Global unions to Philippine president: Ratify ILO Convention No.190
In a press conference, trade union leaders and representatives from the Building and Wood Workers’ International (BWI), UNI, Public Services International (PSI), IndustriALL, and the International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF) asked the Philippine president to sign the convention after the country’s foreign affairs department has already completed the necessary documents for ratification together with the full endorsement of relevant government agencies like the Department of Labour and Employment (DOLE), the Department of Migrant Workers (DMW), and the Department of Budget and Management (DBM).
The global unions said that after the president has signed the convention, the Senate of the Philippines, through a 2/3 majority vote, needs to concur. The BWI-affiliated National Union of building and Construction Workers (NUBCW), Associated Labour Unions (ALU) and the Federation of Free Workers (FFW) are all confident that they have the majority vote in the Senate. They said that they have long been campaigning and lobbying for the convention’s ratification in the Philippines since the instrument’s adoption by the ILO in 2019.
BWI's Philippine affiliates agreed that the country's ratification of the convention would require the government to act to put more laws and policy measures in place to address and prevent workplace violence and harassment, particularly those experienced by women workers, and create new possibilities to establish safer and more gender-equal workplaces based on dignity and respect for all. Currently, 32 nations have ratified the convention establishing the workers' right to workplaces free of violence and harassment, including gender-based violence.