By Solomon Gumah
Tamale, March 1, GNA – The Trades Union Congress (TUC – Ghana) in collaboration with the International Labour Organization (ILO) Bureau for Workers Activities, has called on the Government to ratify ILO Convention 190 to promote safer workplaces.
The TUC said the ILO Convention 190, when ratified, would help protect Ghanaian workers from gender based violence and sexual harassment.
The TUC led workers to embark on a float through some principal streets of Tamale and later presented a petition to the Northern Regional Minister at his office.
They held various placards with inscriptions such as “Safety of Workers non-Negotiable”, “ILO Convention 190 will ensure our Safety and Well-being at Work”, “Ratify ILO Convention now,” among others.
Mrs Felicia Krajah, Northern Regional Secretary, TUC – Ghana, who read the petition, said violence and harassment at workplace were real, and violated workers fundamental human rights, hindered productivity, damaged morale and undermined workers well-being.
“The adoption of ILO Convention 190 is to create safer workplaces for all workers, and to end gender based violence,” she explained.
She said in Ghana, evidence of workplace violence and harassment was prevalent in all sectors, including formal and informal, and particularly among women and vulnerable groups.
“Available data indicate that 71.7 per cent of respondents in a survey of 20,279 reported that they have experienced one form of violence or harassment in workplaces. Women constituted 53 per cent whilst persons within the same age group 22 – 35 years account for 67.9 per cent.”
She indicated that various laws such as the 1992 Constitution, Labour Act 2003 (Act 651), Children Act 1998 (Act 560), Criminal Offences Act 1960 (Act 29) among other provisions were promulgated to address issues of violence and harassment in the country but they were limited in scope to deal comprehensively with the issues of violence and harassment at workplaces.
Alhaji Shani Alhassan Saibu, Northern Regional Minister, who received the petition on behalf of government, reiterated government’s commitment to ensuring that the ILO Convention 190 was ratified to serve the interest of all workers.
GNA