Global unions to launch toolkit on ILO Convention 190

On 25 June, BWI and its fellow global unions and federations will launch a “Training of  Trainers” toolkit on the International Labour Organization (ILO) Convention No.190 and Recommendation 206 on violence and harassment in the world of work.

In a joint statement, the global unions explained that the toolkit is the product of the collective effort of different trade unionists, especially women. It seeks to aid trade unions and workers’ representative organisations in ensuring that the Convention and the Recommendation are fully implemented in the different countries’ national laws.

The toolkit also aims to fully integrate the policies to trade union work, especially in promoting collective bargaining as a key tool for workers to eliminate violence and harassment in the world of work, and trade union reforms with an inclusive and gender-responsive perspective. 

The global unions said that the adoption of the said instruments is the culmination of years of campaigning and lobbying by trade unions, and in particular women trade unionists, built on the narratives and experiences of discrimination and violence from women workers globally. They said that by adopting these international labour standards,  ILO member-states and workers’ and employers’ organisations are sending a clear message: violence and harassment in the world of work can no longer be tolerated and special attention must be paid to gender-based violence and harassment.