‘Working hours should be reduced for women workers’

By Lamin Jahateh

The Gambia National Trade Union Congress has appealed for the reduction of working hours for women workers to enable them to return home to do their domestic chores.

“On behalf of the women workers, we appeal to the Honourable Minister of Trade, Regional Integration and Employment to consider reducing the hours of work per day to facilitate them to return home on time for their domestic chores,” the secretary general of the National Trade Union Congress said.

In January 2013, President Jammeh effected a change in the official working days and hours of The Gambia.

In that vein, since 1 February 2013, official working days in the country have reduced from five to four, Monday through Thursday, and working hours increased from eight to ten hours; that is from 8am to 6pm. 

Hitherto, official working days in the country are from Monday to Friday, and hours from 8am to 4pm.

The Gambia is now one of the very few countries in the world with a mandatory four-day working week. 

The country is now shut down for a whole day while most of the rest of the world continues doing business and financial markets remain active. 

The reason advanced by the Office of the President for this sudden move was that Friday will be a rest day, a day Muslims can use to worship Allah.  Also, people will have more time to do their agricultural work as part of the President Jammeh’s call for Gambians to “eat what you grow and grow what you eat”.