Senate urged to ratify ILO C190

FOLLOWING President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.'s consent to the international treaty ending violence and harassment in workplaces, the country's labor sector has called on the Senate to immediately concur with the President's ratification of the International Labor Organization (ILO) Convention 190.

ILO Convention 190 is a landmark instrument against violence and harassment in the workplace. It was adopted in 2019.

«We are pleased with this development, which shows the commitment of the current administration to protect our workers from violence and harassment at work,» said the labor groups in a joint statement.

«Now that the ball is finally in the Senate's court, we urge our Senators to immediately concur with the ratification of the ILO Convention 190,» it added.

So far, 36 countries have already ratified ILO C190.

Under the Philippine Constitution, the ratification of international treaties requires the concurrence of at least two-thirds of all the members of the Senate.

It stressed that ratifying ILO C190 is timely as it came at a time when workers continue to be subjected to different forms of violence and harassment, including sexual abuse, physical, psychological and economic violence committed by various state and non-state offenders.

Groups pushing for immediate Senate concurrence include the Federation of Free Works, the Nagkakaisa Labor Coalition, and the Trade Union Congress of the Philippines, among other organized labor groups in the country.

Joining them are the Philippine affiliates of the Global Union Federations, including Public Services International, Building and Wood Workers International, IndustriALL Global Union, International Transport Workers' Federation and UNI Global Union.

Based on the 2022 global report released by the ILO, «violence and harassment at work is a widespread phenomenon around the world, with more than one in five persons in employment having experienced at least one form of violence and harassment during their working life.»

It is also a recurrent phenomenon, with «more than three in five victims having experienced violence and harassment at work multiple times.»

The same report also confirmed that women were more at risk of