Employmentweb_low

conclusions and recommendations
shorter hours, and better working conditions through strikes, as well as
social movements, and the latter being represented by corporations and
businesses, who resist those demands through firings, lockouts or
court injunctions.
A more equitable balance of power in employment relations is
needed in most parts of the world to create fair employment growth,
improve health and reduce health inequalities. Historically, worker
participation has been associated with the development of collective
labour rights, the labour movement and the policies and labour
markets developed by modern welfare states. The degree of control
and participation that workers have is thus not only a key factor for
promoting a more egalitarian decision-making process within the
firms, but also a "protective factor" of workers' health. The state
must take responsibility to ensure the real participation of less
powerful social actors.
Historically, health inequalities emerging from power
inequalities between capital and labour are partially reversed when
democratic institutions allow the latter to modify laws which reverse
the distribution of social determinants of health in the population.
International and national enforceable standards (with effective
sanctions) are essential, along with economic and health policies
designed to alleviate poverty in low-income countries. in an
increasingly globalised capitalist economic system, the political,
economic and cultural decisions of a handful of institutions and
corporations have a powerful effect on the daily lives of millions of
people worldwide, setting up labour standards, occupational health
and safety regulations and union protections, among other
important social determinants of health. Many corporations are
creating unfair employment and working conditions throughout the
production chain, yet they remain invisible most of the time . The
market in itself cannot be expected to regulate employment and
working conditions fairly, nor does it include among its objectives
the protection of the population’s health.
The state bears a fundamental role in the reduction and
mitigation of the negative health effects caused by inappropriate
employment and working conditions. This can be achieved with
social policies and workers' full and real participation. Countries
whose governments favour fair employment and decent work
policies also tend to have better health indicators and lower health
inequalities. The state should guarantee health and work as human
rights, along with access to fair employment and decent work. Today,
very few countries have developed specific policies for integrating
employment-related policies into economic and social policies.
381