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Enforcing decent work agenda frees up jobs for unemployed youth, says ITF
10 October 2008
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| L-R: Kasi Amankwah, ITUC Africa General Secretary, Isaiah Kiriguah, Kenya Labour Commissioner, Francis Atwoli, COTU Secretary General, Joseph Katende, ITF Africa Regional Secretary and Linus Kariuki, Federation of Kenya Employers | |
More jobless young people would have access to work opportunities if “decent work” conditions were implemented, was one of the key messages put forward by the ITF at an event in Kenya this week.
Speaking at the Decent Work Day symposium in Nairobi, Kenya, on 7 October – organised and co-sponsored by the ITF, the Central Organization of Trade Unions (COTU) and the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) – ITF Africa Regional Secretary Joseph Katende outlined the importance of enforcing labour standards. Addressing delegates, which included trade union leaders, senior government officers, employers’ representatives, and members of the Africa Youth Parliament, Katende urged young people to join the fight for proper working conditions. This, he said, would help to secure more jobs. He stated that a significant number of Africans worked 12 hours a day, even though most countries adopted an eight-hour working day limit. Two employees each working 12 hours – 24 hours in total – would be carrying out work that should be undertaken by three workers, if the eight-hour work day rule were enforced.
Secretary General of COTU, Francis Atwoli – also a member of the International Labour Organization’s governing body – reiterated the organising message, urging young people to join unions and advising those who are unemployed to sign up to “good political parties”.
Meanwhile, Kwasi Amankwah, ITUC Africa General Secretary, challenged trade unions in Africa to improve their own organisations in order to be able to tackle problems such as lack of safety and an increase in workplace fatalities owing to inadequate labour inspections.
Kenya’s Permanent Secretary from the Ministry of Labour and Human Resources Development, Beatrice Kituyi, who launched the event, emphasised the need to encourage all involved to deliver the Kenya Decent Work Country Programme, which had been adopted by government.
The symposium was preceded by a one kilometer shop stewards’ march on 5 October 2008 from Uhuru Park in Nairobi’s city centre to the headquarters of COTU.
For more information on the World Day for Decent Work visit: www.itfglobal.org/campaigns/campaigns-2475.cfm
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