Sitting on a rug spread on the wooden planks of his two-room house, 73-year-old Lazar Asenov skillfully twists willow branches, finishing the basket he is weaving. He learned the craft from his father and grandfather, who were nomadic weavers and horse traders. Lounging on the two beds in the room — the only furnishings — some of his many children and grandchildren watch him work. Four adults and five children share this home in a dilapidated Kremikovtsi neighborhood of muddy streets and brick shacks on the edge of the town of Garmen in Southern Bulgaria
“Simpler and happier” is how Asenov describes his childhood memories of nomadic life.
Children play between the Kremikovtsi houses in Garmen.
The Kremikovtsi neighborhood, like many others, was established by the Communist government in the 1960s. During this period, the Communist regime forcefully imposed settled way of life on the small number of nomadic Roma who had traditionally led a nomadic lifestyle.
The majority of the Bulgarian Roma had already settled, says Professor Mihail Ivanov, who in the 1990s served as an advisor to President Zhelyu Zhelev on minority issues. He estimates that about 90% of Roma lived in settlements by the late 19th century.
A nomadic group called Kalderash, (Tinsmiths or Tinkers) settled in… READ FULL ARTICLE HERE
The Church of Saint-Nicolas-du-Chardonnet does not have a good reputation in France and the Vatican. Since 27 February 1977, when it was forcibly occupied by people affiliated with the Society of Saint Pius X (SSPX), which it unofficially depends on, this church is the main place of worship for the traditionalist Catholic movement in Paris. Expulsion orders have been issued by courts, but they have never been implemented. The mass is said in Latin and the new modernising adaptations by the Roman Catholic Church at the Council of Vatican II (1962-1965) are banned. COVID-19 provided an ideal opportunity for some media outlets to discredit this controversial church by using questionable methods and arguments. It all started on Easter Sunday.
Media snowball effect and escalationSunday 12 April 2020 (Easter), AFP-La Croix/ Covid 19: a clandestine Easter mass in the Saint-Nicolas-du-Chardonnet church.
Under the title of this AFP press release, which the daily paper La Croix published without any comment or verification, was the subtitle: “A clandestine Easter mass has taken place in the Saturday-Sunday night in the traditionalist Saint-Nicolas-du-Chardonnet church in Paris. Church members participated and the priest was fined for breaching the confinement regulations.” According to this release,
a few dozen people participated in a mass at this church in the 5th arrondissement (district) in Paris, which continues to celebrate the mass in Latin, despite Vatican II
on Saturday evening, local residents alerted the police after having heard music coming from the church
at midnight, members exited the church and told the police that there had been about forty people inside
police officers contacted the priest, who was fined, according to an unidentified police source
a video broadcasting on YouTube showed around thirty clerics and children serving the mass, without any masks and without respecting social distancing rules
the video broadcast on YouTube showed about 30 clerics and children serving the mass, all of them without a mask and no social distancing
the eucharist was distributed from hand to mouth to a dozen participants
there were no attendees in the church
Sunday 12 April 2020, Police station/ Twitter On that day, the Twitter account of the police station read: “this night in #Paris05, a religious service took place in a church despite the confinement measures. When the police came to control it, all doors were closed. After the mass they fined the ecclesiastical authority that led the mass.” Where and when a priest would have been fined was not mentioned in the tweet. Strange message from the police: A mass celebration may take place despite the confinement measures, but only if people do not participate and it happens behind closed doors, which was the case with the Saint-Nicolas-du-Chardonnet church. In all cathedrals in France, Easter masses were celebrated by bishops behind closed doors. Moreover, it is not in the habits of the French police to crackdown on a Catholic church, a Protestant temple, a mosque or a synagogue.
