113th Session of the International Labour Conference Agenda Item I(b): Reports of the Chairperson of the Governing Body and of the Director-General

Mr. Director General, Mr. President, Excellencies,

At the beginning of his Pontificate, Pope Leo XIV explained that “in our own day, the Church offers to everyone the treasury of her social teaching in response to another industrial revolution and to developments in the field of artificial intelligence that pose new challenges for the defence of human dignity, justice and labour”.[1]

These developments, couples with the worsening climate crisis and significant demographic shifts, necessitate a renewed reflection on the dignity of work as a fundamental human right and a good for mankind.[2]

First, the current rapid developments in Artificial Intelligence (AI) are undeniably changing the landscape of the world of work. On the one hand, they can boost productivity and relieve workers from the most arduous and dehumanising tasks. On the other hand, “if AI is used to replace human workers rather than complement them, there is a ‘substantial risk of disproportionate benefit for the few at the price of the impoverishment of many.’ Additionally, as AI becomes more powerful, there is an associated risk that human labor may lose its value in the economic realm.”[3]  Furthermore, workers, especially in platform economies that rely on AI, often find themselves without adequate protection. Therefore, AI presents social partners with a well-known challenge: the dignity of labor must not be sacrificed on the altar of progress.

Second, climate change is also affecting the world of work, particularly sectors such as agriculture and fisheries that are-sensitive to climate change. Over 100 million people could be pushed into poverty by 2030.[4] Moreover, climate displacement, which could affect 1.2 billion people by 2050,[5] risks forcing more workers into the informal economy, where they lack social protection and cannot exercise their rights. Clearly, humanity is “faced not with two separate crises, one environmental and the other social, but rather with one complex crisis, which is both social and environmental. Strategies for a solution demand an integrated approach to combating poverty, restoring dignity to the excluded, and protecting nature.”[6]

Third, demographic changes, such as ageing populations in some regions and surges in youth populations in others, are reshaping labour markets and putting increasing pressure on social protection systems.

Such transformations, inter alia, highlight the value of care work, which, unfortunately, is all too often rendered invisible, exemplifying the “throwaway culture” that underpins an economic system which discards anything deemed ‘unproductive’ by market standards. Care work, including unpaid work, does not hinder growth. Growth itself must be measured not merely by material output, but by its capacity to improve the human condition. Unpaid care work represents the essence of the relational nature of all human persons and their work. It is the path of solidarity and inclusion.

Excellencies,

Allow me to conclude with the word of Pope Leo XIV: “Let us live well and the times will be good. We are the times.”[7] Our time is undergoing profound shifts that will most likely impact the most those who have little or no voice in shaping labour policies. These changes require a renewed commitment to ensuring that human dignity remains at the heart of global labour policies, which should be developed through dialogue and oriented towards justice, in keeping with the founding spirit of this Organization.

Thank you.