Brussels, 22/08/2002 (Agence Europe) - Convincing governments and the international community of the link that exists between decent jobs, safety at the workplace and the environment: this is the challenge that will be taken on by the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU) at the Earth Summit beginning next week in Johannesburg. Echoing the views of the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC), the ICFTU delegation, led by Lucien Royer (France), will explain the decisive role unions can play in the field of sustainable development, "as they are best placed, along with employers, to ensure safe workplaces", explained Natacha David, spokesperson for ICFTU in Brussels. "Our action in Johannesburg will target the issues of energy, agriculture, mines, transport and forests. On a more political level, we will support a multidisciplinary approach at the Johannesburg Summit, namely that the social, economic and environmental dimensions are inseparable. The unions have a role to play in these sectors and in all policies that will be defined in Johannesburg in matters of sustainable development", she added.
All these issues are addressed in the paper drawn up by the ICFTU for next week's Summit, added Mrs David.
Entitled "For sustainable work - Why the workplace is essential in sustainable development", this document also refers to statistics published by the ILO (International Labour Organisation) on 28 April, which points out that every day more than 5000 people die from work place related accidents. "This means that during the ten days of the Earth Summit, 50, 000 people will die from the said causes", concludes Natacha David.