U.S. Secretary of Labor Marty Walsh commended the International Labor Organization for its recognition of the right to a safe and healthy working environment.
The ILO for the first time recognized the right in the framework of its Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work at the 2022 International Labor Conference, according to a Department of Labor news release June 10.
“Some workers are not aware of their rights because their employers fail to provide that information, or they did not present it in a language understood by the workers,” Secretary of Labor Marty Walsh said, according to the release. “Others are afraid to speak up because of their immigration status or for fear of losing their jobs, and still others live in places that lack the necessary institutions to protect their rights or that fail to enforce them.”
On a daily basis, millions of workers across the globe must face dangerous or unhealthy working conditions, he said in the release. The ILO estimates work-related accidents and diseases cause more than 2.3 million women and men deaths annually.
Four core categories established a consensus on labor rights in the ILO’s 1998 Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work, according to the release. Those categories were: freedom of association and collective bargaining, the elimination of forced or compulsory labor, the effective abolition of child labor and the elimination of discrimination in respect of employment and occupation.