Sunday 12 April 2020, Le Point/ Clandestine Easter mass
Le Point additionally declared that a 135 EUR fine had been imposed on a priest. One must wonder how any police action was possible if the doors were shut and how the police imposed a fine on a priest in a closed church. Moreover, Le Point posted a video showing a church full of people inside. However, this was an archived picture and not the alleged clandestine evening mass of 11 April. Moreover, it was not a screen shot either. Jean-Luc Mélenchon, the charismatic leader of a left-wing political movement, used his interview on the prime-time RTL-TV programme « Le Grand Jury » to decry Catholics. Two days later, Christophe Castaner, the Minister of the Interior, declared on France-Inter: “I was shocked by the celebration of this mass. It is irresponsible for a priest to hold it.” Despite basing this statement on fake news, this minister was not reproached by anyone. One must wonder whether he would have reacted in the same way, without any preliminary investigation into the story, if it had been about another religious community.
Tuesday 14 April 2020, Le Progrès/ Clandestine mass, a fine imposed on traditionalists (https://bit.ly/3es37eW)
This article reported that when the police arrived, the doors of the church were shut and the participants had slipped away. Therefore no one was fined.
Tuesday 14 April 2020, Valeurs Actuelles/ Saint-Nicolas-du-Chardonnet, « fake news » and coronavirus : the media in bad faith crisis (https://bit.ly/3grxDqN)
Father Danziec, a columnist at Valeurs Actuelles, declared that:
since the beginning of the confinement, it has been posted on the church website that church members could not participate in religious services and that they would be celebrated live on YouTube
the Easter Vigil was not « clandestine », instead it was celebrated at 10.30pm in the church and aired live on YouTube (26,000 views as of 14 April).
Wednesday 15 April 2020, Le Point/ Clandestine mass in Paris: the police told to leave (https://bit.ly/2M1WzY5)
Three days later, Le Point countered with an article titled: “Clandestine mass in Paris: the police told to leave”. This gave the impression that the police had been driven out of the church, when in fact it was closed. In the article, it was said that the officers went back to the police station on their superiors’ orders, which, according to the journalist, was an incomprehensible gesture of indulgence. Without any serious evidence, the journalist continued with more accusations, which strengthened the stigmatising effect of his article:
the presence of outside participants during the religious service, which is false
statements made by alleged participants to the police officers at the exit, another lie as there were no participants for the police to speak to
the “incomprehensible” indulgence, according to the journalist, towards the attendees, as if the hierarchy of the police was lax in this situation
the police station saying to the Minister of the Interior that “the participants left the church through other exits” and had therefore eluded them, which is a non-established fact and an assumption without any evidence.
Worse still, the journalist described the video posted on the website of Le Point as « staggering » evidence of violations of the confinement rules, even though he knew that it was not the video of the Easter religious service.
Moreover, the official church’s comment reveals the name of the priest – Petrucci – and asserts that he was never fined. On Saturday evening, local residents near the Saint-Nicolas-du-Chardonnet church heard some music coming from inside the place of worship and alerted the police. Police officers were sent to the church, but the doors were shut. As there was nothing amiss, they informed the police station which then ordered them to return. Inside the church, there had been an Easter vigil celebration only with the clerics, which was broadcast live on YouTube for people to watch from their homes. Prominent French media outlets did not hesitate to attack a Catholic community, without clear and undisputable evidence, because it is traditionalist and not mainstream. These are, of course, not valid reasons for accusing a church of imaginary offences. Moreover, as this community poses a challenge to the Roman Catholic Church, it is unsurprising that Catholic media did not establish the truth. These French newspapers: – re-published an AFP press release and a biased article of Le Point, without any investigation or verification- failed to contact a spokesperson from the Saint-Nicolas-du-Chardonnet church to hear their version of the story- failed to interview abbot Petrucci, who is in charge of the church- used stigmatising vocabulary to describe unfounded facts such as: clandestine mass, a church full of participants, incomprehensible indulgence by the police, staggering video, etc.- circulated a fake video of the Easter vigil mass allegedly held in that church on Easter eve- ignored and disregarded screen shots posted online by the accused church community which demonstrated that the confinement measures specific to religious celebrations had been respected- never questioned the authenticity of the said screen shots. In a previous article, Human Rights Without Frontiers (HRWF) denounced the same problematic disregard toward journalistic ethics in a case where an Evangelical community in Mulhouse (France) was scapegoated for the pandemic. (See https://hrwf.eu/france-covid-19-scapegoating-an-evangelical-church-in-mulhouse/.)
