Fabio Bertranou: "Social dialogue is an essential tool to build a more inclusive and fair world of work in the region"

Santiago de Chile.- Faced with the multiple challenges posed by a world of work in constant and rapid transformation, the director of the ILO Office for the Southern Cone of Latin America, Fabio Bertranou, highlights the importance of social dialogue as a tool to build a more inclusive world of work. In addition, he warns about the challenges facing social protection in the region, such as the demographic transition and the organization and governance of the systems.

Fabio Bertranou, who leads the organization of the Symposium that the ILO will hold this November 15 and 16 in Santiago, Chile on the occasion of the 30th Anniversary of the Labor Panorama Report, spoke in this interview about the advances and challenges of the world of work in Latin America and the Caribbean and the perspectives of social protection in a context of profound transformations.

What is the relevance of the technical symposium that the ILO is convening? And why is it being held in Santiago?

The Technical Symposium is an opportunity not only to take stock of the 30 years of continuity in the ILO's work to produce the regional Labor Panorama of Latin America and the Caribbean, but also to facilitate a space for conversation and dialogue on current challenges and futures of the world of work and its institutions. The region faces different crossroads in a complex and rapidly changing global context. Furthermore, holding the Symposium in Santiago de Chile gives us the possibility of bringing together experts from a relevant number of countries in the region as well as other important agencies of the United Nations System that have their Regional Offices in this city, such as ECLAC and FAO. It also allows us to continue the long-term efforts that the ILO has made to have a knowledge development "hub" in the Southern Cone, having as a precedent the Regional Employment Program for Latin America and the Caribbean (PREALC) that was initiated in the early seventies.

In relation to this balance of the last 30 years in labor matters in the region, what stands out about these last three decades?

In the last three decades, we observed a high degree of heterogeneity in economic and labor performance in Latin America and the Caribbean, as well as significant differences in the development of labor institutions. Despite progress, notable gaps and important challenges remain. Progress in growth and decent work, together with other policies, has made it possible to reduce poverty and modestly reduce informality, although the latter shows great persistence. One in every two workers in the region continues to work informally in a context where changes in production and work organization generate new forms of employment, labor relations and business models, which confront us with renewed challenges for an appropriate regulation of work.

““One in every two workers in the region continues to work informally in a context where changes in production and work organization generate new forms of employment.

Fabio Bertranou, ILO Southern Cone Director

We must also highlight substantive progress in the recognition of labor rights, especially with regard to fundamental principles and rights at work. Almost all countries in the region have implemented strategies to prevent and reduce child labor, for example.

On the other hand, the participation of women and the reduction of gender gaps remain insufficient. The region is very unequal in terms of income distribution, mainly due to the poor performance of the labor market and the limited redistributive capacity of fiscal policy and instruments.

Labor migration is a phenomenon that has gained relevance in recent decades. The search for job opportunities has led to a growing flow of people in search of employment and a better life. This mobility poses significant challenges and opportunities. On the one hand, it offers a source of remittances that benefits many families and communities in the region. On the other hand, it requires effective policies and regulations to guarantee the protection of the labor and social rights of migrants, as well as the integration of their contributions to sustainable economic activities in receiving countries.

Regarding labor institutions, in which job training, minimum wage and collective bargaining stand out, it is necessary to expand their coverage, quality, sufficiency and content, to support productive development policies and improvement of productivity.

With regard to social protection, there has been notable progress in expanding risk coverage throughout the life cycle, especially for children, adolescents and the elderly. While the crisis triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the importance of economic security policies, we still need to expand and strengthen programs to address the consequences of economic cycles on employment and income.

““Social dialogue is an essential tool to build a more inclusive and fair world of work in the region, also contributing to the strengthening of democracies.

Fabio Bertranou, ILO Southern Cone Director

In this context, it is worth highlighting that social dialogue plays a crucial role in advancing the world of work in the region. Over the past three decades, we have seen that dialogue between governments, employers and workers has been essential in addressing labor challenges and promoting effective solutions. Through social dialogue, consensus can be forged on key issues, such as improving working conditions, promoting gender equality and adapting to economic and technological changes. This collaborative approach not only promotes greater social cohesion, but also contributes to the formulation of more effective and equitable labor policies. Social dialogue is an essential tool to build a more inclusive and fair world of work in the region, also contributing to the strengthening of democracies.

What are the prospects for social protection in the context of current changes in the world of work?

The performance of social protection, whether in its dimensions of coverage and sufficiency or in terms of sustainability, is conditioned by several structural and conjunctural factors. Among the first, we must highlight the formation and behavior of labor markets, in which the structure of employment and the persistence of informality limit the development of contributory systems that can provide universal coverage and adequate benefits. Taxation is another factor of great relevance due to the role it plays in generating sufficient resources for the development of non-contributory monetary transfer programs that provide benefits for those people excluded from formal work trajectories or who alternate between formality, informality and unemployment, and therefore do not have a sufficient contributory history to achieve the conditions of access to benefits or, in the case of pensions for some countries, generate insufficient pension savings for old age.

““Although some countries were able to advance in the introduction and improvement of unemployment protection, there is a long way to go in expanding coverage for the working-age population as well as improving coordination with active employment policies.

Fabio Bertranou, ILO Southern Cone Director

Over the last thirty years, the region has been influenced by different reform paradigms and social security models. In the 1990s, social protection reforms led to reforms in a significant number of countries, introducing parametric changes and components of private management of social risks. Programs with targeted economic benefits also gained momentum to maximize their impact, mainly in reducing extreme poverty. The 2000s allowed the resurgence of more universal policies thanks to a favorable economic context. In the last decade, with a slower economy, the process of increasing contributory coverage and the expansion of non-contributory benefits also slowed, resurfacing tensions over coverage gaps, insufficient benefit levels, and growing financial unsustainability and social of both public and private administration schemes.

Currently, two dimensions of performance and important challenges for the future of social protection in Latin America and the Caribbean must be highlighted. On the one hand, the demographic transition and the change in the age structure of the population, with a growing depletion of the demographic bonus and an acceleration of the aging process, generating greater pressure on the pension and health systems, as well as requiring the prompt and extensive development of care systems. On the other hand, the challenges of the organization and governance of the systems. Even though significant progress has been made in the unification and better coordination of the different security and social protection subsystems, fragmentation and segmentation still persists in the monetary transfer, health and pension systems.

Although some countries were able to advance in the introduction and improvement of protection against unemployment, there is a long way to go to expand coverage for the working-age population as well as improve coordination with active employment policies to protect transitions and improve labor reintegration, both of workers in the formal economy and also those in the informal economy. Likewise, social protection institutions must continue to adapt to face the accelerated productive, technological and environmental transitions that the region faces.

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Fabio Bertranou
Economist graduated from the National University of Cuyo and Doctor in Economics from the University of Pittsburgh. His areas of specialization are the labor market, social protection, social security and pensions. He is currently Director of the Decent Work Team of the International Labor Organization for the Southern Cone of Latin America in Santiago, Chile. He has been an ILO official since 2001. Previously he worked in the academic field, the Ministry of Finance of the Province of Mendoza, the Ministry of Labor, Employment and Social Security of Argentina, at the World Bank and was a consultant for international organizations. He has published academic and technical articles on labor markets, social security, pensions and health reforms in Latin America in specialized journals such as International Social Security Review; World Development; Research on Aging, Health Policy; Journal of Social Policy; Economic Development, Journal of Labor Economics and the International Labor Review.

More information:

Symposium website Three decades of performance of the world of work in Latin America and the Caribbean: Progress and Perspectives