GENEVA (ILO News) - Delegates to the 88 th session of the International Labour Conference, which gets underway in Geneva on Tuesday, 30 May 2000, are set to adopt a new International Convention on maternity protection and will begin debate on the development of possible new standards on safety and health in agriculture, one of the three most dangerous sectors in terms of health and safety in the world.
This year's Guest of Honour, His Excellency Jorge Sampaio, President of the Republic of Portugal will address the Conference on 5 June at 10:00 hours.
His Excellency Sam Nujoma, President of the Republic of Namibia, will address the Conference on 8 June within the framework of a special event on HIV/AIDS and the world of work. The session will be attended by Peter Piot, Executive Director of UNAIDS.
The Conference gets underway at 10:30 hours, Tuesday 30 May and runs until Thursday 15 June. The opening plenary session in the Assembly Hall of the UN Palais des Nations in Geneva will elect the Conference President.
Global report
Among the Conference documents is a new report based on the Follow-up to the ILO Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work , which was adopted by the Conference in 1998. The Global Report, entitled Your Voice at Work finds that despite significant progress in a number of areas "intimidation, threats and even murder still await many workers who attempt to organize in a number of countries around the world".
Although freedom of association and the effective right to collective bargaining have been recognized as fundamental rights and principles by the 175 member States of the International Labour Organization (ILO), "we are still a long way from universal acceptance of these fundamental principles and rights in practice", says the report. Adding that "Governments, as guardians of democracy, need to do more than pay lip service" to them.
"A global economy in which people do not have the right to organize will lack social legitimacy", said Mr. Juan Somavia, Director-General of the ILO. "People organizing themselves to make their voices heard", he added, "exercise a fundamental human right and the most important development right".
Manifest violations of freedom of association highlighted in the Global Report, include outright prohibitions on trade unions in many countries and constraints on independent workers' organizations in many others. The Global Report will be among the main agenda items in the plenary discussions.
Myanmar
The implementation of the recommendations of the Commission of Inquiry on Forced Labour in Myanmar was placed as an agenda item of the Conference by the ILO Governing Body at its most recent session in March. At that time the Governing Body invoked article 33 of the ILO Constitution, recommending that the International Labour Conference "take such action as it may deem wise and expedient to secure compliance" with the recommendations of a 1998 Commission of Inquiry, which found the use of forced and compulsory labour in that country to be widespread.
The decision to invoke article 33 and place such an item on the agenda of the International Labour Conference was unprecedented in the ILO's history.
The Governing Body has formulated a set of measures, which are to be presented to the Conference, with a view to enlisting the support of ILO constituents to review their dealings with Myanmar to ensure that by their involvement they are in no way contributing to the perpetuation of forced labour.
In the week prior to the opening of the Conference, an ILO technical cooperation mission of the International Labour Office (ILO) undertook discussions in Yangon, Myanmar (Burma) with the Government of Myanmar on the implementation of the recommendations of the Commission of Inquiry, which recommended that the Government take the following steps:
• that legislation, in particular the Village and Towns Acts, be brought into line with the terms of the Forced Labour Convention, 1930 (No. 29), which Myanmar (Burma) has ratified;
• that no more forced or compulsory labour be imposed by the authorities, particularly by the military;
• that penalties which may be imposed for the exaction of forced labour be strictly enforced, with thorough investigation, prosecution and adequate punishment of those found guilty, in conformity with article 25 of the ILO Convention.
The mission's report will be submitted directly to the Conference.
Maternity protection
The 88 th Conference will have a second discussion on maternity protection at work and is expected to adopt a new international labour Convention and Recommendation on this subject. After a first discussion in June 1999, the Conference Committee on Maternity Protection had agreed that the time was right for new international standards, revising the Maternity Protection Convention (No.103) and its accompanying Recommendation No.95, to take account of developments since the latest provision for maternity protection were adopted in 1952.
Maternity protection of women at work is a subject of core importance to workers and has been accorded a central place by the International Labour Organization since it was founded in 1919. In that same year it adopted the first Maternity Protection Convention, laying out basic principles of maternity protection - the right to leave, the right to cash and medical benefits and the right to job security, as well as the right to nursing breaks during working hours.
Since that time, women's employment patterns have changed greatly around the world. Women now tend to work throughout their childbearing years. Women contribute a higher proportion of family income than ever before. The importance of maternity protection for employed women has grown in consequence.
Discussions on the draft ILO Maternity Protection Convention will cover many issues, including the scope of application of the new Convention, the period of maternity leave, leave in case of illness or complications, the level of cash benefits, employment protection and non-discrimination and breaks for nursing mothers.
The draft Recommendation contains more specific provisions concerning extension of the period of maternity leave, as well as maternity benefits, employment protection and discrimination, health protection and nursing mothers.
The revision of the existing international labour standards for maternity protection has been the subject of wide consultation with governments and organizations of employers and workers around the world. It has also generated interest among international organizations, non-governmental organizations and the general public.
The provisions of the draft Convention and Recommendation are still subject to amendment by the International Labour Conference before the new standards are finally adopted. "We hope that, with the benefit of such wide consultation, the new Convention and Recommendation will respond to the needs and aspirations of both women workers and their employers as well as policy-makers in the twenty-first century", said Ms. F. J. Dy-Hammar, the representative of the Secretary-General for the Maternity Protection Committee.