Preparations for the first ever Albanian anti-trafficking simulation-based training started at an online meeting on 29 May 2020. The OSCE Presence in Albania and the Office of the OSCE Special Representative and Co-ordinator for Combating Trafficking presented Albania’s group of experts that will design the specific training for Albania with the methodology of this flagship OSCE approach to capacity-building in this field.
The training will consist of realistic, practical and cross-dimensional simulation exercises that will enhance anti-trafficking officials’ ability to identify victims, investigate suspected trafficking cases and prosecute exploiters and perpetrators.
“Albania continues to confront numerous challenges in addressing human trafficking, in particular in regard to victims’ identification, the investigation and prosecution of perpetrators. Through this training, Albania is the first country in the region that will be able to undertake a pioneering and groundbreaking approach towards capacity-building in tackling trafficking in human beings,” said Bernd Borchardt, Head of the OSCE Presence in Albania.
Rovena Voda, Albania’s Deputy Minister of Interior and National Anti-Trafficking Co-ordinator, said that during the 2020 OSCE Chairmanship, Albania has committed that it will strengthen the fight against trafficking in human beings, a challenge felt throughout the OSCE are. “Building upon existing instruments, such as this simulation training developed by the OSCE Office of the Special Anti-Trafficking Coordinator’s Office, the Albanian Chairmanship will support the development practices to prevent and combat human trafficking,” said Voda.
The group of experts, comprising a wide range of professionals, from law enforcement agencies, the State Labour Inspectorate, the State Agency for Child Protection, Tirana University and civil society organizations, will work together over the next months to develop a training in which Albania’s anti-trafficking practitioners will work in teams to investigate simulated cases of labour and sexual exploitation among migrants, including child victims of trafficking.
“Simulation-based trainings provide a unique opportunity to participants to practice and master their skills in a safe learning environment and to receive immediate feedback from other professionals,” said Val Richey, OSCE Special Representative and Co-ordinator for Combating Trafficking in Human Beings. Over the course of eight simulation-based courses held since 2016, his Office has trained 529 practitioners from over 54 participating States, seven Partners for Co-operation and six countries from Central and Western Africa.
The training is part of the OSCE Presence’s project ‘Action against Human Trafficking in Albania’, which is funded by UNICEF with the support of the United Kingdom.
The issue of religions in Europe is of great significance. Many modern societies have different religious traditions and it is difficult to enforce their practices. For example, in some countries, Christianity dominates the population. In other countries, Hinduism and Islam are the major religions and there is a huge debate on which should prevail.
Despite the fact that many countries in Europe have large Christian populations, the fact remains that Christianity is dominant in many European countries. This can be attributed to the influence of Protestantism which took root in most countries.
There are many reasons for the dominance of different religions. It is also due to the division of Europe between the Eastern and Western worlds. Some countries like Spain, Portugal, Italy and France had strong ties with the Roman Catholic Church.
Different denominations Of Religions In Europe.
Churches Of Oriental, Persian, Turkish, Indian, Chinese and Greek can be mentioned here. In Europe alone, Hinduism and Islam (after Christianity) are the two biggest religions and their followers outnumber other religions.
Religion. Although all religions come from various geographical regions and origins, it is important to keep in mind that the dominating religions of the world are Christianity and Islam.
Protestantism and Catholicism form the two largest religions in Europe and the two are the most influential religions in the European Union. In several countries in Europe like Spain, Portugal, Italy and France, Catholicism has been the predominant religion. Similarly, in Germany, a country that is mainly Protestant, Christians are more predominant than Muslims.
