Making the World Safe ITUC Policies ITC ACTRAV

Making the World Safe: ITUC Policies ITC ACTRAV Turin 05. 12. 2012 International Trade Union Confederation The role of Trade Unions in Tackling HIV/AIDS INTERNATIONAL TRADE UNION CONFEDERATION (ITUC) – ILO/ITC – Trade union training on Occupational Safety, health and HIV/AIDS – 6 July 2011 – Turin, Italy www. ituc-csi. org

SUMMARY - ITUC, mandate on OSH - Activities & priorities for 2010 -2014 - Trade unions: key for safe workplaces INTERNATIONAL TRADE UNION CONFEDERATION (ITUC) – ILO/ITC – Trade union training on Occupational Safety, health and HIV/AIDS – 6 July 2011 – Turin, Italy www. ituc-csi. org

ITUC & Occupational Health and Safety - Occupational health and safety has been at the centre of trade union history and demands. - International dimension of OSH is difficult: no international body to discuss occupational health and safety, but a myriad of bodies with responsibilities on the issue (ILO, WHO, UNEP, sectoral organisations, UN bodies dealing with chemicals, etc) - National centres have a very different capacity to deal with this issue INTERNATIONAL TRADE UNION CONFEDERATION (ITUC) – ILO/ITC – Trade union training on Occupational Safety, health and HIV/AIDS – 6 July 2011 – Turin, Italy www. ituc-csi. org

ITUC & Occupational Health and Safety Challenges: 2. 2 million work-related fatalities, including over 100, 000 deaths per year from exposure to asbestos alone 270 million occupational accidents 160 million work-related diseases 50, 000 children under 14 are estimated to die annually from work-related accidents and illnesses => 4% of GDP is lost globally owing to the direct and indirect cost of such accidents and illnesses. Accident and illness rate increasing in developing countries (dangerous sectors and activities such as agriculture, the timber industry, fishing and construction) Informal economic relationships => absence of any type of social protection and health and safety protection at work. Gender dimension (differing impact re: exposure to toxic substances –including effects on reproductive health, repeated cases of violence and harassment at work). Immigrants form another vulnerable group. ITUC adopted a resolution covering occupational health and safety (2010 -2014). INTERNATIONAL TRADE UNION CONFEDERATION (ITUC) – ILO/ITC – Trade union training on Occupational Safety, health and HIV/AIDS – 6 July 2011 – Turin, Italy www. ituc-csi. org

ITUC & Occupational Health and Safety ITUC & its affiliates committed to: - Organise campaigns to prevent death, injury and illness from the effects of chemicals or dangerous substances such as asbestos - Ensure that workplace practices protect the reproductive health of women and men. - Calls on all governments to ratify and apply the ILO conventions on health and safety at work, particularly ILO Convention No. 187 Concerning the Promotional Framework for Occupational Safety and Health. - Stress the need for governments to ratify ILO Convention No. 81, Labour Inspection and to strengthen the level and quality of public inspection systems in order to prevent violation of workers’ rights and of occupational health and safety, provisions particularly in unprotected irregular jobs. - Promote the inclusion of occupational health clauses in collective bargaining. - Work for the improvement of occupational health and safety in all countries, including as relates to - exposure to hazardous chemicals, - psycho-social hazards and - other occupational injuries and accidents, and - respond to emerging challenges through the application of the precautionary principle INTERNATIONAL TRADE UNION CONFEDERATION (ITUC) – ILO/ITC – Trade union training on Occupational Safety, health and HIV/AIDS – 6 July 2011 – Turin, Italy www. ituc-csi. org

Our Programme 1) Promote ratification of standards 2) Promote the formulation of national health and safety programmes 3) Encourage the creation of information systems for registering and notification of accidents and illnesses 4) Establish specific programmes for protecting the health of women & vulnerablr groups 5) Support capacity building activities 6) Undertake efforts to ban hazardous substances such as endosulfan and paraquat and to achieve a total world ban on the use and commercialisation of asbestos INTERNATIONAL TRADE UNION CONFEDERATION (ITUC) – ILO/ITC – Trade union training on Occupational Safety, health and HIV/AIDS – 6 July 2011 – Turin, Italy www. ituc-csi. org

Work plan for 2012 -2013 1. Work for the Improvement of OHS in all countries, including work on "traditional" and "emerging" hazards “Products” Consultation with OHS reps in national centers in order to establish priorities Survey among OHS experts Activities Identification of relevant international bodies to be influenced Use ISO 26000 to promote worker participation and rights in company OSH activities Communication strategy Regular communications through OHS e-lists Visibility around OHS Congress Side event to be improved INTERNATIONAL TRADE UNION CONFEDERATION (ITUC) – ILO/ITC – Trade union training on Occupational Safety, health and HIV/AIDS – 6 July 2011 – Turin, Italy www. ituc-csi. org

