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Just work and young workers’ rights were at the forefront of the gathering of around fifty young workers and leaders of CAJ from various regions of Germany. They gathered together in Berlin from April 28 to May 1, 2017 to deepen their action campaign on “Precarious Work”. Three main demands under that theme were identified: the reduction of working time, basic income guarantee and gender equality at work and in the society.
During the “Bundesaktionstage”, which was the name of the study days and the “March of Young Workers” organized in the framework of this grassroots event, young German workers, students, unemployed youth, migrants and refugees joined together in action.
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The International Young Christian Workers (IYCW) is declaring March 15 International Day against Police Violence and State Repression. We have experiences from all around the world of increasing incidents involving the use of force by police and the military to suppress the demands of the population for Just Work, Equality and Dignified life.
For instance, the Walloon YCW noted that in recent months, following the attacks in Brussels and Paris, the Belgian government had decided hastily the implementation of a range of security measures and racistic laws that attack the foundations of democracy in the country. “The evacuation and arrest of undocumented people last September 19, 2016 in Molenbeek, which took place with an extraordinary deployment of police forces (helicopters and heavy weapons) is symptomatic of the way the government is criminalizing undocumented migrants by turning them into potential terrorists. We can also see an intensification of raids carried out in working-class districts and in areas of exploitation of undocumented workers, in particular in Matongé and Saint Josse. In the post-terrorist context, the instrumentalization of fear enables the public authorities to put in place policies and safeguards that lead to mass surveillance.”
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The National Congress of KAJ Flanders that took place last November 14-15, 2016 at the Generation Europe youth hostel was a great success. It was attended by around 35 young people coming from different regions of Flanders. The two-day congress was fun, filled with dynamic activities and debates on the reality young people and the movement are facing today.
The National Congress worked on four different themes: (1) strengthening the base groups and actions of the different regions; (2) equal opprtunities for everybody; (3) respect for life and solidarity among people; (4) decent life at work and school. These four themes are the main campaign of KAJ Flanders for the coming four years (2017-2020).
It is interesting to note that the young people have found their motivation as a base for their plan of action. One group said that the KAJ campaign is addressing their reality as young people, e.g. the divorce issue and problems at school. This campaign started a few years ago, and there is a need to continue and reach out more young people and other sectors such as young people with disability and poor families. The KAJ is everyone’s movement. One member said that the KAJ is his second home.
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Promoting the Rights of Informal Workers and Unemployed Youth
The India YCW has been carrying out a campaign for an increase in the minimum wage of informal workers and for the right to employment for the unemployed. In order to raise awareness among the civil society on those issues and bring those demands to the attention of the local government, the India YCW organised a bicycle rally covering four rural areas (Pallappatti, Ethiload, Silukuvarpatti and Nilakottai) around Dindigul in the district of Madurai, Tamil Nadu, on 16th February.
32 members of the YCW took part in the bicycle rally, holding placards with their demands and explaining the objectives of the rally and their demands to the public through distributing handbills and holding street corner meetings.
The demands the YCW put forward towards the local, state and central government were the following:
- Implement the social protection policies and programs for informal workers;
- Increase the wage of appalam making workers from Rs. 18 to Rs. 30 per kilo;
- Set up a perfume factory in Dindigul and give jobs to the unemployed;
- Set up monitoring bodies for the proper implementation of the 100 days job per year program;
- Increase the salary of workers employed in the 100 days job per year program from Rs. 132 to Rs. 200 per day;
- Increase the number of 100 days per year to 200 days per year.
At the end of the rally, the YCW leaders met with the district administrator of Nilakottai, presented their demands and asked for a follow-up by the state and central governments. Representatives of two organisations participated in the rally and supported the demands of YCW. Around 800 workers and people were reached out through this rally.
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The Egypt YCW Fights Sexual Harassment
The IYCW international team was pleased to welcome Sabah Eskandar, a former member of Egypt YCW, who visited the international secretariat in Brussels on Saturday February 9th.
In her visit, Sabah was accompanied by Milad Mikhael, a former international team member for the Africa region (1998-2002) and by George, an Egyptian activist.
The meeting, which lasted about 2 hours, provided the opportunity to discuss the current situation in Egypt and YCW in this post-revolution period. Sabah explained that conditions in Egypt now are not really stable in all spheres of life. The change in the country’s government did not significantly improve the social and political situation. The prices of goods are higher and people are increasingly suffering.
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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.”
