ILO - BRUSSELS
NEWSLETTER N°. 9/2007
ILO - BRUSSELS NEWSLETTER N°. 9/2007 |
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From 31 October to 2 November the ILO is organising a Forum on Decent Work for a Fair Globalisation in Lisbon, under the auspices of the
Portuguese Presidency of the European Union and with the support of the European Commission. The Forum will focus on analysing and promoting
the Decent Work concept and the Decent Work Agenda as the key to economic, social and environmental sustainability and as a way of helping to
ensure a fair globalisation. Amongst the issues that will be addressed are labour migration, extending social protection and improving policy
coherence amongst international organisations. Please
click here for more information
about the forum, or
here for a study that assesses the impact of the World Commission
on the Social Dimension of Globalisation three years after the publication of its report.
A tripartite meeting will be held at the ILO from 24 to 27 September to examine the impact of global food chains on employment. Issues
discussed will include consumer information and the increasing importance of retailers as they gain more control over global supply chains.
The delegates will also discuss the continuing trend towards concentration of companies. This is having repercussions for processors, food
manufacturers and even seed manufacturers, who are clustering even more to supply mass-produced, uniform products. Farms, in turn, need to
grow to meet the demand for raw materials in mass quantities at lower prices, disempowering smaller, independent farmers.
Click here to view a document that analyses developments.
The participants will discuss this document at the meeting.
What are the most innovative multinational companies doing to achieve higher productivity and business success through acting in a socially
responsible manner? How are workers and their unions contributing? How can the ILO support such initiatives? These are the key questions that will
be addressed by the MultiForum 07 event being held in Geneva from 15 to 16 November. Bringing together top executives and worker representatives
from more than 100 innovative multinationals as well as government officials from round the world, the forum is being organised by the ILO to mark
the 30th anniversary of the Tripartite Declaration of Principles concerning Multinational Enterprises and Social Policy (the full text of the
declaration is available
here). Please
click here to find out more about the event or to register (via the home page of the ILO Website).
A new ILO report indicates that the United States still leads the world by far in terms of labour productivity per person employed in 2006,
although South Asia, East Asia, and Central & South-Eastern Europe (non-European Union countries) and the CIS have begun to catch up. The report,
entitled "Key Indicators of the Labour Market (KILM) - Fifth Edition", shows that, with US$ 63,885 of value added per person employed in 2006,
the US was followed at a considerable distance by Ireland (US$ 55,986), Luxembourg (US$ 55,641), Belgium (US$ 55,235) and France (US$ 54,609).
However, Americans work more hours per year than workers in most other developed economies. In terms of value added per hour worked, Norway has
the highest labour productivity level, followed by the United States and France.
Labour market regulation impacts labour productivity growth in two opposing ways: on the one hand, regulation pushes up labour adjustment costs,
which negatively affects productivity; but on the other hand, regulation may increase workers' motivation and commitment levels, thus boosting
productivity. A new ILO study presents empirical evidence from a cross-section of 20 OECD countries (over the period 1984-1997) that relatively
rigid (i.e. regulated and coordinated) labour markets promote long-term labour productivity growth. You can have a look at the study by
clicking here.