Push to make health and safety a fundamental ILO right
The ITUC (International Trade Union Confederation) has announced that its focus for International Workers’ Memorial Day on 28 April will be trying to persuade the International Labour Organization (ILO) to adopt occupational health and safety as a fundamental right at work.
The existing fundamental ILO rights are:
• freedom of association and the effective recognition of the right to collective bargaining;
• the elimination of forced or compulsory labour;
• the abolition of child labour; and
• the elimination of discrimination in respect of employment and occupation.
Sharan Burrow, ITUC general secretary, said: “The pandemic has cruelly exposed the lack of protection for workers and indeed for the public who enter different workplaces. Evidence from around the world shows that the virus is spreading at work, not just in health and care settings but also in factories, meat works, warehouses, schools, offices, transport and other sectors.
“With 2.6 million people each year dying from work-related illness and injury even before the pandemic, the picture is now bleaker than at any time in recent history. Now is the time for governments and employers to elevate the status of occupational health and safety to the level of a fundamental right at work.”