OATUU-ACTRAV Joint Workshop: Adopted Recommendations

The 2-Day joint workshop organized by OATUU and the ILO-ACTRAV, on  “Peace and Security in Africa: Employment and Decent Work for Peace and Resilience” ,brought together African trade union leaders from OATUU affiliates on 23-24th September 2018, at Sheraton Hotel, Algiers-Algeria. The main objective of the workshop was to strengthen trade union capacity in the areas of employment, decent work, peace, security and resilience.

The workshop involved presentations and discussions in the following areas:

  • An overview of the current peace and security situation in Africa.
  • ILO intervention on peace and security
    • ILO Recommendation No 205: Employment and Decent Work for Peace and Resilience
  • Trade union role in promoting peace and security in Africa for sustainable employment and decent work.

As the way forward,  participants adopted the following recommendations:

  • Trade Unions should popularize the ILO Recommendation 205 through capacity building for their members at all levels.
  • Trade Unions should campaign for the ratification of the ILO Convention 122 on Employment Policy for the promotion of employment creation so as to effectively participate in and/or influence the formulation, implementation and monitoring/evaluation of active policies that promote full, productive and freely chosen employment at the national levels.
  • African Trade Unions should engage in advocacies/lobbying for their governments to embark on Conflict Transformation through the creation of Decent Work and Industrialization.
  • Trade unions should advocate and strengthen their capacity on Convention 144 for their effective participation in Social Dialogue, and particularly advocate for their inclusion in processes for conflict prevention, management and resolution at all levels.
  • Trade unions should embark on research for informed interventions in their pursuit of Decent Work and coherent national and international policies development.
  • Trade unions should put mechanisms in place to rejuvenate and strengthen themselves through mobilization, organisation and unionization of more workers especially those in the Informal Economy.
  • African Trade Unions should organize more young workers and women and promote programmes that integrate youth, women and other vulnerable groups as well as build their capacity to effectively engage in all unions’ structures and activities.
  • Trade Unions should popularize their activities as well as influence socio-economic interventions for the promotion of employment, peace, social justice and coherent socio-economic policies through the establishment of/the use of Mass Media such as Television, Radio, Newspapers etc.
  • OATUU and its affiliates should re-launch Unions Entrepreneurship Programme to enable unions to play Employment Creation role to contribute to enhance job creation
  • OATUU should continue to represent the voice of African workers at the African Union by engaging in policy dialogue to influence policies in order to create an enabling environment that addresses issues of Multinationals and other external actors on the continent of Africa.
  • OATUU and its affiliates should liaise with other unions in the diaspora to promote Decent Work and Social Protection for Migrant workers, and particular those from Africa.
  • Trade Unions should strategize and work for the promotion of integration of Africa both at the sub-Regional and Regional level.

 

Participants appreciated the ILO- ACTRAV,  OATUU for organising this timely workshop. They also thanked and appreciated all the resource persons for their brilliant and informative presentations. They urged the ILO-ACTRAV in collaboration with OATUU to continue strengthening trade union capacities in the areas of social dialogue, employment, decent work, peace and security in Africa.

Lastly the participants asked the UGTA to convey their deepest gratefulness to his Excellency Mr. Abdelaziz Bouteflika, President of the People’s Democratic Republic of Algeria for his continued support to the African labor movement.