12-13 September 2017

The Future of Work We Want: Workers’ perspective in Europe and Central Asia region

The conference will bring together workers’ leaders, voices from academia, governments and employers from across the region to discuss the profound transformations and challenges faced by the world of work today and in the future.

All sessions of the event will be webcast on Facebook . You can also join the conversation on Twitter by using the hashtag: #ILOFOW.

The conference will contribute to the Future of Work Centenary Initiative from a trade union perspective based on the unique issues faced by the member countries of Europe and Central Asia and discussing possible policy responses, both of governments and social partners, as a means to promoting and protecting the rights of working men and women.

Background

Increasingly, over the last decades, there have been profound changes in the world of work in the economies across the world, both in developed and developing countries.

These changes are driven by a number of factors: globalization and technological innovation, leading to changes in production; greater inequality, polarization and exclusion within labour markets; demographic shifts, including migration; climate change; and, since 2008, economic stagnation.

There are widespread concerns regarding the impact of these social and economic transformations on workers in particular. In order to respond to this it will require a deeper reflection on the role workers have in society, a task not only limited to developed countries, since these transformations manifest themselves in every country and region. Developing countries in particular will be affected by the fast-evolving relocation trends challenging them in the future.

Hence, in 2013 the International Labour Organisation launched the Future of Work Centenary Initiative. Within the initiative, this regional conference is an important step to gain greater understanding of the changes we are witnessing and to develop effective policy responses, also from a gender perspective, that may offset the negative outcomes affecting workers.

The conference is structured around the Initiative’s four “Centenary Conversations” proposed by the Director-General:
  • Work and society;
  • Decent jobs for all;
  • The organization of work and production;
  • The governance of work.

Programme and Participants

Tuesday, 12 September

9:00-9:30 Registration

9:30-10:00 Inauguration
  • Maria Helena Andre, Director ILO ACTRAV
  • Olga Koulaeva Director ILO DW CO Office for Eastern Europe and Central Asia
  • Guy Ryder, Director General, ILO (Video)

Dialogue 1: Work and Society


10:30-12:30- Moderator: Anna Biondi, Deputy Director of the Bureau for Workers' Activities (ACTRAV)
  • New scenarios and changes in the world of work: challenges for the role work plays in society.
  • Globalization/de-globalization (return to nationalism). Trends and challenges for inclusive growth at the global and regional level.
  • Industry 4.0 technological revolution (driven by automation and information technology). Risks and opportunities for society as a whole.
  • Inequality, segregation, polarization, exclusion (with a particular focus on income and wealth distribution, demographics, labour migration, education and climate change). Gender perspective.
  • Work as a cornerstone of society: Renewed or interrupted?
Comments on Moderator’s questions:
  • Jeroen Willems, Delegation of the European Union to the Republic of Azerbaijan
  • Elena Gerasimova, Professor for labour and social security law; Director of Centre for social and labour rights
  • Rufat Efendiyev, Leading Researcher of the Department of Demography and Labour Force Reproduction at Institute of Economics of the Academy of Sciences
  • Valentina Breusova, Executive secretary of the employers’ federation Kazakhstan
Comments from participants:

  • Ryzgul Babaeva, Deputy President, FPK Kyrgyzstan
  • Aleksandr Yaroshuk, President, BKDP Belarus
  • Namik Huseinov , ATUC Azerbaijan
  • Jamshed Yunusov, FNPT Tajikistan
  • PlamenDimitrov, President, KNSB Bulgaria

Dialogue 2: Decent Work for All

13:30-15:30-Moderator: Olga Koulaeva, Director ILO Moscow Office
  • Challenges posed to the commitment to full, productive and freely chosen work as the basis for sustainable economies.
  • Trends in quantity and quality of employment. Structural unemployment and underemployment.
  • Dynamics of job creation and preservation: trends in traditional sectors and new sectors (green economy, care economy, collaborative economy).
  • The role of the State in applying and promoting a global labour framework at different policy levels (investment, innovation, research and development, macroeconomic policies such as minimum living wages); quality public services that are accessible to all; active and passive employment policies, educational and vocational policies; social protection and social security policies. Funding of public policies.
  • The role of social partners and other actors shaping society.
Comments on Moderator’s questions:
  • Azerbaijan government representative
  • Elgudza Meladze, President of the Georgian Employers association
  • Jalil Kuliyev, Head of the Department of Social and Economic Problems of the Living Standard, Azerbaijan
Comments from participants:
  • GrogoryOsovoi, President, UTUF (FPU) Ukraine
  • Dragan Gnjatic, President of Education Union, KSBiH Bosnia
  • Igor Kovalcuk, Deputy President, CLR (КТР) Russia
  • Kodiri Kosym, President FITU Tajikistan

