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The YCW, Has celebrated the 138th anniversary of the birth of its founder Joseph Cardijn. See in this video the testimonies of young workers and adults who were YCW militants, they share their testimony about the contribution of YCW to continue fighting for a world full of justice and peace. We would like to thank all those present at the activity and our invited friends from other institutions and networking organizations. 14.30 Music is played (artistic arrival) – (YCW Phillipines) 14.35 Greetings and Welcoming in the name of the two hosting movements (CIJOC/ Berhanu) and giving the floor to the moderator (Idy) 14.52 Moderator takes over, introduction to the agenda and give floor to the young (introduce the yw from Malawi) 14.55 How Cardijn impacts my life and action until today: testimony from a young YCW - Malawi 15:00 How Cardijn impacts my life and action until today: testimony from a YCW – Dominican Republic 15:05 Greetings and Birthday wishes: video message from other movements – Mijarc, JEC, Pax Romana, MMTC, Kolping International, ILO Bureau for Workers Activities, Anna Biondi, Deputy Director of the ILO Bureau for Workers Activities Luc Cortebeeck (ACTRAV) 15:15 Greetings and Birthday wishes: a greeting from WSM (Fons) 15:25 How Cardijn impacts my life and action until today: testimony from a YCW (Asia) - Pakistan 15:30 How Cardijn impacts my life and action until today: testimony from a YCW (Europe) - Portugal 15:36 Greetings - How YCW impacted my life: Video message from a former YCW 15:45 A Blessing to the young workers‘ today: Bishop of Dom Reginaldo Andrietta 16:00 Closing remarks in the name of the two hosting movements (JOCI/Sarah) Cheering on Cardijn‘s birthday and YCW 16:25 Music played as a good-buye celebration (Joc Japan)
The International YCW, with the support of the International Cardijn Association and the ACV-CSC, is pleased to invite you to a panel debate on the theme: "Popular education as an organizing tool”, its challenges and opportunities in the era of globalization, digitization, work precariousness/unemployment”.
The panel debate will be held on Tuesday 10 September in Brussels, (19 rue Pletinckx) from 5:00 to 9:00 pm.
The program is an integral part of the International Team’s plan of work and the international seminar and exchange due to take place in the month of September. It will be a great opportunity to meet friends, activists and long-time fighters, but also the current members of the International Team, leaders of different continents participating in the exchange and the International Team meeting, representatives of the Walloon JOC, KAJ, Spanish YCW and CAJ (Germany), some of whom will take part in the exchange, as well as friendly social organizations.
"Young Workers in the World of Work Today, our Vision for Tomorrow"
The delegates and national movement’s representatives of the International Young Christian Workers together with the members of Catholic Inspired Organizations, associations and trade unions, gathered in Bandung, Indonesia from August 14-22, 2018, for an International Exchange and Seminar on the theme “Young workers in the world of work today – our vision for tomorrow. Reshaping the Future of Work in the midst of digitalization, ecological change, precariousness and unemployment”
The delegates are cconvinced that Just Work is an integral part of human being for personal and humanfulfilment that guarantee for our participation in the development of society. However, seeing the world of work today, it does not guarantee the young workers, and workers in general, a sustainable life as young workers are facing unemployment, flexibilization and precarization of work around the world.
They have seen that more and more of young workers and workers are victims of long working hours, lack of social protection, informalization of work, and low wages that it is difficult for us to provide the needs of ourfamilies. The digitalization of work resulting to the dismissal of workers leading to unemployment. Likewise the way in which work is being organised allow workers to be disintegrated our working relationship and organise ourselves preventing for free association.
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From February 11th to 13th, the YCW national movements in Europe are meeting in Brussels to plan collective work at the European level. Leaders of YCW Flanders, Wallonia and Germany are attending the meeting.
The aim of the meeting, coordinated by Sarah Prenger, the European Team member, is to develop a concrete plan towards a seminar and exchange at the European level on precarious work.
Precarious work is a thorny issue in Europe, especially for youth. They are forced to work in poor conditions due to a lack of job opportunities.
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Each year since 1977, from 24th April to 1st May, the IYCW has been organizing a series of actions and activities during the International Week of the Young Workers which ends with the traditional May Day celebration. The year 2017 could not be different. All over the world, young workers and YCW leaders carried out actions against job precariousness and instability, against all sorts of inequalities they may face in their daily life. They exposed the social, political, economic and cultural problems which keep affecting the working and living conditions of millions of young women and men throughout the world.
This year in Brussels, to close the International Week of the Young Workers, the IYCW took an active part in the May Day celebration in Laeken, remembering the 50th anniversary of Joseph Cardijn’s death and proclaiming enthusiastically that “Yes, Cardijn is still relevant today”.
This celebration took place in the church of “Our Lady” in Laeken. It gathered nearly 600 people - current and former YCW leaders, as well as many former members from Belgium but also from France, the Americas, Africa and Asia.
In September 2019, the members of the IYCW International Team (IT) gathered together in Brussels for their annual ordinary meeting. Several events were organized with the participation of the IT and IYCW activists. The starting point of the reflection on different issues young people are faced with was the reality of young workers in Germany and in other countries where the IYCW is present. We conducted an action exchange on young workers’ realities, with a focus on “migrants, refugees and gender inequalities.”
During the exchange, young people from Cologne and Berlin presented their testimonies. Then the members of the International Team relayed some testimonies that reflected the reality of each continent.
The files concerning the YCW in the German Democratic Republic are now safely stored at KADOC
We all know the images of Germans wielding hammers and chisels, hacking away at the wall that had kept them separated from each other. 32 years ago to this day, on the 9th November of November 1989, the Berlin wall fell. Not only did it end the partition of Berlin, it also set in motion the crumbling of the Eastern Bloc and signified the end of the Cold War that had divided Europe and the world for the previous four decades. The historical significance of this day can hardly be exaggerated.
Hence, today is an excellent occasion to talk about an intriguing find in the IYCW archives. Among the numerous boxes containing country files, we came across two boxes that had ‘Eastern-Germany’ written on them. The boxes are filled with handwritten papers, often lists of members or very concise reports. What was the story of these documents? Was there a YCW in the German Democratic Republic? And, if so, how did the archive boxes make it safely to Brussels?
- Interview of Marlyse Thommen, a former international YCW leader, by Sam Kuijken from KADOC in Leuven
- A History of Representing the Youth Across the World
- Solidarity: from ‘dry Sundays’ to International Solidarity Campaigns
- International Day of the Domestic Worker: A look at the Brazilian YCW and the problem of domestic workers
- Archiving progress: what KADOC is doing to conserve the IYCW heritage
- IYCW History: Rome 1957, the IYCW bursts onto the scene
- The humble beginnings of the International Council: the International Study Days in Brussels (1945)
- Relocation of the IYCW Archives in the KADOC Catholic Documentation Centre of the University of Leuven