Category Archives: Gallery

Philippines: Photos from EEI Grand Middori Project commemoration

World Day for Safety and Health at Work 2025 – EEI Grand Middori Project

Tunisia: FGBB is ready for International Workers’ Memorial Day

BWI affiliate FGBB’s final preparations of the General University for Building and Wood on the occasion of the International Occupational Health and Safety Day, which falls on April 28 every year.

Philippines: NUBCW commemorates International Workers Memorial Day: “Health and Safety is Our Right — We Work to Live, Not to Die”

In solidarity with workers across the globe, the National Union of Building and Construction Workers (NUBCW) marked International Workers’ Memorial Day (IWMD) with a powerful gathering centered on the theme: “Health and Safety is Our Right — We Work to Live, Not to Die.”
Held with solemn respect and passionate advocacy, the event featured distinguished guests: Dr. RJ Naguit of AKBAYAN Partylist, a long-time health rights advocate, and Atty. Sonny Matula, National President of the Federation of Free Workers (FFW) and a senatorial candidate known for championing labor rights.
Dr. Naguit delivered an urgent reminder that health and safety are not privileges but basic human rights. Drawing from his experience as a health advocate, he emphasized that no worker should be forced to choose between livelihood and life itself. “Every death due to unsafe workplaces is preventable,” he stressed. “It is a symptom of a system that values profit over people — a system we must change.”
Atty. Matula followed with a rousing call for stronger protections, sharing the ongoing struggles of labor unions nationwide. He reaffirmed the need to pass and enforce laws that ensure safe working conditions, regular employment, and just compensation. “We must fight for a future where workers’ lives are valued more than corporate greed,” Matula said. “NUBCW stands at the frontlines of this battle.”
In a unified statement, NUBCW reaffirmed its commitment to championing safe, healthy, and dignified workplaces for all Filipino workers. These commitments will result in the launching of new Department Order series of 2025 titled “Guidelines for the Standard Design and Specification for Temporary Welfare Facilities for Construction Workers”, a new law that will ensure not just the health and safety of construction workers in their respective accomodation but the said DO will also protect workers from abusive treatment, exploitation, harassment and discrimination of any form through creation of grievance redress mechanism inside the accommodation area.
The event closed with a collective pledge to intensify campaigns for occupational health and safety, union rights, and fair labor practices — echoing the call: “We work to live, not to die.”
The commemoration concluded with the NUBCW National Council Meeting, where council members convened to align their strategies in preparation for the upcoming 3rd Regular Congress scheduled on May 25, 2025. The meeting emphasized the organization’s renewed vigor to strengthen union work, broaden alliances, and advance the fight for workers’ rights nationwide.
As NUBCW Secretary General Santiago Nolla said, “Remembering is not enough. Organizing, mobilizing, and fighting for change — that is the true tribute to our fallen heroes and comrades.”

Mauritius: 28 April activities focus on artificial intelligence and deadly dust – CTSP

Confédération des Travailleurs des Secteurs Publique et Privé (CTSP) in Mauritius, an affiliate of global unions BWI and IndustriALL, reports that 28 April activities have included a tripartite discussion on the impact of Artificial Intelligence on occupational safety and health and another on deadly dust.

 

Indonesia: Taking bold steps to protect workers’ lives – Serbuk Indonesia

Ahead of this year’s International Workers’ Memorial Day, members of BWI-affiliated Serbuk Indonesia are taking bold steps to protect workers’ lives, consolidating their ranks through trade union education to expose the hidden dangers of deadly dust in our workplaces and demand safer, healthier jobs for all. #StopDeadlyDust #IWMD2025

Malaysia: Join the global campaign to stop heat stress and deadly dust – STIEU, TEUPM and UFES

For #IWMD2025, BWI’s Malaysian affiliates STIEU (Sabah), TEUPM (Kuala Lumpur), and UFES (Sarawak) join the global campaign to #StopDeadlyDust and “heat stress” at work.
Despite facing poor working conditions, low wages, and job insecurity, brave trade union affiliates—especially in the wood industry—stand united for better OSH and stronger protections.

 

Poland: Cyfryzacja i sztuczna inteligencja – nowa era pracy

28 kwietnia obchodzimy w Polsce Światowy Dzień Bezpieczeństwa i Ochrony Zdrowia w PracyTegoroczne hasło brzmi:

Cyfryzacja i sztuczna inteligencja – nowa era pracy

Nowoczesne technologie zmieniają nasze miejsca pracy – wpływają na organizację pracy, wydajność, ale także na bezpieczeństwo i zdrowie pracowników. W tym roku, z inicjatywy Międzynarodowej Organizacji Pracy, przyglądamy się roli sztucznej inteligencji, uczenia maszynowego, egzoszkieletów, Internetu rzeczy, wirtualnej i rozszerzonej rzeczywistości, a także wyzwaniom związanym z pracą zdalną i platformami cyfrowymi.

