The Second Joint Meeting of the ASEAN Trade Union Council (ATUC) and the ASEAN Confederation of Employers (ACE) was held on the 4-5 April 2019 at Hotel Jen, Manila.
Supported by the ILO’s ACTRAV, ACTEMP, and TRIANGLE in ASEAN programme, the meeting was implemented in partnership with the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) and the Government of Canada (GAC).
Regional and national representatives of the ATUC and the ACE from 10 ASEAN member states attended the meeting.
Acknowledging the importance of labour migration in ASEAN, ACE and ATUC jointly agreed to welcome the adoption of the ASEAN Consensus on the Protection and Promotion of the Rights of Migrant Workers (ASEAN Consensus). This intends to guide the ASEAN member states in developing labour migration governance frameworks that will help harness the benefits of labour migration to economies and societies in countries of origin and destination within ASEAN.
In addition, the two parties also recommended the ASEAN Committee of Migrant Workers (ACMW) and Governments of ASEAN Member states to engage ATUC and ACE in planning and implementation of the ASEAN Consensus and its Action Plan 2018-2025, as well as strengthen tripartite social dialogue mechanisms and allow tripartite participation in monitoring and evaluating implementation of the ASEAN Consensus and its Action Plan at national level.
Together with their national affiliates, ATUC and ACE ultimately agreed to work jointly on lobbying governments on key priority issues, promoting services to migrant workers and their employers, and continuous ACE-ATUC joint dialogues.
ECOP, as Secretariat of ACE, co-organized the meeting.
