The President of the Eastern Republic of Uruguay, Tabaré Vázquez, has declared at the on-going 106th session of the International Labour Conference in Geneva that social dialogue and collective bargaining is very essential component of the development of countries.
To him, no nation can develop without the principle of social dialogue and collective bargaining, the Uruguay president said, adding, “without agreements, there is no progress.”
President Vázquez said in his message to delegates at the session of the ILO annual meeting in Geneva and warned that “we must not wait for the future, we must build it.
“Without dialogue there are no agreements and without agreements there is neither genuine and sustainable progress, nor development,” Vázquez told a special plenary session of the Conference, convening representatives of governments and employers’ and workers’ organisations from the 187 member states of the International Labour Organisation (ILO).
The Uruguayan president told delegates that he wanted to refer specifically to the topic of “collective bargaining and dialogue in the private sector and in the public sector, between governments and trade unions and employers”, which he described as “a key instrument to build a world of work that serves everyone.”
“Therein lies the key to the social contract and democracy, indispensable for progress,” he added.
“The power of dialogue and negotiation does not consist in shouting, threatening, hitting tables or slamming doors, but in recognising others as fellow beings, listening to them, not fearing that they may be right, and having the capacity to propose, negotiate and agree,” explained the Uruguayan President.
Vázquez told delegates that “Uruguay has a vast experience in social dialogue” and noted that “the result is genuinely positive,” and has played a role in improvements in real wages, quality of employment, training of workers and entrepreneurs, gender equality, social security coverage, poverty reduction, and economic growth.
Vázquez added that the progress recorded in his country is “an achievement of the entire Uruguayan society as a whole.”
The President of Uruguay considered that trust in a better and shared future is key. “Without that confidence in a better and shared future, neither the International Labor Organization would be what it is now, nor would we be here.”
In his words of welcome to the President of Uruguay, ILO Director-General Guy Ryder also addressed this issue and said that “in times of economic and political uncertainty, dialogue between the political, business and the world of work is more and more important. “Your country, which in recent years has been victorious in the struggles for democracy, has today strong and consolidated institutions and a political culture of dialogue,” added the Director-General of the ILO.
