Building trust in a changing world of work

The Global Deal for Decent Work and Inclusive Growth is a global multi-stakeholder partnership whose objective is to jointly address the challenges in the global labour market and enable all people to benefit from globalisation. The fundamental idea at the heart of the Global Deal is to highlight and promote the potential of sound industrial relations and enhanced social dialogue as a means to foster decent work, quality jobs, and increased productivity – and by extension greater equality and inclusive growth. It is conceived as a concrete input to the UN 2030 Agenda and is aligned with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)., The Global Deal was initiated at the behest of the Swedish Prime Minister, Stefan Lofven, and developed in cooperation with the International Labour Organization (ILO) and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). The partnership was launched in September 2016 and now brings together around 90 different partners representing governments, businesses and employers’ organisations, trade unions and civil society. The rationale behind the Global Deal is that cooperation between these stakeholders is a key element for coming to terms with some of the complex challenges that impede human prosperity and well-being. The Global Deal aims to facilitate and advance that cooperation by providing political impetus, scaling up existing processes, promoting evidence-based research and highlighting the opportunities for ‘win-win-win’ gains that mutually benefit workers, businesses and governments., This flagship report is meant to be a recurring report that will be published every other year and serve as the main tool for following up on the Global Deal partnership. It will report on the partnership’s developments and outcomes. The purpose is also to provide an international portrait of the foundations, trends and challenges connected to social dialogue and sound industrial relations. The report aims to identify challenges, promote exchange of ideas and experiences, discuss joint projects and solutions and provide solid evidence to policy-makers and stakeholders. Furthermore, the report demonstrates the potential effects of social dialogue and highlights the Global Deal partnership as a vehicle for accelerating change and as a tool for delivering on the SDGs.