YCW And MCW Decent Work For All Seminar

Earlier this month, the YCW teamed up with our Sister Movement the Movement of Christian Workers (MCW) for a seminar called "Decent Work for All" to celebrate the World Day for Decent Work. This was the first ever joint event between the movements. We were joined by YCW and MCW members from across England and Wales, including Mary Foy MP who chaired the seminar.

There was a full agenda for the day, covering a range of topics of shared interest to all who attended.

Following the introduction and welcome, YCW National President Marc Besford helped set the scene by talking about what “decent work” means and some of the key issues facing many young people now in the world of work. This was also looked at from the perspective of the deep theological history of the Church.

Later in the seminar there was an opportunity for open discussion on some of the topics raised, including the impact of furlough, working from home vs being in the office and Joseph Cardijn’s vision for the YCW movement.

After the first half of the day looking at some of the internal aspects of what decent work might mean from the respective movements, other speakers opened up the discussion to look at the realities across different parts of the country. Perspectives were shared from Preston, both about poverty and “community wealth building”, which helped start a discussion about the importance of dignity in work as a cornerstone of a good society.

Overall, it was a really interesting and thought provoking day for all those who attended. A video of the seminar is available below for anyone who couldn’t make it.

Message for the World Day of Decent Work 2021

Today, we see that the world of work is becoming progressively worse , the denial of rights at work, the deterioration of democracy, the violation of human rights, and social justice, the rejection of pluralism, the elimination of secularism, the promotion of political hatred and fundamentalism.

The International Labour Organization (ILO) has recently adopted the concept of the effectiveness of “social protection for everyone” as strategic objective, focussing on income security with an emphasis on the poorest. This requires identifying the profitable and equitable means by which social protection can be spread to all groups. And it is necessary to focus on providing social protection to the informal sector. The vision of “decent work” sums up the aspirations of people in their working lives. It implies opportunities for productive work by providing a fair income. It requires security in the workplace and social protection for families, through better prospects of personal development and social integration. It requires freedom so that people can express their concerns, organise themselves and participate in decisions that affect their lives and the equality of opportunities and treatment for all women and men. In November 2018, the ILO said that 31% of Indian workers worked in unhealthy conditions, while around 41% are poorly paid, placing India 19th out of 22nd countries of the Asian region. 

Sustainable growth requires good health, nutrition and education. This can promote the transition from low-productivity and livelihood activities to decent and highly productive work, and from the informal to formal economy. An adequate social security promotes investment in human capital as for employers as for workers. It also enables to workers to adopt to change and makes easier fair and inclusive structural changes. As effective automatic stabilizer in times of crisis, the social security helps to mitigate the economic and social impact of economic downturns, to generate resilience and to accelerate the general growth recovery. We can learn a lot from the experience of developing or developed countries in spreading the coverage of contributory social security schemes to workers in informal economy. 

World Bank has warned that COVID-19 has been creating a new generation of poverty and unease by debt, and IMF has said that developing countries ran the risk of going back a decade. The virus has enlarged the income or wealth gaps based on class, race and gender. Women has been affected, but also because they had to take on great part of additional burden of childcare when the schools closed. In some countries, women’s participation in working population has decreased to its lowest level since mid-80s. 

In order to progress the comprehensive laws of social protection, it is necessary to ensure a minimum social protection net for all workers, regardless of wage, enterprise size and place of origin. Basically, it must be based on participatory democracy principles, inclusion, dignity, equity, equality, accountability and transparency. Factors such as social spending, progressive taxation and the functioning of labour rights must be the essential indicators to measure the government commitment to promoting the equity and reducing inequalities. Because governments have a key role to perform on creating an adequate environment in order to happen. In all aspects, worker organisations and trade unions must also fight for universal social justice and a humanist approach of political economies. 

Message written by Movement of Christian Workers from India 

WORLD MOVEMENT OF CHRISTIAN WORKERS 

YCW becomes ‘Living Hours’ employer

As we approach World Day of Decent Work we’re proud to announce that we’ve become accredited as Living Hours employers. 

Since April 2020 we’ve been a Living Wage employer, paying our employees the real Living Wage – currently £9.50 in the UK or £10.85 in London.  This new accreditation means we will also provide them with a guaranteed and stable minimum number of working hours each week.

The Living Hours programme sets a new standard for employers seeking to go beyond the Living Wage in their commitment to decent work. As an accredited employer, we’ve committed to providing at least four weeks’ notice for every shift, with guaranteed payment if shifts are cancelled within this notice period. We’ll also provide a guaranteed minimum of 16 working hours every week (unless the worker requests otherwise), and a contract that accurately reflects hours worked.

