WMCW MESSAGE ON 1st MAY 2023 : "REMEMBERING - REFLECTING- CONTINUING THE STRUGGLE"
On 1st May, 1886: a great day of mobilisation in all the factories of Chicago (United State) to demand the 8-hour working day. This strike set the basis for the struggle to change the labour and living conditions of workers all over the world, which is still going on today.
In fact, activists of WMCW movements find today with many workers and their families who experience very difficult living conditions due to the precarious work and low wages. Some do not eve have the bare minimum to survive. In some countries, such as Dominican Republic, the social security system only serves to enrich the intermediaries known as “Administrators of Health Hazards” and the Pension Funds which do not guarantee any illness coverage or a fair income in retirement or unemployment. The poorest are excluded from the system.
The economic policy, combined to the post pandemic situation, benefits only one group, while the most of the population can only cover a minimum of the basic family basket of goods. According to UN, the economy in the differente regions in the planet, is not all favourable. It states that for Latin America and the Caribbean, the economic outlook is complicated by the external international conditions that are normalising the macroeconomy, and by a high persistent inflation.
New technologies cause the suppression or devaluation of certain types of jobs, pushing many peopel into the informal economy without any kind of protection or security.
March 8th: International Day of Women's Rights
A day strongly rooted in the history of working movement.
In 1910 in Copenhagen, during the 2nd International Socialist Women’s Conference, which gathered to a hundred of women from 17 different countries, the idea of an “An International Women’s Day” was adopted.
The first International Women’s Day was celebrated the next year, on 19th March 1911, to demand women’s right to vote, to work and the end of her discrimination at work.
On 25th March, a fire during a seamstresses’ strike at a Triangle Shirtwaist textile mill in New York kills to 140 of the 500 workers, most of them Italian and Jewish immigrants from Eastern Europe, locked inside the factory. Some of them were only 14. This tragedy, linked to the exploitation of working woman, had a strong impact and later, it was commemorated during the International Women’s Day, that, then, it was linked women’s fight to working movement.
18th DECEMBER 2022: MIGRANTS’ DAY MESSAGE
TO LIVE THE UNIVERSAL FRATERNITY WITH MIGRANTS AND REFUGEES
Migrants and refugees are exploited and discriminated against in their destinations. It is necessary to promote sustainable development and ensure the dignity of all human beings, including migrants. In 2022, more than 100 million refugees around the world (the source is UNHCR) have been forced to flee their homes to flee their fears due to persecution and violence caused by conflict and civil war. In 2021, the number of refugee recognition applicants in Japan was 2,413. As a result of the refugee recognition procedure, 654 foreigners were allowed to stay in Japan. Of these, only 74 foreigners were recognized as refugees, and 580 were not recognized as refugees but were allowed to stay in Japan due to humanitarian considerations. The number of foreign residents in Japan is 2,961,969 as of the end of June 2022.
World Day for Decent Work: Decent Work, a Core Commitment for Peace and Social Justice
In a world beset by conflict, marked by deep inequalities and ecologically unsustainable, decent work represents a route to peace and social justice. In fact, as the Universal Church1 states, it is access to free, creative, participatory and inclusive work, as well as land and shelter that enables each of us to earn a dignified living. It also ensures that we are collectively able to take care of the planet and make this world a more habitable and beautiful place. Decent work enables us to walk together as a people towards a more dignified life. Access to work for all is an inalienable priority.
We have embraced His Holiness Pope Francis’ appeal to remain engaged and move forward together on the path of intergenerational dialogue, education and work.2
We condemn the exclusion of many migrant workers from employment and social rights. Workers who provide essential services often lack sufficient social recognition and decent working conditions. Working conditions, resulting in increasingly impoverished working families, do not ensure that everyone’s basic needs are met, nor are they compatible with personal and family care needs, particularly in a global context of soaring prices and rampant inflation.
“Informal” work does not promote personal, family and community development and endangers the fundamental principles underlying social cohesion, peaceful coexistence and social justice. It does not promote the implementation of collective social achievements and does not offer many people, particularly young people and women, any prospects for the future.
- May 1st: Covid19 Lockdown And Its Impact On Workers
- WMCW Message For Womens' Day: "The Challenge Of Going On Caring The Threads Of Life"
- WMCW Message for the Year 2021
- MIGRANTS’ DAY MESSAGE – 18th DECEMBER: "LET’S BUILD BRIDGES, NOT WALLS!
- MESSAGE OF THE HOLY FATHER FRANCIS ON THE OCCASION OF THE FOURTH WORLD MEETING OF POPULAR MOVEMENTS