THE ORGANISATION of Trade Unions of West Africa (OTUWA) has identified as a major challenge in the West African sub-region blatant attack on freedom of association, the right to strike, chronic problem of youth unemployment and growing informalisation of the workforce as well as living wage struggles.
The organisation while also raising alarm on the cracks in the sub-regional bloc, the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), called for the intervention of the International Labour Organisation (ILO) stressing that these, among other challenges, portend dangerous ramifications for Labour, Labour Migration, Jobs and Universal Social Protection.
The President of OTUWA (Ag.), Comrade Sophie Kourouma stated this in her address at a joint meeting of organised Labour with the visiting Director General of the ILO, Mr. Gilbert F. Houngbo, to Nigeria on Thursday in Abuja.
Comrade Kouroma also noted that the recent reverses in the democratic consolidation in West Africa indicate that democracy and freedom are regressing to the pre-1990 situation and the unpleasant experiences of that period.
Kourouma stated: “Giving the limited time available for this encounter with the Director General and his team, I will go on without further preliminaries to highlight some of the critical challenges facing the working people of our sub-region. They include the chronic problem of youth employment crisis; growing informalization of the workforce and living wage struggles.
“Additionally, there is the challenge of the shrinking of the civic space as evident by the blatant attack on Freedom of Association and the right to strike; the raging climate crisis and the challenges engendered by the shift to the green economy, and the challenges and opportunities in the context of the role of organized labour. The ILO as the oldest of the UN institutions has promoted the idea of tripartism and has, in its over a century of existence, helped to ensure that our voice as organized labour are formally recognized on the table.
“Your Excellency, it is in the above context that we are concerned about the cracks in ECOWAS as it has ramifications for Labour, Labour Migration, Jobs and Universal Social Protection. The recent reverses in our democratic consolidation in our sub-region has meant that we are regressing back to the pre-1990s and the unpleasant experiences of that era.
“In the populism that is the forerunner to full authoritarian rule, we are witnessing all manners of populist rhetoric. Peoples rights are been encumbered. In one of the countries, we have been told that those who opposed the regime are being conscripted and given minimum training and marched to the war front where the armed forces are fighting terrorists and jihadists.
“Only last December, one of the pro-democracy activists who came to Abuja here for a board meeting of a Civil Society Organization was upon his return thrown into detention without trial till date.
“We call on the Director General to use his good offices to find a resolution of the crisis within the ECOWAS bloc and specifically to get the authoritarian regimes in the sub-region to stop threatening and maltreating their citizens.
“We similarly wish to request that the ILO increase its activities in post-conflict countries in our sub-region and in the other regions of the African Continent. The challenges of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and the labour market is another area that we in the sub-region will require the strong support of the ILO to come to grips with. In this context, we are of the view that the ILO should give more support to organized labour to boost social dialogue as an enabler of the ten Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work (FPRW).
“Against the background of the threat hanging over trade unions with the recent freeze on US assistance to the developing countries by the new US Administration, the need for more support to organized labour cannot be overemphasized.
“Before I conclude these brief remarks, let me use the opportunity to once again draw the Director General’s attention to the continuing refusal of the Government of Liberia to allow the unionization of public sector workers in that country. This is a well-documented case and has come up for discussion at the ILO committee on Freedom of Association on multiple occasions. This is another area we request Your Excellency to intervene with the new Liberian government so that this blot in our subregion can be erased during your tenure as D.G.
“The Gambia is in a slightly different situation. However, the legacy of the Yahya Jammeh’s regime in the country has left the trade unions in ruins. Our efforts together with the ITUC, both in Brussels and the African region to help in restoring full scale trade unionism in the country since 2017 has been frustrated.
“We will be requesting that as you talk with the political authorities in the Gambia, that the issue of the right of workers to form a strong national centre should be put on the list of issues to be raised with them.
“Let me conclude that sub-regional trade union bodies like OTUWA, EATUC and SATUCC need the support of the ILO to carry out their activities in coordinating the work of the national centres affiliated to them. This is particularly necessary against the background of the multiplicity of National centres in our sub-region for instance, which makes them quite weak.
“Sub-regional bodies given support will go a long way in working to strengthen trade union activities in the countries they cover, either in terms of trade union education, research, and other thematic areas.”
