(The following article is from the October 1-15, 2009, issue of People's Voice, Canada's leading communist newspaper. Articles can be reprinted free if the source is credited. Subscription rates in Canada: $30/year, or $15 low income rate; for U.S. readers - $45 US per year; other overseas readers - $45 US or $50 CDN per year. Send to: People's Voice, c/o PV Business Manager, 133 Herkimer St., Unit 502, Hamilton, ON, L8P 2H3.)

PV Vancouver Bureau

The First International Conference of young trade unionists will meet Nov. 18-20 in Lima, Peru. The gathering will be hosted by the General Confederation of Workers of Peru (CGTP) and the World Federation of Trade Unions (WFTU), which have issued a call to all affiliated and friendly organizations to participate.

     The Call to the Conference stresses that "the dictatorship of the capitalist system has been intensified since the 70s". Since then, it points out, the "gurus" of neoliberalism and their instruments (International Monetary Fund, World Bank, World Trade Organization, etc.) convinced neoliberal and social democratic political parties and governments to implement widespread privatization and deregulation.

     On the status of young workers, the Call warns that youth unemployment increased globally during 1995-2005 from 74 million to 85 million, an increase of 14.8%. Now, the number of unemployed young workers is unofficially estimated to be over 100 million. The ILO says in its 2006 report that 25% of the youth population in the world - over 300 million - live below the poverty line.

     In Latin America and the Caribbean, the number of unemployed youth increased from 7.7 million to 9.5 million during the years 1995-2005, with the rate climbing from 14.4% to 16.6%. Today those figures are increasing rapidly. Some 16.7 million young people in this region, or 35% of those who still have jobs, are below the poverty threshold because of low wages, while 6.3 million live in extreme poverty.

     Outsourcing is another major problem of young workers. "Junk contracts" are used to hire workers for medium and large enterprises at minimal wages, without social or labour rights, unable to join trade unions and subject to the agony of waiting for a new contract. "If this continues," warn the conference organizers, "the future of the trade union movement is in danger, mainly in underdeveloped countries."

     This difficult situation has forced large numbers of young men and women from Latin America, Asia, Africa and the former socialist countries to migrate to developed countries like the USA, Japan and the European Union. Seeking work and better opportunities, these youth are facing xenophobic treatment and denial of their rights as workers. They receive miserable wages and are usually considered as "illegal" or "undocumented". European Union governments have intensified their persecution of immigrants, passing laws of expulsion and imprisonment, under the pretext that they are stealing jobs from European citizens.

     In recent years, thousands of young Mexicans and Latin Americans have been killed by the US police in the US-Mexico border. Those who managed to enter US territory are frequently persecuted as criminals, and arrested and deported.

     The same happens with thousands of young people, including children, from countries in Africa and Asia. Many are dying almost every day, drowning in the ocean in their desire to reach the coast of Spain or Italy. Those who manage to arrive are arrested and deported to their countries of origin. The capitalist system is concerned about the free transit of goods and speculative capital, but has prohibited the free transit of humans beings.

     Created in Paris in October 1945, the World Federation of Trade Unions was at the time the only global labour organization. Its consistent stand against war and for class struggle trade unionism led supporters of US imperialism to divide the WFTU in 1949. In recent decades, with the collapse of the socialist bloc, the WFTU was the target of continuous demonization campaigns funded by pro-imperialist forces.

     But the WFTU has survived by reaffirming the principles of unity and class solidarity. The WFTU's most recent congress was held in Cuba in 2005, and the federation continues to gain new strength. The youth conference in Peru is an important expression of the renewed level of activity by the WFTU and its affiliates.