To improve working conditions in the world today, in an audience granted to members of the National Institute of Social Security (INPS) in Italy, 125 years after its foundation, Pope Francis made three calls.
“The first call is a no to black work (undeclared). But let it become a culture: No to black work. At the moment, in effect, it seems to give economic benefits to the individual, but in the long run, it does not allow families to contribute and access the pension system according to justice”, the Holy Father indicated in his speech, during the audience held in the Apostolic Palace of the Vatican.
“Blackwork distorts the labor market and exposes workers to forms of exploitation and injustice,” warned the Holy Father.
“The second call – continued the Pope – is a no to the abuse of precarious work, which has an impact on the life options of young people and even forces them to work when their strength fails.”
Likewise, Pope Francis stressed that “precariousness must be transitory” and “cannot be excessive”.
“Otherwise, it ends up generating mistrust, favors the postponement of young people’s life options, delays entry into the social security system, and increases the drop in birth rates,” he continued.
The third appeal of the Holy Father is “a yes to decent work, which is always ‘free, creative, participatory and supportive'”, as pointed out in the apostolic exhortation Evangelii Gaudium, by Pope Francis.
The Holy Father also explained the importance of the social security system, which must be sustainable and constitutes a form of well-being that involves several generations.
“In fact, the well-deserved pension of a worker is sustained not only thanks to the years of work but also to the fact that someone, with their activity, is specifically paying the pension of others”, he highlighted.
The Pope also pointed out that there is good social security and a bad ones.
As an example of the bad, he referred to the miser of the Gospel who only accumulates goods for himself; while the example of the good one is the patriarch Joseph, an important leader in ancient Egypt, who worried about everyone’s future by saving grain for difficult years.
“Joseph not only trusts in God’s Providence and recognizes it, but he also shows farsightedness for the good of the people. He knows how to save in advance, he imagines the good even when evil seems to prevail, and he takes care of the people entrusted to him”, the Pontiff stressed.