Many experts in Europe believe that the Influence Of A Worldwide Religion On Europe Is Causing Controversy. It is due to the influence of Christianity, Islam and Hinduism that many people have become so religiously divided. However, Christianity is very powerful in Europe and their dominance is not going to fade anytime soon.
It is also true that minority religions are starting to take positions within the EU like for example the Jehovah’s Witnesses, Church of Later Day Saints, Bahai´s, Scientology, Bektashism, and others.
The European Conservatives and Reformists Party expresses growing concerns on the recent developments in Albania and more specifically on the unprecedented act of the Rama Government to demolish the National Theatre in Tirana, a building of great historical and cultural heritage for Albania and its citizens.
Despite strong criticism by civic society, politicians and expert community, rallying against the planned demolition, the Rama Government moved to demolish the National Theatre at 04:30 in the morning, under heavy police presence that violently clashed with protesters.
The ECR Party condemns this open violation of the freedoms and rights of citizens by the Rama Government, actions incompatible with our European values, and supports our member, the Republican Party, in their efforts to integrate Albania in the European democratic processes and restore the rule of law in the country.
On 27 May, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen presented the plan “Next Generation EU” – the Commission’s recovery package to tackle the heavy negative impact produced by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. The package aims at boosting European economies towards a more digital and greener society and includes a unique €750 billion on loans and grants, on top of a €1.135 trillion budget for the next seven years.
Commenting on the new recovery instrument, ALDE President Hans van Baalen said:
“I welcome the Next Generation EU Package by the European Commission as a serious, constructive basis for negotiation.
European democracy is based on the co-operation between the EU Institutions and the Member States which means that the European Council has to take a unified position on the Package on June 18 and 19 at best or during the German EU Presidency from July 1.
The European Recovery Plan (Marshall-plan) was not built in a few weeks either. The Next Generation EU should unite us and not divide us. I emphasize that investments in the European economy, whether grants or loans, must always contribute to structural and sustainable reform. The European taxpayers, the European citizens demand value for their money.
We are all in this together so this should not be a North – South, East – West divide. We all benefit from the European Common Market and therefore we should all protect it. United we stand, divided we fall.”
#NextGenerationEU is a very constructive basis for negotiations at the next European Council. Grants or loans, they should contribute to structural reform of the EU economy and strengthen the Internal Market. We are all in this together! #EUbudgethttps://t.co/SBX8hp2tSn
United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres has noted that the coronavirus pandemic is more than a health crisis. It is a human crisis which is attacking societies at their core.
To tackle it, policymakers will need the support of scientists, experts, and society at large, including religious leaders, scholars, and communities.
The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) is partnering with others, within and outside the United Nations, to get people, including adherents of the world’s religions, to revisit our relationship with nature and rebuild a more environmentally responsible world.
“We have agreed with the Yale Forum on Religion and Ecology to unite our efforts and strengthen environmental advocacy, building on the Forum’s extensive work over the past two decades,” says Iyad Abumoghli, Principal Coordinator of Faith for Earth.
Some pioneer organizations, such as the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) and the Alliance of Religion and Conservation (ARC), led by Martin Palmer with the support of Prince Philip convened the first gathering at Assisi of religious leaders. In 1992 they published some of the first books on this topic, and in 1995 a major conference was convened at Windsor Castle. Thereafter, a series of conferences on religion and ecology were organized in the late 1990s at Harvard’s Center for the Study of World Religions (organized by Mary Evelyn Tucker and John Grim).
The Yale Forum has been a leader in this, supporting numerous conferences, publishing books and articles, and creating and maintaining a popular website, recently revamped. It was also a founding partner of UNEP’s Interfaith Rainforest Alliance.
The Forum features news on religion and ecology, produces a monthly newsletter distributed to over 12,000 people, and highlights 300 projects being implemented by the world’s religions. It publishes books and articles, provides resources for educators and also features the Emmy award-winning film, Journey of the Universe.
