The International Labour Organization was founded in 1919, and in 1946 became the first functioning agency of the UN. Its annual reports on violations of workers' rights include both its own data and the results of research conducted by other organizations in more than two hundred countries around the world.
Women
In recent years, there has been a clear trend of women entering the labor market. From 1995 to 2004, in 174 studied countries, the share of women in the labor force increased by 3.5%. The highest growth rates were recorded in Latin America and the Caribbean (5.8%). Interestingly, in Europe (excluding the European Union) it actually decreased from 62.2% to 60.9%, while in the EU itself it increased from 57.9% to 60.4%.
In developing countries, a large proportion of women work unpaid in the family or community. Paid positions are predominantly held by men. For example, in South Asia, women hold only 16.5% of paid positions in the non-agricultural sector. By comparison, in the USA and Canada this figure reaches 49%.
Even in developed countries, a gap still persists between the wages of men and women in equivalent positions. In Sweden, Norway and Australia, the difference is about 10% and is decreasing, while in Botswana it approaches 50%, and in Bahrain it reaches the 55% mark.
Roma and Mbororo
Racial and ethnic discrimination is decreasing only in countries whose governments fight it. Examples include Brazil and South Africa. Elsewhere, the situation either does not change or worsens. In the USA, employers consider young black men 'lazy, dishonest, or violent', so unemployment among them is higher and wages lower than among the white population.
In the United Kingdom, discrimination mainly affects workers from black Africa and Central America who perform low-skilled jobs. Accordingly, their salaries are lower than those of the white population, and the risk of being fired is higher. The unemployment rate in this group is 13%, while overall it does not exceed five.
According to the report's authors, the Roma people, commonly known as Gypsies, suffer from unemployment in Eastern European countries. The Roma population is about 10 million, and in some countries 90% of them are unemployed. The main reason for this is the low level of education among Roma. However, even educated Roma are on average twice as likely to be unemployed as other nationalities.
In Cameroon, among the Mbororo, Baka, Bakola, and Bagyeli cattle herder tribes, often either specific tribe members or entire families are the property of their neighbors.
Worldwide, there are about 86 million migrant workers. In Europe, they make up 10% of the labor force; in the Persian Gulf countries, their share reaches 50%. Often they have a harder life because of different skin color, language, or religion. Illegal migrants do not always have access to courts, medical care, and even less to education.
Muslims and Christians
The report's authors note a rise in anti-Muslim sentiment in the USA and Western European countries. In the United States, complaints about anti-Muslim persecution and acts of violence increase by 20-30% year after year. In Germany, a schoolteacher had to go to court to defend her right to wear an Islamic headscarf, the wearing of which is banned in four states of the Federal Republic. And in Senegal and Sudan, Christians must renounce their religion and convert to Islam to get a job.
Castes and Residence Registration
Discrimination based on social origin is widespread in Asian societies. For example, China has the 'hukou' system, similar to the Soviet Union's passport regime that operated until 1974. Its peculiarity is that a Chinese person registered in a rural area cannot enjoy all the rights granted to urban citizens.
Despite the de jure abolition of the concept of 'untouchability', in India and Nepal people from these castes are still mainly engaged in cleaning garbage and animal carcasses. One of the Indian government's steps to ease their plight was the repeal of a law that required garbage to be collected with bare hands.
In Yemen, the ethnic group Al-Akhdam is considered socially outcast, without the right to citizenship. Al-Akhdam are assigned to clean only human waste.
Youth and the Elderly
In addition to long-standing forms of discrimination, there are also those recognized relatively recently. One of these is age discrimination. Young people make up 44% of all unemployed, although this group's share of the working-age population does not exceed 25%. Over 300 million young people, about a quarter of their total number, live on $2 a day or less.
From the employers' perspective, older people are less attractive workers because they learn with more difficulty, have reduced work capacity, and higher healthcare costs.
Sexual Minorities, Disabled People, and HIV-Infected
Another group of people oppressed in many countries are those of non-traditional sexual orientation. They are subjected to insults and violence, and in some states homosexuality is considered a crime for which an employee can be fired, physically punished, or imprisoned. However, over the past 10 years, about a dozen and a half countries have included provisions in their legislation prohibiting discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation in the workplace.
Approximately 650 million people worldwide are disabled. 80% of them live in developing countries. In Europe, one of the most prosperous regions of the world, the employment rate among fully able-bodied people is 66%, while among those who have partially lost their ability to work, this figure drops to 47%. And only a quarter of people with severe disabilities have jobs. According to a study conducted in France, potential employers call only two percent of people who indicate their disability in their resume.
A separate type of oppression is the dismissive attitude towards people with HIV/AIDS. A study in India showed that 74% of women and 68% of men with AIDS have experienced some form of discrimination. In developed countries, complaints most often come from infected citizens whose rights have been violated when applying for jobs, joining the army, or entering medical institutions.
Western exoticism
The newest forms of oppression, more characteristic of developed countries, include discrimination based on genetic characteristics and lifestyle. The fact is that genetic testing, which can be a preventive measure, also often becomes grounds for dismissing an employee if a predisposition to certain diseases is detected. Laws prohibiting the oppression of 'genetically wrong' workers have been passed in France, Sweden, Finland, Denmark, and the USA. In Austria, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Greece, and Italy, it is forbidden to collect hereditary information without the employee's consent.
Perhaps the most sophisticated is lifestyle discrimination. It is about the fact that from the employer's point of view, smoking, excess weight, or hypertension of an employee is a disadvantage, so such employees have an additional risk of dismissal. In the EU countries, the USA, and Australia, there are heated debates about a middle ground that allows employers not to spend extra money on insuring smokers, and smokers themselves to defend their privacy.
For Russia, the most pressing issues are probably discrimination based on nationality and religion, sexual orientation, as well as a chronic reluctance to notice people with disabilities and those with HIV/AIDS. As the ILO notes, tolerance among the population does not increase on its own; appropriate social programs are needed for this.
Anton POMINOV.
Lenta.ru
All forms of labor discrimination exist in Ukraine
To one degree or another, all forms of discrimination in the workplace can be observed in Ukraine, said Vasyl Kostrytsia, national correspondent of the International Labour Organization (ILO) in Ukraine.
In particular, the rights of working Ukrainians are infringed due to their age, health status, style and way of life, as well as gender. Age discrimination, according to Kostrytsia, is not very pronounced at the moment, but in the future, due to the problem of population aging, its manifestations will become more frequent.
Big problems also arise with wages. Despite the trend of decreasing wage arrears, this issue remains relevant in the country and is under ILO supervision, noted its representative in Ukraine. The level of remuneration for Ukrainians also leaves much to be desired. The organization classifies Ukraine as a low-wage country. In March, the average salary in the country was 1,230 hryvnias. Another problem in Ukraine is that despite a general reduction in unemployment, the demand for certain jobs does not match the supply.
At the same time, the ILO cannot assess the extent of various forms of labor migration in Ukraine compared to other countries, since this organization does not compile such ratings. To improve the situation with labor rights violations, the ILO recommends that Ukraine bring national legislation in line with international standards and strictly enforce it. In addition, Ukrainian society must recognize the existence of the problem of labor discrimination in order to overcome it.