Safety and health in agriculture
The Conference Committee on Safety and Health in Agriculture will undertake its first discussion on the development of possible new standards. While international standards and updated codes of practice already exist in the mining and construction sectors there is no comprehensive Convention or Recommendation dealing with the safety and health problems of workers in agriculture.
Agriculture is one of the three most hazardous industries together with mining and construction both in developing and industrialized countries. According to ILO estimates out of a total of 335,000 fatal workplace accidents worldwide, there were some 170,000 casualties among agricultural workers. Millions more of the world's 1.3 billion agricultural workers are seriously injured in workplace accidents involving machinery, or poisoned by pesticides and other agro-chemicals.
In addition, agriculture mortality rates have remained consistently high in the last decade as compared with other sectors where fatal accidents have decreased. The real picture of occupational safety and health for farm workers is likely to be even worse than official statistics indicate due to the widespread under-reporting of deaths and injuries worldwide.
A large number of agricultural workers are deprived of any form of social protection. In most countries, only some categories of agricultural workers are covered by national legislation, employment injury benefits or insurance schemes. Effective enforcement of national regulations is poor due to insufficient labour inspection, lack of understanding and training on hazards and their prevention of both employers and workers and low levels of organization among agricultural workers.
Although waged-workers in agriculture are protected by the Plantations Convention, 1958 (No. 110) and in broad terms, safety and health in agriculture is to be covered by the Framework Convention on Occupational Safety and Health, 1981 (No. 155), which provides for a national and enterprise level policy by sector, there is no comprehensive international standard dealing with the problems of safety and health in agriculture. For this reason, the Governing Body of the ILO decided to place an item on this subject on the agenda of the 88 th Session (2000) of the International Labour Conference.
These proposed new standards intend to contribute to set the framework on which national policies on occupational safety and health in agriculture could be developed. The main points that the Committee will consider are: a national policy for the sector, definitions and scope, risk assessment and risk management and preventive and protective measures on: machinery safety and ergonomics, handling and transport of materials, chemicals management, animal handling, construction and maintenance of agricultural facilities. Other provisions concern young workers, temporary and seasonal workers and self-employed farmers, insurance against injuries and sickness, welfare and accommodation facilities.
Other items
A general discussion on Human resources training and development will be based on a report entitled "Training for employment, productivity and social inclusion". The report argues that opportunities for continuous education and training have been insufficient and only few workers, even in the developed countries, have had access to them. Countries therefore need to generalize, and increase investments in lifelong learning and effective and equitable training markets.
The Committee on Application of Standards will call directly upon Governments to respond to a wide range of human rights and other labour issues examined in the year 2000 report of the Committee of Experts on the Application of Conventions and Recommendations. The report cites an array of abuses, including restrictions on freedom of association, the use of forced labour and the persistence of widespread discrimination in the workplace.
The Conference will also be the venue for a high-level meeting on HIV/AIDS in the world of work on 8 June, from 10:00 to 11:00 hours. Sam Nujoma, President of Namibia, is expected to address the morning session of the high-level meeting, along with the Director-General and Dr. Peter Piot, Executive Director of the United Nations Joint Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS). Ms. Merci Makhalemele of South Africa, a woman living with HIV/AIDS, will also address the morning session. The Director-General is also expected to sign a cooperation framework agreement with UNAIDS immediately after the morning session. In the afternoon, a technical panel including government, employer and worker representatives will discuss a report, "HIV/AIDS: A Threat to Decent Work, Productivity and Development" that has been prepared for the Conference.
The ongoing campaign for ratification of the new Convention on the worst forms of child labour (No.182) remains a high priority for Director-General Somavia, and will be highlighted during the conference. There will be a Help Desk in Room A-263 of the Palais operated during the ILC by the Campaign Team of the ILO's International Programme on the Elimination of Child Labour (IPEC) . While the Help Desk is primarily intended to answer enquiries from delegates, journalists are welcome to visit it. In addition, Mr. Somavia plans to host an event at the Palais honouring the Ministers of several governments which are bringing their instruments of ratification to the conference. This event is open to the press and there will be time set aside for questions from journalists for the Ministers and Mr. Somavia.
The Conference is also called upon to decide on the withdrawal of the following Conventions which have not come into force and which, in the ILO Governing Body's view, have lost their purpose: the Hours of Work (Coal Mines) Convention, 1931 (No. 31); the Hours of Work (Coal Mines) Convention (Revised), 1935 (No. 46); the Reduction of Hours of Work (Public Works) Convention, 1936 (No. 51); the Reduction of Hours of Work (Textiles) Convention, 1937 (No. 61) and the migration for Employment Convention, 1939 (No. 66).
The role of the International Labour Conference is to adopt and oversee compliance international labour standards, establish the budget of the Organization and elect members of the Governing Body. Since 1919, the Conference has served as a major international forum for debate on social and labour questions of worldwide importance.
The Conference is expected to draw some 3,000 delegates including labour ministers and leaders of workers' and employers' organizations from most of the ILO's 175 member States. Each member country has the right to send four delegates to the Conference: two from the government and one each representing workers and employers, each of whom may speak and vote independently.