As Yale Forum directors, Tucker and Grim observed, “Even before COVID-19 we saw a renewed focus on humans’ relationship with, and dependence on, the environment, in churches, synagogues, temples, and mosques around the world. Awareness is growing, as are calls for environmental justice for people and planet.”
Faith for Earth Principal Coordinator Iyad Abumoghli with the founders of the Yale Forum on Religion and Ecology, Mary Evelyn Tucker and John Grim, 2019 Photo by Iyad Abumoghli/UNEP
Every major religion has statements on the importance of ecological protection and ecojustice. The Yale Forum—with many partners, and through thousands of projects—has played an active role in raising awareness and encouraging action.
Together with UNEP’s Faith for Earth initiative, the Yale Forum is inspiring people to preserve, protect, and restore ecosystems and biodiversity, engage in dialogue, and promote action for change within religious communities in partnership with scientists and policymakers. It is thus making an important contribution to the health of people and planet.
“Healthy, functioning ecosystems, and environmental law, are central to a post-COVID world, and religious institutions can help push for progress on strengthening policy frameworks to bring about necessary change,” says Abumoghli.
Nature is in crisis, threatened by biodiversity and habitat loss, global heating and toxic pollution. Failure to act is failing humanity. Addressing the current coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic and protecting ourselves against future global threats requires sound management of hazardous medical and chemical waste; strong and global stewardship of nature and biodiversity; and a clear commitment to “building back better”, creating green jobs and facilitating the transition to carbon neutral economies. Humanity depends on action now for a resilient and sustainable future.
The UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration 2021–2030, led by the United Nations Environment Programme, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations and partners such as the Africa Restoration 100 initiative, the Global Landscapes Forum and the International Union for the Conservation of Nature, covers terrestrial as well as coastal and marine ecosystems. A global call to action, it will draw together political support, scientific research and financial muscle to massively scale up restoration. Help us shape the Decade.
For more information, please contact Iyad Abumoghli: [email protected]
In the context of the current Covid-19 pandemic and its dramatic effects on all EU Member States, on Thursday 28 May 2020 the COMECE Social Affairs Commission releases the statement “Let Europe recover through justice”, giving the contribution of the Catholic Church to the proposed EU recovery plan. Mgr. Hérouard: “The EU has the opportunity to take an important step forward in asserting and expressing its solidarity”.
The COMECE statement calls the EU to renew the spirit of solidarity and to agree on a recovery plan that puts the question of justice at its centre. “An ambitious recovery plan – reads the position paper – would be a visible sign that the EU and its Member states have returned to the track of solidarity”.
“This crisis may be an opportunity for the European Union to take an important step forward in asserting and expressing its solidarity, supporting Europe to recover through ecological, social and contributive justice”, states HE Mgr. Antoine Hérouard, President of the COMECE Commission on Social Affairs, who led the elaboration of the document.
According to COMECE, a recovery fund that enables the EU Commission to raise resources for the member states in need would also be meaningful for the many EU citizens that felt disappointed by the European project following the self-centric actions taken back in March 2020 by the member states. A plan of this a nature would also be in line with Pope Francis’ call for “further proof of solidarity, also by turning to innovative solutions”.
The COMECE contribution finally invites EU and national public authorities to shape the discussion on the recovery plan towards the common good, for a “joint recovery that expresses the ambition to work for a just future in a renewed spirit of solidarity”.
The European Commission recovery plan announced today is a historic opportunity to kickstart the reconstruction of the Union and move towards a more progressive and people-oriented Europe. The Member States must grasp this opportunity, PES President Sergei Stanishev stated during the extraordinary PES Presidency meeting today.
Representatives from PES member parties and organisations convened digitally to discuss the proposal and how to move Europe towards a social, digital, gender-equal, and sustainable future.
