CSDC 314

The transition currently underway signals the move from dependent work with no prescribed time limit, understood as a stable job, to a series of jobs characterized by many kinds of work activities, from a world of a unified, definite and recognized concept of work to a universe of jobs where there is great variety, fluidity and a wealth of promises. There are also many questions of concern, especially with regard to the growing uncertainty of work, the persistent presence of structural unemployment and the inadequacy of current systems of social security. The demands of competition, technological innovation and the complexities of financial fluxes must be brought into harmony with the defence of workers and their rights. This uncertainty and instability involve not only the labour conditions of workers in more developed countries but affect also, and above all, the less advanced economic realities in developing countries and countries with economies in transition. This latter category, besides the complicated problems associated with changing models of the economy and of production, must deal daily with the difficult adjustment required by the current phenomenon of globalization. The situation is particularly dramatic for the world of work, affected by vast and radical cultural and structural changes in contexts that are often without legislative support and lack programmes of professional training and social assistance.