'Decent work' must be UN objective, says ICFTU

International trade union organisations are calling on the UN to put decent work at the heart of its efforts to achieve the Millennium Development Goals.

The message was in a statement submitted by the Internatinal Confederation of Free Trade Unions and the World Confederation of Labour to the UN hearings on civil society and the private sector, taking place in New York on June 23 and 24.

In the course of the two-day hearings, civil society organizations have the opportunity to voice their concerns on the report of UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan published earlier this year, entitled "In Larger Freedom", and to make recommendations for the UN's "Millennium plus Five" summit in September 2005.

The ICFTU represents 145 million workers in 233 affiliated organizations in 154 countries and territories.