From July 12th to 15th, the seminar "Decent work and precarious employment in Europe: refugees, precariat" was held in CITES (International Centre Teresiano-Sanjuanista) of the diocese of Ávila by the Movement of Christian Workers of Europe (MKT). It was carried out with the support of the EZA and the European Union and was part of the EZA project coordination on "Integration of immigrants and refugees into the labour market - the role of workers' organisations".
The seminar focused its contents on the alarming situation at European level in relation to decent work, the exponential increase in precarity across the continent and took a look at the situation of refugees coming to EU countries. Josep Calvó, Vice-President of EZA (European Centre for Workers' Questions), attended the opening session. Manuel Candil, President of HOAC de Ávila, and José Fernando Almazán, President of HOAC Spain (Reception Movement), and Otto Meier, President of MTECE also attended the opening.
The first part of the seminar focuses on the analysis of the consequences of changes in the world of work in some European countries. Representatives of KWB Belgium and members of the organisation HKD Napredak from Bosnia took part. There was also room for reflection and discussion on the situation of migrants and refugees. This room was accompanied by Alberto Plaza, Jesuit, director of Pueblos Unidos and member of the Jesuit Service for Migrants from Spain.
A second part dealt with the role of the ILO and workers' organizations in creating decent work in relation to the precariat. Bernard Thibault, Secretary General of CGT between 1999 and 2013, spoke for this purpose. He is now a member of the ILO Executive Committee of France. The priest Gerard Müller, accompanied the MTCE and took a look at the world of work from the Word of God and the social teaching of the Church. After this lecture a productive group work began to give more insight into the situation in the three presentations.
In the dialogues we see that precarious working conditions are no coincidence. This type of employment creates precarious lives, which in turn create precarious societies. The economic crises have caused widespread fear and anxiety among workers. The rise in unemployment and the various precarious working conditions are worsening the quality of living and working conditions. In general, workers are exposed to unstable and insecure situations that destabilise life planning opportunities. Workers in precarious circumstances suffer from more safety and health problems in the workplace. This situation increases inequality and gender segregation and also exacerbates the already precarious situation of migrants and refugees. The general situation of anxiety and insecurity also discourages workers from joining trade unions, which increases their vulnerability. Macroeconomic data insist that societies become richer, but opulence is mainly concentrated on the upper social classes. It seems that the more precarious the jobs, the more benefits for an ever smaller number of wealthy people who control economic empires not only at European level but worldwide. This is truly a scandal. The future of work is to stop thinking about marketing work. The subjective aspect of work, that is, the person doing it, must centre the policies of governments in order to create decent jobs.
With regard to the situation of refugees, the failure of EU governments with regard to the promised admission quotas was reviewed. Most countries do not systematically meet these quotas, although it is true that there is a Europe with two (East and West) or more speeds and that the xenophobic attitude of some countries is not comparable to the reception and efforts of other countries, even at the level of work, because it is inconceivable that a society would accept this without addressing the issue of employment as a key element of integration. In this sense, the role of social dialogue remains crucial in both areas: the ability to develop criteria to overcome the temporary nature and precariousness of the jobs created and, on the other hand, the dialogue to overcome restraint and fear of the orderly reception of refugees.
On Friday, the 14 participants of the seminar visited two concrete experiences of decent work taking place in the city of Ávila. The participants were able to get to know the development work of the Caritas Diocese in supporting the establishment of small businesses and the support of immigrants and refugees and the special employment centre for people with disabilities, La Casa grande de Martiherrero. At the end of these visits, a mural was created depicting the participants' vision of decent work.
We end the meeting with the drafting of a declaration for next October 7th World Day for Decent Work, and with a plenary in which we share the conclusions of the dialogues in the dialogue and working groups.