Africa-Press – Gambia. Following the recent call by Sofie Kouroma president of the Organisation of Trade Unions in West Africa OTUWA for the ILO to help strengthen workers unions in The Gambia in the wake of the Jammeh-era suppression, the Gambia Trade Union Bureau (GAMTUB} has said those hard times are long gone with the advent of the new government.
Kebba Massanneh Ceesay, president of GAMTUB, which is comprised of 20 workers associations said contrary to the worries of OTUWA, Gambian unions now do not suffer any arbitrary maltreatment and or abused. “On the contrary, we have very good relationships with government and there is absolute industrial peace in the country,” Mr Ceesay said.
He said GAMTUB which came into existence in 2017 with only three organisations has been able to mobilise and organise workers in different sectors and now has 20 affiliated Unions, and efforts are being done to get the few remaining unions to join the Bureau.
Mr Ceessay assured that the most important Conventions C87 and C94, which guarantee workers the right to organise and to strike have been ratified and domesticated in The Gambia’s Labour Act, though the problem is full compliance by Government for all the civil servants to unionised.
“We already have the full support of the ILO through ACTRAV in Dakar who have been supportive in our capacity building programmes with many more in the pipeline. Our recent meeting with the new director is testimony of close cooperation.We also have the support of Solidarity Centre on our Gender base programme, In short, The Gambia continues to enjoy industrial peace,” he said.
Mr Ceesay shared OTUWA’s optimism that the new minister of responsible for labour matters in The Gambia comes from a trade union background saying that is all the more reason he regards himself as part of the workers.
“Our challenge include government’s inability to take part in the ILO conferences and lack of workers’ involvement in national decision making process most of which affects them.We intend to take up some of these issue with President Barrow in due course during which we will ask for a worker representative in the National Assembly
“We encourage OTUWA to come to The Gambia to know what is happening and to work with GAMTUB to the next stage,” Mr Ceesay said.
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