Today it is the World Day for Decent Work. La Strada International calls upon governments and the private sector to ensure that ALL workers have access to decent work, including those in informal work and those that are in irregular stay. According to international and EU legislation, all workers should have access to rights including access to their basic human rights, but also protection against violence, harassment and abuse, discrimination, and unequal treatment including the right to fair pay. It is further important that all workers can report abuse and exploitation and have access to remedies in case of misconduct. Unfortunately, we see that many of the workers’ rights are not respected in practice. We also see a lack of commitment to guarantee that all workers have rights and that governments are reluctant to improve the rights of those who are undocumented or in irregular work in legislation under revision. We are currently asking for a firewall and binding safe reporting mechanisms for undocumented workers in EU law, as well as enhancement of access to remedies. Only access to labour rights and remedies for ALL workers will effectively reduce human trafficking.
The European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) has posted a video on the topic, talking about how the flexibilization of the labour market and the rise of non-standard forms of employment have increased the instability for workers all over the globe. Workers are not protected well enough through safety nets and social security systems. As the ETUCÂ points out, this disproportionally affects women, migrants and workers with disability, as they make up a big part of workers in low-paid working sectors.