Employmentweb_low

PROLOGUE
contrary to mainstream views, the authors of this book
believe that the genesis of employment and work-related health
inequalities is not a technocratic, value-free process, but rather
a practice that is deeply influenced by political values and the
conflict of interests between owners, management, government,
and workers. since the roots are social, so must also be the
solutions. Although important and necessary to some extent,
technological solutions are limited. the degree of power and the
level of participation that workers have is not only a key factor
for promoting a more egalitarian decision-making process in and
out of firms, but also an essential "protective factor" of workers'
health. We need a more equitable balance of power in
employment relations. We need fair and sustainable
employment. We need fair employment relations within an
ecological democracy. We need to reduce current dramatic
health inequalities.
the instruments to carry out an economic-ecological
reconversion are out there, but we require the political power
capable of instituting new rules for the game, as well as new
criteria for regulating economic-ecological-social activity. As it
does not seem reasonable to expect a resolution of the crisis
from the institutional framework and economic agents that
provoked it, the current crisis is a key opportunity to change the
course of globalisation, to change work in a more ecologically
equitable and fair direction which will improve health for all and
reduce health inequalities.
Vandana Shiva
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