IUF and affiliates highlight trade union rights at major conference on child labour in Malawi

The Malawi National Conference on Child Labour in Agriculture brought together some 350 participants from government, enterprises, trade unions, NGOs and civil society groups in Lilongwe on September 4-6, 2012, to develop a framework for combatting child labour in agriculture as part of the government's Child Labour National Action Plan.

The conference was hosted by the Government of Malawi and sponsored by the ILO and the ECLT Foundation. Conference was opened by the President of Malawi, Joyce Banda, who confirmed her government's commitment to working together with national and international organizations to stamp out child labour in Malawi.

Child labour is particularly rampant in tobacco growing, where, as a result of the tenancy system, small farmers have no choice but to involve their entire family in the production of tobacco. The IUF, the Tobacco and Allied Workers Union of Malawi (TOAWUM) and the Malawi trade union confederation MCTU have been working over many years to raise awareness over the plight of tenant farming families, stressing the responsibility of tobacco traders and manufacturers to pay fair prices and decent wages as the key to eliminating the major cause of child labour: adult poverty.

This message was delivered to the companies and producer associations present at the conference by the IUF and its affiliates, TOAWUM and SPAWUM (Sugar Plantation Workers Union) and by PAWU (Plantation and Agricultural Workers Union). Furthermore, companies which commit to respecting ILO Conventions defending children's rights but refuse to respect ILO Conventions on trade union rights were denounced and called on to recognize and negotiate with the unions representing workers at their facilities.

TOAWUM urged the government to pass the long-awaited Tenancy Labour Act, while the IUF urged that the rights and protection provided under the Act be guaranteed within the regulatory framework to be developed as part of the government's plans to expand the scope of contract tobacco farming in Malawi. The concern that contract farming could lead to the substitution of dependency on powerful landowners to dependency on powerful TNCs was highlighted, and the Ministry of Agriculture was called on to develop a policy on fair contract farming through a process involving workers' and employers' organizations together with government.

Conference approved an outcomes document which contains concrete commitments and action to be undertaken respectively by government, trade unions, agricultural producer associations, enterprises, NGOs and development organizations and the media.

Click here for the congratulatory message sent jointly to the Government of Malawi by the ILO, IUF and ECLT.

Read also: Global March commits to action to end child labour in agriculture