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An international conference on the Maritime Labour Convention (MLC) 2006, opened in Accra on Tuesday with a call on the participants to ratify and implement the Convention. Ms. Cleopatra Doumbia- Henry, Director of the International Labour Standards Department, Geneva, said the MLC was a very good example of an approach predicated on achieving decent work for seafarers in the context of a globalised industry. She said it would also provide a challenge for implementation at the national level because it transcended traditional institutional and legislative frameworks. Speaking at a Sub-Regional Seminar on the MLC for English speaking member states of the ECOWAS, she noted that there was the need for some urgency in connection with moving forward the content of the convention. The seminar was on the theme: Promoting Decent Work Standards for Seafarers. The MLC 2006 was the result of the ship owners and sea farers initiative developed through more than five years of intensive international tripartite consultancy involving more than 100 countries. The MLC also known as the 'super convention' for the world maritime sector provides a comprehensive charter for both seafarers and ship owners. It also provides an innovative and an integrated approach to ensure decent work for all seafarers wherever they come from or work. According to Ms Doumbia-Henry the ratification and implementation was necessary because of the need to have ships inspected and certified once the convention came into force adding, "We expect this to occur by 2011." She gave the assurance that once the Convention is ratified it would help to ensure a level-playing field for ship owners and decent work for all seafarers. The Minister of Employment and Social Welfare, Mr. Stephen Amoanor Kwao, said the goal of the seminar was to deepen stakeholders understanding of the MLC, identify legislative gaps and seek solutions to remedy the situation. The ministers said the theme for the seminar was relevant and timely in view of the commitment of ECOWAS to the international labour standards of the International Labour Organisation. He expressed the hope that participants would identify the constraints and challenges they faced in ratifying and implementing the convention. He urged participant to come out with ideas to promote opportunities for all hardworking seafarers in the Sub-Region to work in freedom, equity, security and human dignity in the maritime sector and as well give a human face to the global economy in order to minimize the social cost and enable member countries harness and enjoy the benefit of globalisation. Mr Kofi Asamoah, Secretary General of the Ghana Trade Union Congress said the greatest challenge facing working people in Ghana was job creation and how to protect the employment opportunities and income security in the face of globalisation and the associated crisis. He tasked participants to find out how the MLC would impacted positively on the decent work agenda; employment creation, right at work, social dialogue, protection and general well-being of working people in the maritime industry in Ghana and member countries. Mr Alex Frimpong, Executive Secretary of the Ghana Employers Association said there was the need to use labour standards to bring justice on the labour front and called for the need to pull resources and expertise in implementing the convention since the safety of the worker was paramount.