Work plan for 2012 -2013 2. Promote ratification of ILO conventions 155 and 168 on OHS, and worldwide recognition of 28 April Compile status of ratification Add in OHS strategy survey a component on the feasibility of C 155 ratification by country and focus on "low hanging fruits" Coordination of theme selection and activities' promotion Compilation and edition of national reports for filling the website Preparation of electronic communications Post-28 April Survey Communication Strategy Regular updates on ICD via e-mail lists WMD website, in cooperation with Hazards Need to capitalise the mobilisation with better press coverage and better follow up INTERNATIONAL TRADE UNION CONFEDERATION (ITUC) – ILO/ITC – Trade union training on Occupational Safety, health and HIV/AIDS – 6 July 2011 – Turin, Italy www. ituc-csi. org

Work plan for 2012 -2013 3. Specific programmes to protect occupational health of women & vulnerable groups, e. g. migrant workers Products A series of leaflets on good practices for dealing with OHS of vulnerable groups Activities Promote the mainstreaming of OHS issues in ITUC statements and policies for vulnerable groups Compile good practices and identify the best means to visibilise them INTERNATIONAL TRADE UNION CONFEDERATION (ITUC) – ILO/ITC – Trade union training on Occupational Safety, health and HIV/AIDS – 6 July 2011 – Turin, Italy www. ituc-csi. org

Impossible to achieve OSH without trade unions • Trade unions are a centrepiece in building safer workplaces. • Production systems are organized in such a way that workers are expected to absorb pressures for higher productivity by accepting less protection and more job insecurity, often risking their health and lives for a wage. • Acting collectively to combat this through trade unions is a first step towards a safer workplace. INTERNATIONAL TRADE UNION CONFEDERATION (ITUC) – ILO/ITC – Trade union training on Occupational Safety, health and HIV/AIDS – 6 July 2011 – Turin, Italy www. ituc-csi. org

Impossible to achieve OSH without trade unions - Scientific evidence and workers’ perception show that when workers are represented by trade unions on occupational health and safety issues, their working environment is significantly better than where they are left alone with their concerns. ie An independent study in the Standford University found that unionisation in mining operations predicts 18 -33 percent drop in traumatic injuries and 27 -68 per cent drop in fatalities INTERNATIONAL TRADE UNION CONFEDERATION (ITUC) – ILO/ITC – Trade union training on Occupational Safety, health and HIV/AIDS – 6 July 2011 – Turin, Italy www. ituc-csi. org

Areas of union action on OSH 1. Identification of risks 2. Information and training 3. Organisation of actions, evaluation & follow up 4. Building a culture of prevention INTERNATIONAL TRADE UNION CONFEDERATION (ITUC) – ILO/ITC – Trade union training on Occupational Safety, health and HIV/AIDS – 6 July 2011 – Turin, Italy www. ituc-csi. org

Identification of risks “Making visible the invisible” Unions bring light on what workers perceive as representing a risk or being a source of suffering in their daily lives at the workplace. We are close to workers, we know the workplace, and so we are a key force for protecting them, their health and their future. Unions often realise the risks long before management: examples? Asbestos, repetitive strain injuries (RSI), effects of passive smoking. When unions first raised the issue of stress, employers and the media argued it was nonsense; it is now recognised that workplace stress affects around half a million people INTERNATIONAL TRADE UNION CONFEDERATION (ITUC) – ILO/ITC – Trade union training on Occupational Safety, health and HIV/AIDS – 6 July 2011 – Turin, Italy www. ituc-csi. org

Information & training “Turning individual problems into collective solutions” Unions help workers sharing their concerns with their colleagues and collectively discuss the health problems caused by their working conditions. Unions combat any tendency to tell workers that occupational injuries or diseases are just individual problems. Unions provide collective solutions to what needs to be considered a collective problem (an injury for one is an injury for all!). This requires workers and their representatives acceding information and knowledge on occupational risks and their possible solutions. Unions train workplace OHS representatives and work for passing and enforcing ambitious legislation on OHS INTERNATIONAL TRADE UNION CONFEDERATION (ITUC) – ILO/ITC – Trade union training on Occupational Safety, health and HIV/AIDS – 6 July 2011 – Turin, Italy www. ituc-csi. org

Actions, evaluation & follow up Unions organise actions, evaluate them and ensure follow up. From workplace training to national or sectoral legislation, from strikes to collective bargaining, we can change things! @ the workplace: workers and trade unionists save lives everyday through their workplace action. More information on what you can do at your workplace: http: //www. hazards. org/haz 109/h 109 unioneffect. pdf @ the national level: Many unions have campaigned hard in their countries for new legislation on occupational health (such as in Argentina, where a new law for construction workers has just been passed, or Spain, where the role of the risk prevention delegate in the workplace is now mandatory). In other countries, unions have fought for obtaining the ratification of ILO Convention 155 by their national governments (in the last two years alone Fiji, South Korea, Tajikistan, Syria and Bahrain have ratified it) or for an Asbestos Ban, like in the Philippines @ the international level, unions have organised global campaigns (the Building and Woodworkers' International has strengthened its efforts to achieve a global ban on asbestos, the Public Service International has developed guidelines on workplace violence and for protecting healthcare workers from HIV/AIDS, and many Global Union Federations have signed International Framework Agreements including clauses on OHS). INTERNATIONAL TRADE UNION CONFEDERATION (ITUC) – ILO/ITC – Trade union training on Occupational Safety, health and HIV/AIDS – 6 July 2011 – Turin, Italy www. ituc-csi. org