MCL / EFAL (Movimento Cristiano Lavoratori (Christian Workers Movement) / Ente Nazionale per la Formazione e l'Addestramento dei Lavoratori (National Body for the Training and Education of Workers) and EZA organised an international seminar for European studies on “Decent work promoting economic growth and full employment”, funded by the EU, which was held from 6-8 November in Marsala, Sicily.
58 representatives of workers’ organisations from Spain, Portugal, Romania, Germany, Italy, Croatia, Montenegro, Serbia and Greece attended the 3-day event.
Many speakers addressed the issue of the promotion of full employment, notably for young people and women.
The topic chosen by EFAL for this seminar covers one of the aims of the EU’s 2030 Agenda, and it is no coincidence that the Sicily region of Italy was selected as the venue, where the unemployment rate is well above the national average.
The event was kicked off by EZA Co-President Piergiorgio Sciacqua, who provided an overview of the seminar process and the four sessions on the programme.
All the contributions addressed the issue of decent work and the opportunities for workers' organisations to tackle this urgent challenge. The number of people without decent work currently stands at more than 200 million worldwide, a large proportion of whom are young people.
This fact alone is bad enough, but what makes matters worse is its inevitable consequence: poverty.
If we could guarantee decent work for everyone, it would ensure that more people would reap the benefits from long-term, inclusive and sustainable economic growth.
At the European level, the ASviS Sustainability Report 2021 (Report of the Alleanza Italiana per lo Sviluppo Sostenibile (Italian Alliance for Sustainable Development)) documents how far Italy lags behind other European countries and other parts of the world in terms of an inadequate increase in employment compared to the target.
Targets were set in the final round-table discussions which the participating employee organisations are striving to achieve with the active support of the institutions:
-Promotion of per capita economic growth within the framework of the national situation, and particularly in emerging countries to achieve annual economic growth of at least 7% of GDP;
-Higher economic productivity standards through diversification, technological progress and innovation with a focus on high added value and industries that are more labour-intensive;
-Promotion of growth-oriented policies that promote manufacturing, decent job creation, entrepreneurship, creativity and innovation, and favour the creation and expansion of small and medium-sized enterprises, including by facilitating access to funding services.