Jak wykorzystać innowacje, by poprawić bezpieczeństwo i jednocześnie minimalizować ryzyko? Jakie zmiany czekają nas w najbliższych latach? Odpowiedzi na te pytania poszukamy podczas obchodów, których szczegóły można znaleźć na stronie:

www.ciop.pl/28kwietnia

 

Philippines: BWI and ADB hold inspection of Philippine railway project amid sweltering 48 degree heat

In the week of Workers’ Memorial Day, BWI and one of its Philippine affiliates, the National Union of Building and Construction Workers (NUBCW), conducted a joint inspection with the Asian Development Bank (ADB) of the Malalos-Clark Railway Project. The site visits occurred during the country’s warmest season, with temperatures reaching up to 47.7 degrees. This prompted thorough discussions on procedures for working in extreme heat, the necessity of work stoppages when temperatures become hazardous, and the adequacy of provided living accommodations and resting areas in protecting workers from heat stress.

The mission primarily focused on reviewing construction activities and applying ADB labour rights commitments to the ILO core labor standards and national regulations. Safeguard policy commitments on health and safety were emphasised to support the implementation of the project’s Environmental and Social Performance (ESP), defining roles and responsibilities regarding accommodation, occupational health and safety (OHS), and working conditions to ensure alignment with expectations from the Client, BWI, and the bank perspectives.

The three-day mission concluded with a training session at the ADB Headquarters, encompassing shared lessons learned, best practices, and knowledge on labour practices and safeguarding mechanisms. Participants included contractors from different project packages, as well as representatives of clients and key contractors for ADB projects within the Philippines. Observations from the site visits will be disseminated to other projects as examples of best practices. Simultaneously, issues identified will be addressed by the bank as part of corrective action plans formulated following the mission.

BWI news

Tanzania: Enough of work-related deaths!

Fifteen participants, including five women, from three BWI affiliates in Tanzania (TAMICO, TUICO, and TPAWU), as well as representatives from the Association of Tanzania Employers and the Trade Union Congress of Tanzania (TUCTA), attended and participated in a two-day tripartite consultative meeting held in Tanzania on 29-30 April 2024.

Participants highlighted the challenges surrounding occupational health and safety (OHS) in workplaces, including the existence of new hazards and diseases, the lack of employer-provided personal protective equipment, and other contraventions of the Occupational Safety and Health Act, 5 of 2003 (OHS Act).

The unions also delved into BWI’s “Enough is Enough campaign” to mark this year’s International Workers’ Memorial Day.” The campaign sought to raise awareness on poor OHS standards in various industries and empower affiliates to end negligent deaths and injuries in workplaces. Bonface Nkakatisi,

TUICO General Secretary, stressed the need to have a strong voice in defending workers’ rights and ensuring the safety and health of workers in the BWI sectors, protecting them against workplace hazards. He also underscored the need to enforce the implementation of the OHS Act and encouraged unions to work with TUCTA to ensure that the national law reflects workers’ concerns and needs.

Asia/Pacific: 28 เมษา: จดจำแรงงานที่ถูกหลงลืม

ในรายงานขององค์การแรงงานระหว่างประเทศ (ILO) ที่เผยแพร่ในเดือนพฤศจิกายน พ.ศ.2566 เรียกร้องให้คนหันมาสนใจเรื่องสภาพแวดล้อมในการทำงานที่ปลอดภัยมากขึ้น A Call for Safer and Healthier Working Environments  มีเนื้อหาที่ตั้งข้อสังเกตดังนี้

จากประมาณการณ์ตัวเลขล่าสุดที่ทางไอแอลโอได้จัดทำ โดยนับสถิติย้อนหลังถึงพ.ศ. 2562 พบว่ามีคนทำงานกว่า 395 ล้านคนทั่วโลกได้รับบาดเจ็บที่เกี่ยวเนื่องกับการทำงานกรณีไม่ร้ายแรงจนถึงขั้นเสียชีวิต นอกจากนี้ ยังประมาณการณ์ว่าตัวเลขคนทำงานที่เสียชีวิตด้วยเหตุปัจจัยต่างๆ อันเกี่ยวเนื่องกับการทำงานอยู่ที่ราวๆ 2.93 ล้านคน เพิ่มขึ้นมากกว่า 12 เปอร์เซ็นต์จากสถิติปีพ.ศ.2563

ข้อมูลสถิติโดยประมาณการณ์นี้เป็นเครื่องเตือนใจอย่างดีในแง่ที่ว่าคนทำงานยังต้องประสบกับอาการบาดเจ็บขั้นร้ายแรง โรคภัยต่างๆ รวมถึงความเสี่ยงที่จะเสียชีวิตระหว่างทำงาน  นอกเหนือไปจากการเรียกร้องให้มีการบังคับใช้มาตรการต่างๆ เพื่อคุ้มครองคนทำงาน  สร้างหลักประกันด้านสิทธิเกี่ยวกับสุขภาพและความปลอดภัยในการทำงานให้เป็นไปตามหลักอนุสัญญาฉบับที่ 155 ขององค์การแรงงานระหว่างประเทศที่เป็นอนุสัญญาสิทธิหลักขั้นพื้นฐาน

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