2015 International Labour Day: Trade Unionist's Call For Peace, Solidarity, Decent Work’

 Message to the North West Region Workers on the 129^th Edition of the International Labour Day 2015

Dear Comrades of the North West Region,

Tse Anye Kevin, CCTU Regional President

I am delighted to welcome you all to the 129^th edition of the International Labour Day celebration on the theme: ‘Let us build our country in peace, solidarity and decent work’.

I humbly thank and appreciate all our efforts in the attainment of 2014 goals for the workers which dwelled on decent work at our work place wherein we all condemned in very strong terms the bad and unethical practices at our job places such as: child labour, sexual harassment, homosexuality, embezzlement and corruption. The list goes on.

Although in 2014, a lot of unusual and unethical situations occurred, we praise God Almighty for the collective efforts of our unions to handle them. In future, the unions shall be more prompt in responding to similar unethical actions that could render untold hardship on workers in particular and the population in general.

 In 2015, our collective efforts to promote peace, solidarity and decent work at all levels will go a long way to create an enabling environment for economic growth and the promotion of our development.

I therefore wish to call on all the workers to embrace peace as an instrument of economic development, solidarity as we must be one and indivisible to better protect our society. Above all, we must know that the promotion of decent work is about the sustainability of our enterprises and the social protection of workers. We must shun marginalization, the sexual harassment of workers, corruption in all its forms, exploitation of workers by employers, and much more.

I am convinced that if proper strategies and checks are put in place, we will be taking the North West and Cameroon to an era where our economy is placed at the centre of development and where embezzlement, corruption, tribalism, the man-know-man syndrome and discrimination in all its forms, become things of the past.

2015 ushers in enough maturity in workers and I urge you to continue to be involved in the development of your various communities and especially in showing concern for the elderly and non-workers for better harmony in society. I will also like to urge all those who are working in the formal economy to understand that the level of success or progress in their careers depend largely on the level of engagement and contribution of those in the informal economy. My reflection here is on the enormous effort and work put in by women as house wives in particular and in domestic work in general, even as such work  is never really taken into consideration. These categories of unquantified workers deserve our attention as they also deserve decent working conditions.

Without their contribution, we can hardly achieve the theme of this 129th International Labour Day which is that of building our society in peace and solidarity. If we as workers take all this into consideration, we shall be creating an ecosystem of  better life and better living conditions for all, and above all; of a more just, open and democratic  society.

In 2015, we must grab our economy to our hearts; remain united as one people in one nation, fight for our rights, those of the elderly as well as women in domestic work. To achieve this, fellow workers, we must believe in ourselves and our ability to attain our lofty goals. More importantly, and above all, we must trust in the God Almighty.

Long Live the Trade Unions 

Long Live the International Labour Day

Long Live the North West Region and Cameroon

In God we Trust

Tse Anye Kevin

Regional President

Confederation of Cameroon Trade Unions, CCTU

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