The Presidency adopted a declaration welcoming the plan, which includes key progressive priorities like a strong recovery fund, increased Just Transition funding, investment in education and training for young people, the Child Guarantee, and taxing digital giants. The Presidency called on governments to urgently adopt and implement the plan.
PES President Sergei Stanishev said:
“This is the ambitious plan with solid resources that progressives have been pushing for from the very beginning. It is a lifeline for citizens and a breakthrough for our family. Now we have a historic chance to rejuvenate the EU.
“Europe must grasp this opportunity to set the recovery in motion. We must support the countries, regions and sectors that are being hit hardest, and strengthen our social model and the green and digital transitions. We must show that the European project places solidarity between countries, regions and people first. This must happen now. Recovery cannot wait.
“Member States must act together to deliver this as soon as possible, so the Commission’s plan can be put to work in the interest of all Europe’s citizens, to protect them, their jobs, and to relaunch the economy.
“This is a victory for our family as we push to create a green, social, digital, gender balanced, and sustainable future for Europe beyond this crisis.”
The recovery must address the short- and long term, moving us closer to our sustainability goals, harnessing the digital transition, ensuring gender equality, and fully realising social rights. The European Green Deal must be the engine of a new growth and jobs strategy, harnessing the potential of the Just Transition Fund, the renovation wave, and the transition to a circular economy, the declaration says. The recovery must build a future of social justice, equality, democratic accountability, the rule of law, human rights, quality education and healthcare, strong public services, an innovative economy, cultural creativity and respectful and inclusive societies.
The PES again welcomes the initiative of Commissioners Gentiloni and Schmit in creating a European unemployment instrument: SURE. This valuable tool must pave the way for a permanent European Unemployment Benefit Reinsurance Scheme with the resources to succeed. Further concrete measures in support of citizens, their jobs, access to culture and education must follow.
The full text of the PES Presidency Declaration – In support of strong European action to contain and recover from the COVID-19 crisis – can be read here.
Millions of people around the world have been working remotely due to the coronavirus pandemic and now experts are asking whether this “business as unusual” could be the future of work, at least for those people whose job doesn’t require them to be tied to a particular location.
UN News spoke to Susan Hayter, a Senior Technical Adviser on the Future of Work at the Geneva-based International Labour Organization, about how COVID-19 could change our working lives.
A few large companies have said employees need not commute to work again Susan Hayter, Senior Technical Adviser on the Future of Work, ILO
What are the longer-term effects of the pandemic on the workplace in developed countries, once the immediate crisis is over?
Before the pandemic, there was already a lot of discussion on the implications of technology for the future of work. The message was clear: the future of work is not pre-determined, it is up to us to shape it.
However, that future has arrived sooner than anticipated as many countries, companies and workers shifted to remote working in order to contain the transmission of COVID-19, dramatically changing how we work. Remote virtual meetings are now commonplace and economic activity has increased on a range of digital platforms.
The ILO’s Susan Hayter has been telecommuting during the coronavirus pandemic., by ILO
As the restrictions are lifted, a question that is on everybody’s mind is whether this ‘business as unusual’ will become the ‘new normal’. A few large companies in developed economies have already said that what has been a large and unplanned pilot – remote teleworking – will become the standard way of organizing work. Employees need not commute to work again, unless they choose to do so.
Is this a good thing?
This may indeed be cause to celebrate, for people and the planet. But the idea of an end to “The Office” is certainly overblown. The ILO estimates that in high-income countries 27 per cent of workers could work remotely from home. This does not mean that they will continue to work remotely. The question is how we can adapt work practices and reap the benefits of this experience with remote working – for employers and workers – while not losing the social and economic value of work as a place.
In celebrating the innovations in work organization that have supported business continuity during the health crisis, we cannot forget that many will have lost their jobs or gone out of business as the pandemic has brought some industries to a standstill. For those returning to their place of work, the quality of work will be a key issue, in particular safe and healthy workplaces.
What needs to happen next?
