President of the Sierra Leone Labour Congress (SLLC) Thursday appealed for a ratification of more labour laws adopted by the international labour organization.

Mohamed Deen was speaking at the opening ceremony of a three-day capacity building workshop for trade union leaders organized by the SLLC and the British Trade Union at the Family Kingdom resort in Freetown.

He said out of the 188 conventions and 199 developed recommendations adopted by ILO, Sierra Leone as a member state has only ratified 33 of these conventions.

This, Deen said, clearly shows that the country was far behind in achieving comprehensive legal instruments on social protection, social justice for workers and their trade unions.

"We view this situation to be unfortunate. I therefore appeal to the minister of employment and social security to ensure that modalities are put in place for the immediate ratification by parliament," he said.

Deen said ILO core conventions are 138 and 182 on child labour, noting that the focus of the workshop was on the ILO's core conventions.

He said the workshop would also assess the current state of the labour laws and legal instruments in Sierra Leone.

Deen called on participants to use the opportunity to explore their institutions and promote social justice and economic stability.

Project consultant from Britain Trade Union John Sterling said he wanted Sierra Leone to introduce a frame work of legislation that supports trade union.

Sterling said they need a frame of law that will rebuild SLLC and trade unions adding that laws are for bad employers who try to victimize workers.

Keynote speaker, minister of employment and social security Minikalu Mansaray said the country has ratified at least five out of the eight ILO core conventions which included those on collective bargaining, equal remuneration, abolition of forced labour, convention freedom of association and convention on discrimination.

He said his ministry is currently revisiting draft labour legislation and the National Employment Policy.

Mansaray said the legislations, when fully enacted by parliament, would encompass all the ingredients of decent work agenda and at the same time, strive to maximize employment which was a major factor in poverty reduction.

He said his ministry's vision was to create decent and productive employment opportunities for all, especially among disadvantaged groups.

Mansaray said he is presently developing and pursuing policies that promote labour manpower planning, human resource development, self reliance and a general sense of corporate culture ensuring that labour market information was available nationwide.