How can labour law better serve social justice?

ADDIS ABABA (ILO News) – Modern and socially progressive labour legislation has significant social and economic benefits for both employers and workers and society at large, stated ILO Assistant Director-General and Regional Director for Africa, Aeneas Chapinga Chuma.

"Such legislation, if well administered, supports a fair, predictable and stable labour market, reduces industrial unrest and enables businesses to grow with confidence and create new and better jobs", Chuma told participants of 21st World Congress of the International Society of Labour and Social Security Law, organized for the first time in Africa.

The ILO Head for Africa is taking part from 15 – 18 September 2015, in Cape Town, South Africa, to this key Conference which is addressing four themes that are in line with the ILO’s Decent Work Agenda: "Collective bargaining - and beyond?", "Equality and ‘citizenship at work’ as conceptual foundations for labour law", "Social security: Which way forward?" & "Labour law and development".

"For the ILO, labour law is all about protecting efficiently individual and collective rights and promoting fundamental values", Aeneas C. Chuma underscored highlighting the need to "redifining the purposes of labour law" in today's connected world.

"Labour law must guarantee the full implementation of national legislation promoting equality in the labour market; Labour law needs to be inclusive and not create further disaggregated labour markets; Labour law must be inclusive reaching all people active in the labour market, irrespective of their employment status; and Labour law must strengthen the role of labour inspection in its primary duty of protecting workers", he added.

For the next three days, participants are also to discuss key sub themes, including: “Have ILO principles contributed to workable labour relations? A case study of South Africa’s Labour Relations Act 20 years on".

"The primary challenge for labour law in the 21st century is not how to ensure more growth, but how to create circumstances in which growth fosters more inclusive societies', Chuma concluded.

Background Information

The International Labour Organisation (ILO), a specialised agency of the United Nations, is responsible for the adoption, ratification, supervision and implementation of international labour standards. It is an official partner of the 21st World Congress of the International Society for Labour and Social Security Law which provides a platform for interactive discussion in a global environment where equality in the workplace and social justice are more and more at risk.

ILO supports to the International Society for Labour and Social Security Law, which is “housed” in the International Labour Office in Geneva, Switzerland. The Society remains the only global forum for reflection on the relationship between national systems of labour law, and on how international and national labour law can influence each other.

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