Post-pandemic, workers like these at a factory in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia will want to be assured their workplace is safe, by Lin Qi
The degree of workers’ trust in the measures taken by employers to make workplaces safe, will no doubt have an impact on the return to work. Engagement with trade union representatives, where these exist, is a must.
Everything from protocols for social distancing, monitoring and testing, and the availability of personal protective equipment (PPE) need to be discussed to make this work.
For workers in the gig economy, such as food delivery and ride-hailing workers, work is not a place, but an activity performed for an income. The pandemic has revealed the false choice between flexibility and income security. These workers may have no or inadequate access to sick leave and unemployment-insurance benefits. We need to tap into the brave new world to ensure that their work is performed under conditions that are safe.
How different do you expect the workplace in developing countries to look?
The ILO estimates a 60 per cent decline in the earnings of the almost 1.6 billion workers in the informal economy in the first month of the crisis. These workers are simply not able to work remotely and face the impossible choice of risking life or livelihood. Some countries have adopted measures to shore up this essential income while also ensuring adequate hygiene and PPE for employees and customers, informal enterprises and workers.
As companies begin to evaluate the effectiveness of the shift to remote work and their ability to tackle data security concerns, new opportunities may open up in services for developing countries with the necessary infrastructure.
However, these off-shoring opportunities in activities such as software development and engineering to financial services, may be accompanied by the reshoring in of other jobs as companies seek to improve inventory management and the predictability of supply chains.
This will have longer-term effects on employment in developing and emerging economies. The challenge is that while it will take time for new service sectors to mature, the negative impact of rising unemployment will be felt immediately. Inequalities in digital readiness may further inhibit countries from seizing these opportunities.
What are the benefits and drawbacks of remote work?
There may be opportunities for developing countries, like Nepal, to benefit from a global move to remote working., by World Bank/Peter Kapuscinski
The shift to remote work has enabled many companies to continue to operate and ensure the health and safety of their employees. Those able to make the transition to remote work during the health crisis have had the opportunity to share meals with their families. Work has become human-centred to accommodate homeschooling and child and elder care.
Yet, the lines between working time and private time have become blurred for these individuals, causing an increase in stress and exposure to mental health risks.
In the face of a dramatic economic downturn caused by the pandemic and surging unemployment figures, there are opportunities to leverage these changes in work organization to design new job-sharing schemes that allow for flexibility and save jobs. This may mean shorter work weeks or work-sharing arrangements to avoid furloughs in lean times, while reshaping working time arrangements to achieve better work-life balance in the longer-term.
The digital transformation of work and possibility to engage in remote work has also been accompanied by other benefits. It has presented possibilities for older, more experienced workers to prolong their working life on their terms and provided work opportunities for those in rural communities. However, for many others, it has compounded a sense of isolation and a loss of identity and purpose. The social value of work and the dignity and belonging we derive from it cannot be replaced by virtual rooms, no matter how casual our attire while we occupy them.
To what extent will the pandemic entrench rising inequality?
While the pandemic may represent a tipping point for the digital transformation of the workplace, it has also revealed deep fault lines. It is those in the upper income brackets who are the most likely to choose to work remotely, whereas those in the lowest have no choice; they will have to commute and are more likely to be time-poor as a result.
Looking to the future, as digital and online work becomes the new normal, the demand for skilled workers is likely to rise along with their wages. The contributions of care-workers and other workers (e.g. teachers and staff in grocery stores) will be more highly valued than before. Yet, many low-paid workers whose wages have been stagnating in the face of declining union power and a shifting employment relationship are likely to see their incomes eroded even further as the ranks of the unemployed increase.
Historically, economic shocks, pandemics and wars have exacerbated inequality. The remaining question is whether this one will be a tectonic shift with rising political and social instability, or a shock that leads us to reinforce the foundations of just societies and the principles of solidarity and democratic decision-making that move societies, labour markets and workplaces in the direction of equality.
