else.”

Anyway, the Decent Work National Agenda aims to show which aspects must be addressed for the achievement of compliance with international labor standards, promotion of quality employment, social protection, and mainly, social dialogue, in which Brazil has shown huge advances in the past years. “None of these problems are solved overnight. Therefore, we are fighting to eliminate them in an organized and multidimensional way,” Laís concluded.