Friday, 03.03.2017 - Geneva, Switzerland

Labour Rights in the Context of Structural Adjustment and Austerity Policy

In response to debt and financial crises States have adopted fiscal consolidation measures, such as reducing the public sector wage bill or the number of people employed in the public sector, and labour market reforms.

Such reforms have often reduced the legal protection of workers and affected the bargaining power of trade unions. In a number of cases, these reforms have amounted to violations of human rights obligations and international labour standards. The thematic report by the UN Independent Expert, Juan Pablo Bohoslavsky, on the impact of structural adjustment and fiscal consolidation policies on labour and human rights submitted to the 34th session of the United Nations Human Rights Council constituted a basis for this panel discussion (A/HRC/34/57).

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