Posted: Tuesday, 26 July 2011

The CLC’s Erin Harrison spoke on July 25 to a high level meeting at the United Nations in New York, which is considering the importance of youth participation in social integration, full employment and the eradication of poverty.

Harrison, a CLC representative for the Ontario region and formerly the CLC’s youth representative, spoke in the UN’s General Assembly Hall. She was attending in her capacity as a youth committee president of the International Trade Union Confederation.  

Harrison talked about the continuing high rates of unemployment among young workers. Globally, she said, there were 211 million people unemployed in 2009 and almost 40 per cent of them were young people. Of those young people who were working, she said, 48 per cent were employed part-time.

“What do we do about the limited opportunities young people have for decent work?” Harrison asked the assembly. She said that young trade unionists and their allies are calling upon governments to address inequalities that young people face in respect to employment and decent work. She asked the panel to discuss the strategies and mechanisms that should be priorities in addressing high rates of youth unemployment, underemployment, vulnerable employment and informal employment. She said that those strategies must address the provision of decent work for young people.