The ILO has published a new handbook entitled Youth and Trade Unions in the Americas. In this interview, Carmen Benitez, Regional Specialist in Workers'Education, explains the issues surrounding the topic of youth for trade union movement in the Americas.
Carmen Benitez: The serious deficit of decent jobs that youth in the Americas suffers from is a priority both for the ILO and for the continent’s trade unions. Convinced of unionized youth labour’s capacity as an active social entity with transformative will, we, together with the regional specialist in youth employment, decided to create a publication in which youth would be authors and would be involved initially in the publication’s preparation process. A participatory process was developed that ranged from designing surveys for the collection of data to the systemization and validation of the results obtained through on-site activities.
What did we want to know?First of all, we wanted to get an in-depth knowledge of the factors that at different levels prevent a greater and more active youth presence and participation in trade unions. Secondly, we wanted to document innovative experiences and thirdly, we wanted to strengthen Trade Union Confederation of Americas TUCA’s )organizing campaign: Dame esos cinco” (high five), and draw conclusions that could be gathered within the trade union organizations in the framework of the self-reform of trade unions. ACTRAV INFO: What are the main lessons emerging from this handbook?
It has been proven that there is a carry-over effect on inequalities caused by an environment that does not consider decent jobs as the revitalizing axis of social justice. The lack of decent employment opportunities not only undermines the chances of trade union affiliation, but also replicates these inequalities through the worker’s active life cycle. It is not that youth are vulnerable, but rather that the conditions of access to employment are particularly difficult for this group.
Dual societies without social integration shift away from the welfare model and diminish the quality of education and media , not only in their formal aspects but also, in their contents. In many cases, society no longer values the relevance of being part of a trade union organization as a symbol of social affiliation Rather, it seems that the “tyranny of consumption” is the social organizer that causes youth to run the risk of losing identification with work ethics and the trade union’s own values. The labour precariousness and informality hides the tribute trap that young people must pay in order to access better positions while at the same time creates gaps in the representation and organization of trade unions.
ACTRAV INFO: What role can trade unions play in addressing the challenges faced by young people?
Trade unions play a fundamental role in reshaping social and productive development as key players and in that sense they constitute the ideal space for intervention and collective vindication of rights to forge a new work culture paradigm. The publication mentions a series of links that like obstacles must be overcome from both the perspectives of young people and trade unions. Furthermore, it points out endogenous as well as exogenous aspects of the organizations. I encourage the public to read the publication written by Guillermo Zuccotti who has drawn many lessons that we ought to learn about unionized youth.
