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European, legislative and regional elections were held in Belgium on Sunday 26th May 2019, in which Belgian citizens elected their representatives for the European parliament, the Belgian parliament and regional parliaments.
“Black Sunday”, “Brown Plague” (the name given to Nazism during the Second World War) are the words most frequently used after the results of the ballot. The far right has progressed dramatically in the North of Belgium, causing deep concern among democracy advocates.
The European elections were held in the 28 countries of the Union, and far-right parties were also winners in France, Italy, the United Kingdom, Hungary and Poland. Those parties are spreading racist, sexist, homophobic and anti-immigrant ideas across the continent.
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For years now, YCW Bavaria has been actively campaigning for the protection of Sunday to be free from work. It aims for the workers to have time to spend with family, play soccer with friends, establish relationships with the community, go to Church, participate in social voluntary work and build organizations. The action is against big shops that open on Sunday and some shops that extend the closing hours until 11 in the evening.
Sundays and legal holidays are defined as days of rest protected by the Basic Law and the Bavarian Constitution. However, some shops open during sales periods, Sunday markets and feast days, and on other special occasions, taking advantage of community activities to open.
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Equal Pay Day stands for the gender pay gap between women and men, which according to the Federal Statistical Office is 21 percent in Germany. This large pay gap means that women work for free until 18 March, i.e. 77 days, while men have been paid for their work since 1 January. Thus, the gross hourly wage for men is 4.41 euros more than for women. Germany lies thereby in the European comparison far behind. Positive examples in Europe are Romania, Italy and Belgium, which have gender pay gaps of less than 7 percent.
CAJ women see a huge problem here and do not want to accept this: Jasmin is angry when someone says that the pay gap doesn't even exist if more women work full-time or if they go less into social professions. She wonders why it is still the case that social activities are so badly paid.
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‘We are all workers, we all have the right to organize into a union’
What is your role in your national movement?
I am an activist in the Guatemala YCW coordination team. We are a small team of activists coordinating the activities of the groups.
What are the main activities of the Guatemala YCW presently?
Our priorities are the personal actions carried out at our workplaces. In addition, we are working at extending the movement. We are now in an investigation and initiation process in another two cities and we are following up new base groups which have been set up in the metropolitan area of Guatemala City (the capital).
What is your personal experience of action?
I have almost always worked for the government. There is a problem of flexibilization there. They give work contracts that enable them to reduce the workers’ rights. In my last job in a human rights institution, most workers did not have access to established labor rights. It was a human rights institution, so there was a huge contradiction there!
The election year was approaching and in Guatemala, a change of government usually leads to a change of the whole personnel in public institutions. We were therefore faced with the threat of dismissal and we knew that a military government might return to power. We finally decided to form a trade union with 3 objectives.
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“I Have No Direct Contract and My Life is Insecure!”
After finishing high school, I studied Business Administration and finished with a Bachelor’s degree. I searched for a job for about half a year and every time my applications were rejected, the reason was: "You have no working experience" or "We are primarily looking for people with more work experience" ... Even in positions that were advertised for new entrants they kept saying, " We have found someone with more experience ".
Long story short, I got a job from a temporary work agency. I am working in the purchasing department of a big company which isn’t far away from home. But this job doesn’t require academic studies. My salary corresponds approximately to that of the people directly hired by the company for the same position, but those people are working together with a Buyer while I am working alone.
In the company I feel warmly welcomed – most colleagues do not even know that I am employed through a temporary work agency. I get the same discounts as the employees hired directly by the company – for example a discount in the canteen. I really like the work and the colleagues.
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The forum of the Pacific Island Civil Society Consultation on the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration is a response by civil society stakeholders strongly endorsing dignity for safe, orderly and regular migration into and from the Pacific Region. The said regional consultation was organized in Fiji from November 2 to 3, 2017, by leading civil society organizations such as the Migrant Forum in Asia, Justice and Peace, Sydney Asia Pacific Migration Center and others. The Asia Pacific International Young Christian Workers movement was represented by Nanang Ibrahim.
The forum gathered representatives from non-governmental organizations, youth movements, trade unions, educational institutions, the business sector, and other individuals who deliberated the key issues on human rights and good governance relating to the implementation process of the UN Global Compact on Migration.
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“Terminus Interim. Stop the train of interim-abuses." This was the title of the public
activity organized by KAJ (Flanders YCW) in Ostende with the presence of leaders from different regions. The aim of the event was to denounce the reality and violence suffered by young people who are seeking for jobs in temporary work agencies and see their dreams and expectations vanish into thin air.
Most of those young people have just graduated from secondary school or university, they are drop-outs, or have low skills, and they turn to temporary work agencies to help them find a job. In many cases, they face difficulties when they have to deal with the agencies, and KAJ wants to draw the attention of the society, the political authorities, the trade unions and the temporary work agencies themselves. They have reached the local and national press to explain their objectives and present the reality of young workers. KAJ carried out a survey, asking several young people about their reality, and it started to organize actions, including the June 2 event.
The IYCW International Secretariat participated in the action in Ostende. Arlindo de Oliveira (the international treasurer) was there and collected some testimonies from young people explaining their main problems.
Young Workers Under Pressure
Riensje, a KAJ regional coordinator, and other young activists responsible for the activity in Ostende said: “People who leave school have difficulty in finding a job. They feel pressure. First of all from the agencies when they say you don't have the skills to work for them. So you go back home but when you get there sometimes your family doesn’t believe you and say you are not looking for a job, or just like the agencies they question your capacities. It definitively doesn't help us, it doesn't motivate us.”
