CANADA’S UNIFOR ELECTS FIRST WOMAN PRESIDENT — Reuters, Wednesday 10 August 2022
TORONTO (Reuters) — Canada’s largest private sector labour union, Unifor, elected Lana Payne as president on Wednesday, making her the first woman to lead an organisation representing more than 315,000 workers, including in the auto sector. Payne was previously National Secretary-Treasurer of Unifor, and was the first woman to hold that position as well. Payne replaces Jerry Dias, who retired in March after eight-and-a-half years as president. Unifor was formed in 2013 from the merger of The Canadian Auto Workers union and The Communications, Energy and Paperworkers Union of Canada.
ILO REPORT: RECOVERY IN YOUTH EMPLOYMENT STILL LAGGING — International Labour Organization, 11 August 2022
GENEVA (ILO News) — Recovery in youth employment is still lagging, according to a new report by the International Labour Organization (ILO). The Global Employment Trends for Youth 2022 report confirms that the COVID-19 pandemic has hurt young people aged 15–24 more than any other age group. The total global number of unemployed youth is estimated to reach 73 million in 2022 — a slight improvement from 75 million in 2021, but still six million above the pre-pandemic level of 2019. The share of youth not in employment, education or training (NEET) in 2020 rose to 23.3%, an increase of 1.5 percentage points from the previous year and a level not seen in at least 15 years. Young women are worse off than young men, with only 27.4% of young women globally projected to be in employment in 2022, compared to 40.3% of young men. The Arab States have the highest youth unemployment rate worldwide, projected at 24.8% in 2022, with 42.5% for young women. High-income countries are the only ones expected to achieve youth unemployment rates close to those of 2019 by the end of 2022. The report estimates that investments in green, digital and care economies could create an additional 32 million jobs for young people by 2030.