Posted: Wednesday, 11 August 2010

On August 12, 2010, youth globally join together to celebrate the 25th anniversary of “International Youth Day” – a day that focuses on what has to be done to further the World Programme of Action for Youth. In December of 2009, the United Nations General Assembly adopted resolution A/RES/64/134 proclaiming the year commencing as the “International Year of Youth.”

This International Youth Day theme, “Dialogue and Mutual Understanding” reaffirms the importance of uniting on a common issue and brings to light the challenges around gaining respect by government stakeholders to bring about positive change for young workers.

This positive change begins with Canada pursuing a policy to abolish child labour, in line with the provisions of the International Labour Organization (ILO) Convention 138 (C138), by progressively raising the minimum age of employment in each jurisdiction. Convention 138 outlines the age of employment “...shall not be less than the age of completion of compulsory schooling and, in any case, shall not be less than 15 years.” This threshold is set to protect the health and well-being of young people, to ensure that they have the proper means to develop as individuals and citizens through sufficient education.

Today, all of the existing minimum age laws under Canada’s federal, provincial and territorial jurisdictions contravene C138. At the same time, young worker injury rates are on the climb and still too few young workers are aware of their rights at work.

Young workers across the country continue to join in solidarity around the common goal of creating open dialogue with the federal, provincial and territorial governments in the hopes of gaining a mutual understanding around the issue of child labour.

On this International Youth Day, the Canadian Labour Congress (CLC), with its 3.2 million members, joins in solidarity with young workers across the country as they continue to call upon the government to make the commitment to ratify Convention 138, which includes: developing a plan for the implementation of Convention 138; signing the deal across all jurisdictions; and, to advocate for positive social change around the world. We call upon all affiliate organizations, civil society groups, and allies to work actively, collectively, and to the best of their ability to end child labour – once and for all!

If you would like a PDF version, download it here.