The 43rd International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF) conference has ended in Sofia, Bulgaria with a call on government of various countries of the world to ensure that the rights of workers the world over are respected so as to promote a healthy and good living among workers.
The Conference which holds once in every four years saw transport workers from across the globe converge on Sofia, Bulgaria between the 10th and 16th of August, 2014 to brainstorm on the challenges and successes recorded in the transport profession in the last four years as well as chart a way forward for the profession in the coming years.
The conference which had as its theme,” Moving from Global Crises to Global Justice”, witnessed different paper presentations from renowned transporters as well as resource persons from other professions later broke into technical session where issues were treated on a more closed approach.
The Nigerian Contingents to the World conference comprised of the Merchant Navy Officers and Senior Staff of Water Transport Association, Maritime Workers’ Union Nigeria (MWUN), National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW) , the two Transport Unions in the Aviation Sector and the Nigerian Railway Workers’ Union.
Speaking to Primetime Reporters on the conference, the National President, Merchant Navy Officers and Senior Staff of Water Transport Association, Engr. Matthew Alalade described the conference as very great and peaceful.
Alalade noted that the conference which holds once in four years was an amalgamation of all transport workers that are affiliated to the world body where issues affecting member countries were being addressed and agenda set.
According to him,” all of us went there as Nigerian Contingents. It was a great one and a peaceful one. Infact, I will call it a world congress. It holds once in four years and comprised of all transport workers that are associated with them. So, it was a good one and everything was okay”.
Speaking on what Nigeria as a country stands to gain from the conference, Alalade had this to say,” if we have an y issue regarding labour that we table before the authorities and they seem to fall on deaf ears or they are being executed at a slow pace, we can talk to our international relations who can muster other countries together and enforce whatever the right of the workers are so that in solidarity, the other people will join us”.
“It will help us especially as Union members. If we have any demand that we fell that it will not yield any result, we can consult them and they will assist us”.
On the theme of the conference, Engr. Alalade who is a member of the Maritime Safety as well as the Oil and Gas Technical Group in Africa observed that the theme of the conference was timely especially at a time when forced labour was on the increase the world over.
He lamented a situation where people were being forced to engage in a particular work and at the end of the day, they got little or nothing as remuneration adding that in most cases, they were casualized and denied their rights as workers pointing out that that was what this year’s conference was set out to address so that people can have their rights.
While commending Nigeria for ratifying the Maritime Labour Convention (MLC 2006) to enhance the seafarers’ condition of service in Nigeria, he however maintained that such gesture should be extended to other workers in different sectors of the economy calling on other West African Countries who were yet to ratify the convention to do so in the interest of their citizens and that of their economy.