Special Dialogue: The 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda

16:00-17:30-Moderator: María Helena André, Director of ACTRAV

A way towards promoting a future of work based on inclusive growth, social justice and decent work for all.

Comments on Moderator’s questions:
  • Anton Leppik, Executive Secretary, ITUC/PERC
  • Olga Koulaeva , Director, ILO Moscow Office
  • Azerbaijan government representative (tbc)

Wednesday, 13 September

9:00-9:20: Greetings of the Social Partners of Azerbaijan

  • Sattar Mehbaliyev, Chairman of ATUC
  • Salim Muslumov, Minister of Labour and Social Protection of Population of Azerbaijan
  • Mamed Musayev, National Confederation of Entrepreneurs
9:20: Sharan Burrow, General Secretary of the ITUC (Video)

Dialogue 3: The Organization of Work and Production

10:00-12:00 -Moderator: Sergeyus Glovackas, Desk Officer for Europe and Central Asia
  • Challenges for public policies and institutions faced with new forms of work and production to promote social justice.
  • New kinds of companies and occupations, challenges posed to governments and social partners.
  • Shifts in the organization of production and their impact on the organization of work (working time, wages, occupational health and safety (physical and psychosocial risks), reconciliation between work and private life).
  • Non-standard forms of employment. Changes in the nature of the employer/employee relationship.
  • Effects of new employment relations on the level of precariousness and informality.
  • Effects on public policies and institutions.
  • Workers’ collective action in the new economy (affiliation, workplace representation, collective bargaining).
Comments on Moderator’s questions:
  • Jan Drahokoupil, ETUI Senior Researcher on MNEs and global production networks
  • Employer Representative, Lukoil Russia
  • Salim Muslumov - Minister of labour and social protection of population of AR (tbc)
Comments from participants:
  • Mahmud Isaev, SFPuz Uzbekistan
  • Leila Ajalova AHIK Azerbaijan
  • Tomislav Banovic, SSSS Serbia
  • Deniz Deyazbulut, DISK, Turkey
  • Vadim Borisov, Industriall

 Dialogue 4: The Governance of Work

 13:30- 15:30-Moderator: Gocha Aleksandria, Senior Specialist in Workers'Activities 
  • The role of the ILO in a new world setting.
  • Challenges for social dialogue and collective bargaining; balance between regulatory framework and contract provisions; levels of negotiation and the role of social partners.
  • Challenges for the State: Identifying loopholes in regulatory framework and the need for reforms to incorporate new policy tools and institutions.
  • The role of the ILO: ILS, tripartism, social dialogue. Main challenges to promote decent work and social justice in a fragmented labour market increasingly dominated by global supply chains.
Comments on Moderator’s questions:
  • Egle Radisauksiene, Vice Labour Minister, Lithuania
  • Nikita Liutov, Professor for labour law and International Labour Standards at Kutafin University, Moscow
  • Mamed Musayev - The National Confederation of Entrepreneurs, Azerbaijan
  • Valentin Mocanu, ILO Moscow Senior labour inspection specialist
Comments from participants:
  • Egils Baldsins, President, LBAS Latvia
  • Gulnara Dzumangeldieva, Deputy President, FTUKR (ФПРК) Kazakhstan
  • Oleg Sokolov, Secretary of Social Economic issues, FNPR Russia
  • Sergiu Sainciuc, Deputy President, CNSM Moldova
  • Cedanka Andric, Executive Secretary, UGS Nezavisnost Serbia
15:30-16:00-Final remarks
  • Nicolas Niemtchinow, Head of the Future of Work Unit, ILO (video)
  • Maria Helena Andre, Director of ACTRAV