Labour originally is a Latin word and means “struggle, tiredness, pain or hard work”. Labour in the meaning of reproductive work was the task of slaves, whilst the citizen, on the contrary, was mainly concerned with politics. The Latin term can again be traced back to the Indo-European basis lab- or leb- (to be loose, to lapse, to be limp), which was also the basis for the latin verb labare (to stagger, to totter) or the English adjective labile. The noun labour meant therefore in all likelihood “staggering burden”.

Only with the advent of modernity the term labour began to conquer all areas of human activity. Adam Smith is said to have used the word at the first time in the modern sense of “work that has to be done to satisfy needs” (The Wealth of Nations, 1776).

 

However, for most of the workers in the developint world labour is still a "staggering burden", whose reward does not satisfy their needs. By means of CSR business policies, companies can ensure human and labour rights compliance in their business conduct worldwide. One of the missions of LARRGE is therefore to help the modern definition of labour to become reality.

One of the international guidelines for these aims is the ILO Decent Work Agenda. According to the ILO, decent work “sums up the aspirations of people in their working lives – their aspirations for opportunity and income; rights, voice and recognition; family stability and personal development; and fairness and gender equality.”

For labour, the workers’ burden should become his or her self-fulfilment!