NEW YORK (ILO News) – ILO Director-General Gilbert F. Houngbo has welcomed a new initiative by the United States and Brazil to protect decent work in a rapidly changing labor market.
The United States-Brazil Partnership on Workers’ Rights was launched by the Presidents of both countries, Joseph Biden and Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, and the Director General of the ILO during the UN General Assembly on September 20 in New York.
The new association identifies five priority areas for action:
- Protect workers’ rightswhich also includes the fight against forced labor, child labor and labor exploitation.
- Promote safe and decent workto ensure that countries and companies are responsible for the impact of their investments on workers’ health, wages and rights.
- Commit to a worker-centered transition to clean energyto ensure that the transition to cleaner technologies is fair and benefits all workers.
- Ensure the adoption of new technologies such as artificial intelligence and advanced platformsbenefits workers while protecting their rights.
- Eliminate discrimination in the workplaceto ensure no one is left behind, to create an inclusive and equal work environment for everyone.
“Whether it’s your autoworkers or other union workers, companies’ record profits should mean record contracts for union workers. Today, I’m proud to stand alongside a group of leaders who think exactly the same as we launch our new Alliance for Workers.” “Rights,” Biden said. “This announcement is also an invitation to all world leaders and all trade union organizations to join us in working for a better future, a future in which workers in all countries are treated with dignity and respect. Our economies and our nations will become stronger as a result,” he added.
“This initiative will be carried out by the President of the United States, by me, in all international forums in which we participate. Brazil will chair the G20 next year and then, in 2025, the BRICS process. And then “we will have the COP30 in 2026 in the heart of the Amazon,” emphasized Lula da Silva. “In all these forums, I can reassure workers and assure you all that we will work and try to create the conditions for all rulers of the world to accept the protocol. Because all people – men or women, black or…” “White people – you have the right to a decent job,” he said.
“The ILO has been working to advance the cause of social justice and decent work for more than 100 years. Our unique tripartite governance structure gives employees, employers and governments equal standing in our work. We have an unparalleled understanding of how “decent work” can work to “build better lives, economies and societies. Therefore, we fully welcome this partnership between the United States and Brazil in the area of labor rights,” Houngbo said.