The new Living Hours standard reflects the fact that since the Living Wage campaign began in 2001, the shape of low-paid work has changed. There has been a well-documented rise in insecurity, with over 5 million workers in low-paid and insecure work on the eve of the pandemic. Since the pandemic began insecure work has become more prevalent among both key workers, who have kept the economy going, and low-paid service workers whose jobs have been most disrupted by lockdowns.

National president, Marc Besford, has said that “It’s time to put an end to insecure working contracts with unpredictable hours. Now more than ever, with "so many facing uncertainty, being unable to rely on a steady income - even in the short term - is adding to the stress people are experiencing. Living Hours play a crucial role in providing people with financial security, clarity and certainty”.

Anniversary of Joseph Cardijn's Ordination

There can be no doubt that the success and growth of the Young Christian Workers movement was a consequence of the vision, determination and dedication of its founder, Joseph Cardijn.

Cardijn was born in the town of Hal, in Belgium. His parents were Henry and Louise Cardijn. He was a lively boy with an enquiring mind and very sensitive to every human suffering he met, especially that of the workers he saw going to the factories at dawn each morning.

At age fourteen, Cardijn was preparing to finish his studies and enter the working world. His parents looked forward to the additional household income. However, one night he told his parents that he wanted to become a priest. With no hesitation his parents agreed to work harder to allow their son to enter the seminary.

In 1897 Cardijn entered the junior seminary at Malines. When the holidays came, he visited his schoolmates now working in the factories. But his friends gave him a cold reception believing that he had betrayed them and joined with the forces that oppressed the working class. Their rejection wounded his heart.

This experience stayed with the young Cardijn as he went back to his studies in seminary. However, it was the death of his father that would be the moment he felt drawn to respond to a new call from God, a call that was clear and decisive. In his innermost being he swore to consecrate his whole life as a priest to save the workers.

In 1906, Cardinal Mercier ordained Joseph Cardijn a priest and he began to develop his own education in the sociological and political spheres, not only theology and philosophy.

Today therefore, we thank God for the revelation of the young Joseph Cardijn and his vocational calling to the priesthood. We also thank the countless number of priests, religious, bishops and Popes who have supported our mission since its creation.

Current National Chaplain of the YCW in England and Wales, Msg. John Marsland, said: “The tradition of priests empowering the laity through the YCW has been our cornerstone since Cardijn began the movement. He recognised that our priestly ministry had to be one that was close to the lives of the faithful and those in need of our help. We continue that mission to this day.”

40th Anniversary of Laborem Exercens

On the 14th September 1981 Pope St John Paul II published an encyclical “Laborem Exercens” which addressed social issues in the world of work and to celebrate the 90th anniversary of “Rerum Novarum” was reaffirming the dignity of workers as human persons.

The encyclical identifies a potential threat that at the time viewed labour simply as a means to an end with no consideration about the human person.

A link to the document can be found HERE

There was some key issues from the encyclical:

Work - making life more human: Laborem Exercens identified work as the key to the whole social question (LE #3). As an organic development of the Church’s social action and teaching it states that every human person at work reflects the action of the creator.

Even in the age of machinery and digital work the proper subject of work continues to be the human person. So when people are treated as instruments in the production process this is identified as a threat to the right order of values, for workers are the ends not just the means of work.

The human person as the Subject of Work: The encyclical recalls Church teaching regarding the priority of labour over capital. All the technological advances that currently act as instruments of work are the results of work previously undertaken by workers.

The rights of workers: The rights of workers are to be seen within the broad context of human rights. Not only to be paid for work undertaken but a sense of personal involvement is needed. The worker is more than a cog in a system. A just wage and other social benefits are the concrete means that verify the justice of the whole socioeconomic system. Trade Unions have an important part to play in the right for just pay and to uphold the dignity of the worker.

Decent Work for All Seminar

To celebrate World Day for Decent Work on the 7th October 2021 the YCW have teamed up with our sister Movement the Movement of Christian Workers (MCW) to organise a seminar which will be held online on Saturday 2nd October 2021, 10am-1.30pm.

This seminar is entitled “Decent Work for All”. A range of speakers are planned to reflect the situation faced by the members and their contacts of both movements.

To sign up for the seminar please go too: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/decent-work-for-all-tickets-165881902235 for you to book your place at the seminar. We do hope that you are able to join us on what promises to be an informative, lively, and forward-thinking occasion.