From policy to protection: MCTU pushes ILO C190 into collective bargaining across 36 affiliates

By Burnett Munthali

The Malawi Congress of Trade Unions (MCTU) has wrapped up a three‑day leadership symposium in Blantyre aimed at helping union leaders from all 36 MCTU affiliates negotiate stronger, enforceable protections against gender‑based violence and harassment (GBVH) in their Collective Bargaining Agreements (CBAs).

Held from Wednesday to Friday and closing today in Blantyre, the training was delivered with technical support from the International Labour Organization (ILO) and centered on translating International Labour Organization Convention No. 190 (Violence and Harassment) into workplace practice across Malawi’s diverse labour sectors.

MCTU officials said the goal is simple but urgent: move C190 principles off paper and into binding clauses that employers must respect—and workers can rely on.

Convention 190 (C190) affirms every worker’s right to a world of work free from violence and harassment, explicitly recognizing gender‑based violence and harassment as threats to dignity, equality, and decent work.

It calls on governments, employers, and workers’ organizations to adopt integrated, gender‑responsive prevention, protection, enforcement, and remedy measures across all sectors of the economy.

Speaking at the close of the symposium, MCTU leadership stressed that unions have powerful leverage at the bargaining table and can use it to require zero‑tolerance language, complaint pathways, and survivor protections in CBAs that bind management legally.

Participants spent time unpacking model negotiating text covering anti‑violence definitions, reporting channels, whistleblower protections, survivor support services, and disciplinary consequences for perpetrators.

Facilitators said clear policy wording matters because vague workplace rules often allow harassment complaints to be dismissed, minimized, or buried.

Training modules linked GBVH language to occupational safety and health (OSH) frameworks, arguing that psychological harm, bullying, and sexual intimidation are as much safety risks as physical hazards.

Union leaders were coached on how to insist that violence and harassment risk assessments be built into OSH inspections, workplace audits, and joint safety committees.

Practical sessions walked delegates through step‑by‑step grievance procedures—from initial reporting to escalation, documentation, timelines, and appeal—so cases do not die in silence.

Confidential reporting options were emphasized for sectors where power imbalances, job insecurity, or rural postings discourage formal complaints.

Facilitators warned that policy language without implementation tools is “decoration,” urging unions to negotiate monitoring committees, record‑keeping obligations, and periodic review triggers in CBAs.

Role‑play bargaining drills helped affiliate leaders rehearse responses to common employer pushback, including cost concerns, fear of legal exposure, or claims that existing HR manuals are “enough.”

Sector representatives from plantations, manufacturing, education, health, public service, transport, and hospitality shared real workplace scenarios where lack of contractual protections left workers—especially women, youth, and casual labourers—vulnerable to abuse and retaliation.

Several delegates from agricultural estates described patterns in which workers who reported sexual coercion or verbal abuse lost shifts or seasonal re‑engagement, underscoring why enforceable clauses matter.

Public service union participants flagged gaps in complaint tracking across decentralized departments, noting that fragmentation masks the scale of GBVH incidents.

MCTU leaders said these testimonies reinforce long‑standing labour concerns that Malawi’s slow movement toward full adoption or ratification of C190 has left uneven protection across sectors.

They argued that while national policy change remains essential, unions cannot wait; protective language can be bargained workplace by workplace and sector by sector now.

International and regional labour bodies have urged countries yet to ratify C190—including Malawi—to accelerate alignment so that national law, labour inspection, and dispute systems back up what unions are trying to negotiate.

Delegates noted encouraging signals: Malawi recently launched a National Workplace Code of Conduct that reflects C190 values, including zero tolerance for violence and harassment and clearer definitions of misconduct.

MCTU trainers urged affiliates to lift that Code into their CBAs so national policy direction and union contracts reinforce each other rather than operate in silos.

They also encouraged unions to document incidents using harmonized templates to generate aggregate data that can strengthen policy advocacy, regulatory action, and future court challenges.

Data, they said, changes the conversation from anecdote to evidence—and evidence drives reform.

Women trade union leaders at the symposium welcomed the training, saying written CBA protections carry more weight than informal assurances when confronting harassment by supervisors, recruiters, or senior staff.

Youth representatives pushed for digital reporting tools that protect anonymity, arguing that younger workers are more likely to report through secure mobile channels than paper forms routed through management.

Participants agreed in plenary to establish an MCTU GBVH Bargaining Desk—a technical help hub that affiliates can consult in real time during negotiations, grievance escalations, or disputes over interpretation of GBVH clauses.

The Bargaining Desk will also track language gains across sectors so unions can replicate strong clauses and avoid starting from scratch in each round of talks.

Next steps include rolling out awareness campaigns inside union membership so workers understand what GBVH protections mean, how to invoke them, and where to report breaches.

MCTU will distribute a post‑training toolkit featuring sample CBA clauses, grievance flowcharts, checklists for gender audits, and talking points for negotiation teams.

Affiliates were urged to review existing agreements immediately and trigger mid‑term re‑openers where protections are weak, absent, or outdated.

Labour educators reminded participants that culture change requires repetition: train leaders, brief shop stewards, sensitize workers, and refresh the message at each bargaining cycle.

International labour experts who joined virtually said the most durable progress against workplace violence comes when three tracks move together—national policy reform, union‑level bargaining, and ongoing worker education.

The MCTU‑ILO collaboration launched in Blantyre now aims to scale that three‑track model across Malawi’s labour movement in the months ahead.