104th session of the International Labour Conference speech by Mildred Oliphant, Minister of Labour of South Africa
Ms Ieva Jaunzeme, State Secretary of the Ministry of Welfare of Latvia and Chairperson of the 104th Session of the International labour Conference,
Mr Guy Ryder, Director-General of the International Labour Organisation (ILO),
Excellencies present here today,
The Secretariat,
Ladies and gentlemen.
Allow me to express my gratitude for the opportunity to address this august gathering whilst at the same time identifying with the Director-General’s remarks about the crucial importance of the world of work. Let me remind the delegates that in 2002, our discussions focussed on reducing the decent work deficit. We examined the gap between people’s aspirations about work and the reality.
We identified the decent work deficit as a measure of that gap between the world we work in and the hopes that people have for a better life.
We indeed observed that, for many, decent work, is the quality road to poverty reduction and greater legitimacy of the global economy. The question is, how far have we come and how much have we achieved. This question becomes much more pertinent if we are reminded of the DGs assertion that we converge this year amid increasing unemployment, poverty and inequality.
These triple challenges call on all of us to find innovative and decisive ways of giving hope to millions of unemployed around the world in their quest for social justice. We have to accept that the debate has to change. In the Fair Globalisation report of 2004, we accepted that old convictions and ideologies have been tested by experience, and changed by example.
People are open to a fresh start. Now is the time for leadership, to move from sterile debate to positive action and the Centenary Initiatives afford us a golden opportunity to properly respond to future labour market challenges.
Chairperson, if we are to remain relevant, the key policy issues identified the DG namely, jobs, inequality, social dialogue should become instructive.
Let’s be reminded that the latest World Employment and Social Outlook report points to 201 million global unemployment in 2014. With about 40 million new entrants expected annually, job creation, will indeed remain a daunting task and a moving object for the labour market actors.
It is my submission that the issue of jobs will remain hollow if we do not strive for decent work. Decent work entails giving a voice to the workers. We are thus happy that this Conference is also considering the issue of giving a voice to rural workers. This is more so important considering that 32% of global population is involved in agricultural activity.
Chairperson, reports have shown that inequality has its genesis in the labour market. They point to changes in the distribution of wages and paid employment being key factors behind recent inequality trends in both areas where there was an increase or decline in inequality.
The ILOs tradition is embedded in Tripartism and Social dialogue, traits we should jealousy protect. These constitute the main ILO governance paradigm for promoting social justice, fair and peaceful workplace relations and decent work. We believe that it is through social dialogue that we will be able to deal with the role of SMEs as a generator of jobs, on how to ensure labour protection and conclude the first ever international standard on the transition from the informal to the formal economy.
In dealing with these issues, let me point out that South Africa is spearheading three key strategic areas which are relevant to and discussed at this conference. We have established the National Informal Business Upliftment Strategy (NIBUS), which focuses on the creation of an enabling legal and regulatory environment as well as enterprise development and support for the informal sector. We thus look forward to the adoption of the Recommendation by the Committee on the Transition from informality to formalisation.
Chairperson, with respect to SMEs, we have a strategy referred to as the Integrated Strategy for the Promotion of Entrepreneurship and enterprises specifically intended to uplift the SMEs whilst also servicing the cooperatives through the cooperative development strategy which we believe is key in addressing issues of poverty and unemployment in a collective approach.
South Africa has also experienced the growth of non-standard forms of employment which eroded the quality of labour protection and labour broking is commonly used to deprive vulnerable workers of labour law protection. To address this, we have effected a number of legislative amendments aimed at preventing unjustified discrimination in wages and working conditions on the basis of contractual arrangements.
As a country we have long adopted and implemented sector based minimum wage. However, not all sectors are covered by these sector wages. To that effect, we are engaging our social partners in looking at the modalities for introducing the National Minimum Wage. We view the introduction of the National Minimum Wage as both a political and an economic intervention to address poverty and equality. We express our appreciation for the continued ILO support as we progress in this journey.
As South Africa, we believe the proposed Centenary Initiatives will indeed serve as building blocks towards a strategic discussion in 2019. We thus support these thematic approach initiatives.
We call for a representative High Level Forum that will ensure contribution from all the ILOs constituents. Whilst we accept the need for a broader outreach approach, it remains imperative that the outcome of these processes is driven and influenced domestically such that the
Decent Work for All remains paramount and key to these.
I thank you!
