By Stanley Senya
Accra, Sept. 3, GNA – The Trades Union Congress (TUC) has called for intensified stakeholder dialogue to advance Ghana’s ratification of International Labour Organisation (ILO) Conventions 183 and 190 on maternity protection and violence and harassment at work.
Mrs Harriet Ayeley Botchway, Head of the Gender and Child Protection Department of the TUC, said the dialogue was intended to bring together key actors to build consensus, address outstanding concerns and develop a practical pathway towards ratification and effective implementation of the two conventions.
She said the process must take into account Ghana’s socio-economic circumstances while ensuring that workers, particularly women, enjoyed stronger protection in the world of work.
Mrs Botchway made the call at a stakeholder dialogue on advancing the ratification of ILO Conventions 190 and 183 in Ghana.
She said the two conventions provided important international labour standards for addressing persistent challenges affecting workers, adding that unions had a responsibility to protect all workers and were, therefore, concerned about maternity protection as well as violence and harassment in the workplace.
The dialogue examined ILO Convention 183, which focuses on maternity protection and seeks to preserve the health of mothers and newborns while providing job and income security.
Mrs Botchway said the engagement sought to deepen discussions on outstanding issues and identify sustainable mechanisms for implementing an extended maternity protection regime.
She said one of the key issues requiring consensus was how to sustain productivity while implementing the convention and who should bear the additional cost of extending maternity leave from 12 to 14 weeks.
The dialogue also focused on ILO Convention 190, which seeks to eliminate violence and harassment in the world of work.
A presentation by the Ministry of Labour, Jobs and Employment indicated that Article 27(1) of the 1992 Constitution provided for special care for mothers before and after childbirth and paid leave for working mothers, while Article 36(10) required the State to safeguard the health, safety and welfare of persons in employment.
The Labour Act, 2003 (Act 651), also provides maternity leave provisions for working mothers under Sections 55, 56 and 57.
However, the presentation noted a key difference between Ghana’s current provision and the minimum standard under Convention 183, with Ghana providing 12 weeks of maternity leave compared with the convention’s minimum of 14 weeks.
Convention 190 applies across sectors and workplaces and provides a framework centred on prevention and protection, enforcement and remedies, as well as guidance, training and awareness creation.
The presentation noted that 56 ILO member countries had ratified Convention 190 since it came into force on June 25, 2021, including 12 countries in Africa.
Mrs Botchway said Ghana had made progress in creating awareness about the convention, but stakeholders needed to move beyond sensitisation and advocacy towards ratification and implementation.
She said the TUC had undertaken sensitisation, education, campaigns and advocacy activities involving trade union members, workers, parliamentarians, the media and the wider public.
These included capacity-building programmes for union leaders and negotiators, media engagements, regional sensitisation campaigns, advocacy during May Day and international day celebrations, and efforts to incorporate the principles of Convention 190 into collective agreements.
She said the TUC had also worked with other stakeholders to increase public understanding of violence and harassment in the workplace and strengthen the capacity of women negotiators and union leaders to reflect the principles of Convention 190 in collective bargaining.
Mrs Botchway added that the dialogue was particularly important because not all the provisions of Convention 190 could be incorporated into collective agreements, making national ratification necessary.
She said the TUC would continue to push for ratification of the conventions while working with social partners and other stakeholders to develop workplace policies and strengthen protections for workers.
“Together, we can turn commitment into action,” she said.
Mrs Botchway said the way forward was to sustain engagement among Government, employers, organised labour and other relevant stakeholders to address concerns surrounding the ratification process.
She said stakeholders needed to identify existing systems through which any additional cost associated with extended maternity leave could be financed, rather than placing the entire burden on employers.
The dialogue, she said, should ultimately help Ghana move towards a stronger legal and institutional framework that promoted maternity protection, gender equality and safer workplaces.
The TUC said Conventions 183 and 190 remained critical to advancing decent work, worker protection and gender equality in Ghana.
It said the Congress would continue its sensitisation, education, campaigning and advocacy efforts while using collective bargaining and workplace policies to advance the principles of the conventions.
The TUC said collaboration among social partners would be essential to transforming Ghana’s existing commitments into enforceable protections for workers.
It said advancing worker protection, gender equality and safer workplaces required collective action, with the ultimate objective of ensuring that Ghana’s labour laws and workplace practices adequately protected workers and promoted decent work.
GNA
Edited by Audrey Dekalu