Global: Join the campaign for ILO to recognise OHS a fundamental right

BWI, together with others in the global trade union movement, is calling on the International Labour Organisation (ILO) Conference in June 2021 to establish healthy and safe workplaces as a fundamental right. The global union said that this would ensure that there is increased accountability on the part of governments and employers to international labour standards on health and safety.

Together with the European Federation of Building and Woodworkers (EFBWW), BWI has launched a campaign to show that unions and employers recognise the importance of healthy and safe workplaces.

“The 2019 ILO Centenary Declaration, unanimously adopted by governments, workers and employers, did not go far enough to ensure occupational health and safety for all workers.” said Ambet Yuson, BWI General Secretary.

“The ILO should do the right thing now and recognize occupational health and safety as an ILO Fundamental Right at Work. Our campaign with EFBWW is to show how wide the support for the recognition of health and safety as a fundamental right is amongst unions and employers,” Yuson added.

BWI calls on all affiliates to mobilise for the campaign by negotiating with employers to sign a declaration supporting the recognition of healthy and safe workplaces as a fundamental right by ILO.

Once the declarations have been signed, affiliates are asked to send them back to BWI where a list of all the union and employer signatories worldwide will be compiled. This will be used to motivate and persuade the ILO to recognise health and safety as a fundamental right.

BWI will publicise internationally the companies that have joined this campaign, which will be the main feature of its International Workers’ Memorial Day commemoration on 28 April 2021.

For more information and to get copies of the declaration, please contact your BWI regional office.