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October 2022

ILO welcomes first global agreement on working conditions and rights of professional football players

The International Labour Organization (ILO) has welcomed the signing of the first ever Global Labour Agreement (GLA) covering the working conditions and rights of professional football (soccer) players.

The agreement creates a new international bargaining framework between the World Leagues Forum (WLF), which represents 44 national professional football leagues comprising some 1,100 clubs, and FIFPRO, which represents more than 60,000 professional footballers as employees in the international football industry, through 66 national player unions in Africa, the Americas, Asia, Europe, and Oceania. The signing ceremony was witnessed by the ILO’s Director-General, Guy Ryder.

As global employer and employee representatives, the agreement’s signatories agree to take greater responsibility to find collective solutions to the challenges facing the football industry.

The GLA acknowledges that collectively-agreed standards will improve labour relations in professional football and contribute to its viability and growth. The agreement will provide a platform for discussing rules for protecting players’ health and safety and a commitment to improve the representation and involvement of domestic leagues, their member clubs and players’ unions.

The agreement also recognizes the need for greater representation and consideration for women’s football – including issues related to domestic competitions, clubs and players.

More information: https://www.ilo.org/global/about-the-ilo/newsroom/news/WCMS_856730/lang--en/index.htm

Renewable energy jobs hit 12.7 million globally

Worldwide employment in renewable energy reached 12.7 million last year, a jump of 700,000 new jobs in one year, despite the lingering effects of COVID-19 and the growing energy crisis, according to a new report.

Renewable Energy and Jobs: Annual Review 2022 identifies domestic market size as a major factor influencing employment generation in renewables, along with labour and other costs. Solar energy was found to be the fastest-growing sector. In 2021 it provided 4.3 million jobs, more than a third of the current global workforce in renewable energy.

The new report was published by the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) in collaboration with the International Labour Organization (ILO), during the Global Clean Energy Action Forum in Pittsburgh, USA.

With rising concerns about climate change, COVID-19 recovery and supply chain disruption, national interest is growing in localizing supply chains and creating jobs at home. The report describes how strong domestic markets are key to anchoring a drive toward clean energy industrialization. Developing renewable technology export capabilities is also dependent on this, it adds.

More information: https://www.ilo.org/global/about-the-ilo/newsroom/news/WCMS_856515/lang--en/index.htm

More than 2.5 Million Youth Reported E-Cigarette Use in 2022 in the USA

A study released October 2022 from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) found that 2.55 million U.S. middle and high school students reported current (past 30-day) e-cigarette use in 2022, which includes 14.1% of high school students and 3.3% of middle school students. Nearly 85% of those youth used flavoured e-cigarettes and more than half used disposable e-cigarettes.

Among youth who currently used e-cigarettes, 14.5% reported their usual brand was Puff Bar, followed by Vuse (12.5%), Hyde (5.5%), and SMOK (4.0%); more than one fifth (21.8%) reported their usual brand was a brand other than the 13 listed in the survey.

The findings, published in the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, are based on data from the 2022 National Youth Tobacco Survey (NYTS), a cross-sectional, self-administered survey of U.S. middle (grades 6–8) and high (grades 9–12) school students, which was administered January 18–May 31, 2022. The study assessed current use (on one or more of the past 30 days) of e-cigarettes; frequency; and use by device type, flavours, and usual brand.

“This study shows that our nation’s youth continue to be enticed and hooked by an expanding variety of e-cigarette brands delivering flavoured nicotine,” said Deirdre Lawrence Kittner, Ph.D., M.P.H., director of CDC’s Office on Smoking and Health. “Our work is far from over. It’s critical that we work together to prevent youth from starting to use any tobacco product – including e-cigarettes – and help all youth who do use them, to quit.”

More information: https://www.cdc.gov/media/releases/2022/p1007-e-cigarette-use.html

Final 2021-2022 United States Flu Vaccination Coverage Estimates

Final flu vaccine coverage estimates for the 2021-2022 U.S. flu season are now available for some groups of people. Data show concerning drops in flu vaccination coverage among children and pregnant people that have occurred since the COVID-19 pandemic. CDC will release final flu vaccination coverage estimates by race and ethnicity on 18 October 2022 in a Vital Signs MMWR report.

More information: https://www.cdc.gov/flu/fluvaxview/dashboard/vaccination-dashboard.html

New ILO head puts social justice first

The new director-general of the International Labour Organisation (ILO) has said social justice and equality will be cornerstones of his approach. Gilbert F Houngbo, whose term as head of the UN employment rights body began on 1 October 2022, said “at policy-making level, be it national, international or multilateral, in trade agreements, in foreign direct investment or in whole supply chains, we have to ensure that social justice remains at the core, and therefore contributes to the fight against inequality.” Identifying occupational health and safety as one of six key priorities, he noted: “Another important point is the major decision taken by the International Labour Conference (ILC) in June, for the integration of Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) as part of the Fundamental Conventions. So another issue is implementing our Conventions and modernising our supervisory mechanisms to take into account the demands of today’s world.”

More information: https://www.ilo.org/global/about-the-ilo/newsroom/news/WCMS_857344/lang--en/index.htm