Achieving social justice through formal jobs

As Sri Lanka prepares to celebrate the 75th anniversary of Independence, the Government of President Ranil Wickremesinghe and the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramua (SLPP) are struggling to get the country and the people out of its worst socio-economic and political crisis since independence in 1948.  One of the basic needs is a good job with a good salary and the government needs to give priority to this issue while cutting the costs of maintaining politicians at all levels and allowing them to get away with large scale robbery and corruption.  They have plundered billions of rupees from the people’s money but little or no action has been taken against big robbers, though the Supreme Court last week gave a historic verdict when it imposed a personal fine of Rs. 100 million on former president Maithripala Sirisena not for robbery, but his failure to prevent the Easter Sunday massacre on April 21, 2019.

On February 20, the United Nations marks the World Day of Social Justice with the theme being achieving social justice through formal employment. In a statement the UN says More than 60% of the world’s employed population, that is two billion women, men and youth, earn their livelihoods in the informal economy. The COVID-19 pandemic has put a spotlight on the vulnerability of workers in the informal economy. Informal workers, who often lack any form of social protection or employment-related benefits, are twice as likely to be poor compared to formal workers. Most people enter the informal economy not by choice, but due to lack of opportunities in the formal economy.

According to the UN Promoting the transition to formal employment is a necessary condition to reduce poverty and inequalities, advance decent work, increase productivity and sustainability of enterprises and expand government’s scope of action, notably in times of crisis. In accordance with the Transition from the Informal to the Formal Economy Recommendation, 2015, and acknowledging that the pathways to transition to formality depend on national circumstances, comprehensive integrated strategies that tackle multiple drivers of informality work best. Effective gender-responsive formalization strategies combine interventions to increase the ability of the formal economy to provide for decent work opportunities, to absorb workers and economic units currently in the informal economy, and to strengthen the ability of people and enterprises to enter the formal economy. The identification of the right incentives and the elimination of obstacles to formality are essential. In the context of the COVID-19 crisis, preventing the informalization of formal jobs is also of
particular importance.

Formalization results from a complex and gradual process. As part of this process, reliable and relevant statistics are needed to better understand the characteristics and drivers of the informal economy, and monitor progress towards formalization. Many countries are utilizing new technologies to facilitate the transition from informal to formal employment through e-formalization tools, such as electronic database systems for proper identification of employment and wider access to ICTs and e-commerce.

The 2030 Agenda and the Secretary-General’s report on Our Common Agenda, acknowledge the transition to formality as a priority. The report also calls for road maps to be established to integrate informal workers and enterprises into formal economies, to benefit from women’s full participation in the workforce, and to reduce inequalities more broadly. Under a new partnership agreement between the International Labour Organization (ILO)  and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the two organizations have agreed to undertake joint programming to generate pathways to formality. This will also support the global accelerator on jobs and social protection for a just transition.

The ILO unanimously adopted the ILO Declaration on Social Justice for a Fair Globalization on June 10, 2008. This is the third major statement of principles and policies adopted by the International Labour Conference since the ILO’s Constitution of 1919. It builds on the Philadelphia Declaration of 1944 and the Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work of 1998. The 2008 declaration expresses the contemporary vision of the ILO’s mandate in the era of globalization.

This landmark Declaration is a powerful reaffirmation of ILO values. It is the outcome of tripartite consultations that started in the wake of the report of the world commission on the social dimension of Globalization. By adopting this text, the representatives of governments, employers’ and workers’ organizations from 182 member States emphasize the key role of our tripartite Organization in helping to achieve progress and social justice in the context of globalization. Together, they commit to enhance the ILO’s capacity to advance these goals, through the decent work agenda. The Declaration institutionalizes the Decent Work concept developed by the ILO since 1999, placing it at the core of the organization’s policies to reach its
constitutional objectives.