In France, BWI member CGT conducted several activities to mark 28 April including a meeting at the Ministry of Labour, a protest
at a construction site of Grand Paris and the installation of a plaque in tribute to victims of occupational accidents and diseases.
37 unions throughout the Asia Pacific region organized various mobilisations, concerted actions, and other activities to support the adoption of workplace health and safety as a fundamental worker right. This was in response to BWI’s call to its affiliates to push governments and employers to implement the said right as it marked the 2023 International Workers’ Memorial Day. The unions in India, Nepal, Cambodia, Bangladesh, Malaysia, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Indonesia, Myanmar, South Korea, and the Philippines organised demonstrations, held meetings to raise awareness on workplace safety, and distributed free personal protective equipment (PPE). In other places, unions and the employers collaborated on joint actions to reaffirm their commitment to upholding safe and healthy working conditions.
In Nepal, the BWI-Nepal Affiliates Committee (BWI-NAC) organised a campaign action at a construction site in Bhaktapur. Crecentia Mofokeng, BWI Regional Representative for Africa-MENA, joined the activity. She was in Nepal for the Homenet International Congress.
In South India, the TKTMS organised a march that culminated in a town hall meeting attended by construction industry employers’ representatives. The INCWF sponsored a health and safety training at two cement plants in the state of Karnataka. At the same time, the Rajasthan state’s RPKNMS and AHBWU held popular activities to raise OSH awareness among stone quarry employees. Elsewhere in India, BWI affiliates TCTU, AIKTMS, DANMU, MAMU, NMPS, CFBWU, OKKS, OFMFPWU, RWO, INBCWF, SGEU, PMLU, AHPWDIPHCWU, CLU, HKMP, BMS, BMS Gujarat, BNKMU, UPGMS, and KSCWCU also reported IWMD-themed events.
For its part, the ACE-EU in Pakistan convened a joint training with employer representatives to promote OSH as a fundamental and implementable right of workers., while the PFBWW called for a workers’ meeting at the IFI-funded Tarbela Dam infrastructure project and the BWF led awareness activities in the brick kiln industry.
The NUBCW organised a legal and advocacy course in the Philippines to lobby for the implementation of OHS laws in the country. In addition, the NUBCW held an anti-sexual harassment training and lecture for Engineering Equipment Incorporated unions, as well as their human resource professionals and workers.
The SERBUK in Indonesia and the BWTUC in Cambodia honoured the day with a series of campaign actions and mass mobilisations. They asked their respective governments to prioritise workers’ health and safety and their right to safe workplaces.
Finally, Malaysia’s UFES, TEUPM, and STIEU, as well as Myanmar’s BWFM, continued OSH campaigns to raise
BWI trade union affiliates in Cambodia, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, Nepal and the Philippines marked this year’s International Workers’ Memorial Day by raising awareness on the International Labour Organisation’s (ILO) adoption of occupational health and safety as a fundamental right of all workers. They said that it is an important victory that must be fully maximised. The Asia Pacific trade unionists called on their respective governments and employers to recognise this right and see to it that it is fully implemented in all workplaces.
PFBWW and the Awami Labour Union (ALU) marked International Workers’ Memorial Day by remembering all the workers who died in the construction of the Tarbela Dam.
CMWEU BWI affiliate in Mauritius jointly with the national Centre CTSP celebrated IWMD 2023 with a public Campaigns on OHS as fundamental right and a training workshop on the worksite inspections. CMWEU is calling employers and government to implement the National Law on OHS adopted in Mauritius in November 2022 .
The Timber and Woodworkers Union (TWU), BWI affiliate in Ghana held a social dialogue meeting on occupational health and safety (OHS) policies in Kumasi on April 28th, 2023. The meeting brought together representatives from the TWU, government officials, employers, and workers to discuss ways to improve OHS policies and practices in the Wood and Forestry Sector.
The National Union of Building and Wood Workers (SNTBB) of Burkina Faso celebrated the International Commemorative Workers Day (#JICT2023) by a national seminar held in Tenkodogo on April 29, 2023 under the theme: “Role of the Union in ILO C167 ratification; Role of OST in enterprises for better worker health”
#MakeItHappen Health and safety is a non-negotiable! Unions in India conduct awareness meetings in Delhi (MAMU), Punjab (BMS) and Himachal Pradesh (AHPWDIPHCWU)
