GENEVA (ILO News) - In a decision reaffirming the commitment of the international community to uphold fundamental rights in the workplace, delegates to the 86 th International Labour Conference today adopted by an overwhelming vote a solemn ILO Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work , committing the Organization's 174 member States to respect the principles inherent in seven core labour standards and promoting their universal application. The vote was 273 for, and zero against, with 43 abstentions. A quorum of 264 was necessary for the motion to pass.
The Declaration underlines that all member countries have an obligation to respect the fundamental principles involved, whether or not they have ratified the relevant conventions. It includes provision for follow up which will seek to "encourage the efforts made by the Members of the Organization to promote the fundamental principles and rights enshrined in the Constitution of the ILO and the Declaration of Philadelphia." A global report will assess the overall trends and the effectiveness of the Organization's technical support and establish future action plans to assist all member States in their efforts to promote these fundamental principles and rights.
The Conference, attended by over 3,000 delegates from 157 countries, including 127 ministers, also completed the first round of discussions on a new international Convention designed to eliminate the worst forms of child labour, including hazardous work, debt bondage, forced labour and slave-like conditions, and children in prostitution, pornography and drug trafficking. The text of the proposed Convention and Recommendations will receive a second reading and is expected to be adopted at the 1999 Conference.
Efforts to establish a new international Convention on contract labour failed to generate sufficient consensus and delegates referred the matter back to the ILO Governing Body for further consideration and possible inclusion on the agenda of a future conference. The 86 th session of the ILC did adopt a Recommendation on the general conditions necessary for the stimulation of employment in small and medium-sized enterprises.
The Conference also adopted a Resolution on Youth Employment, which calls on member States to take specific measures to increase employment opportunities for young persons, while ensuring employment protection for them. These measures include investment and education, vocational training, counselling, flexible work arrangements, and the creation of small and medium-size enterprises.
The ILO Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work reaffirms the commitment of the Organization's member States to "respect, to promote and to realize in good faith" the right of workers and employers to freedom of association and the effective right to collective bargaining, and to work toward the elimination of all forms of forced or compulsory labour, the effective abolition of child labour and the elimination of discrimination in respect of employment and occupation.
The Declaration also reinforces the obligation of the Organization "to assist its Members in response to their established and expressed needs in order to attain these objectives" by making full use of its resources, including mobilising external resources and encouraging the support of other international organizations with which the ILO has established relations.
The Declaration was adopted at the closing plenary session, following a series of marathon debates in a special Conference committee which deliberated over the past two weeks. The Director-General of the ILO, Mr. Michel Hansenne, praised the decision as a "watershed point in the struggle to achieve social justice in the globalizing economy."
The impetus for the declaration stemmed from concerns in the international community over the processes of globalization and the possible social consequences of trade liberalisation, expressed notably at the UN World Summit for Social Development (Copenhagen, 1995) and the WTO Ministerial Conference in Singapore (1996), both of which expressed support for internationally recognised core labour standards and identified the ILO as the competent body to deal with and set such standards.
The Declaration "stresses that labour standards should not be used for protectionist trade purposes, and that nothing in this Declaration and its follow-up shall be invoked or otherwise used for such purposes; in addition, the comparative advantage of any country should in no way be called into question by this Declaration and its follow-up."
In his address to the conference, Michel Hansenne said that "it was high time for the ILO to give itself the means to address the social consequences of the globalization of the economy."
He said "I believe we can all be proud of the Declaration that has been adopted", adding that "the ILO can now proceed on the basis of a truly global set of common social values."
Referring to concerns expressed during the long Committee debate, Mr. Hansenne said that the follow-up, which forms an integral part of the Declaration, aims at punishing no one, or condemning anyone: "It serves, on the contrary, to promote the fundamental rights and principles embodied in the Declaration: Nothing more, nothing less."
Following the Copenhagen Summit, the ILO launched an intensive campaign among its members to increase the number of ratifications of core standards. Since then, more than 80 new ratifications have been registered, and the campaign to achieve universal ratification will continue.
To date, 37 countries have ratified all seven of the Conventions (Endnote 1) . Convention No. 87 (Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organize, 1948) has received 122 ratifications, roughly 70 per cent of ILO members. Convention No. 98 (Right to Organize and Collective Bargaining, 1949) has received 138 ratifications, roughly 80 per cent of ILO members. The Forced Labour Convention ( No. 29, 1930) has been ratified by 149 member States, (84 per cent) and the Abolition of Forced Labour Convention ( No. 105) has received 130 ratifications (75 per cent). The two Conventions on discrimination ( No. 100, Equal Remuneration, 1951 and No. 111, Discrimination - Employment and Occupation, 1958) have received, respectively 137 and 130 ratifications, covering 79 and 74 per cent of ILO member States. The Minimum Age Convention, ( No. 138, 1973) has received 63 ratifications, covering 36 per cent of member states.
Discussions on the worst forms of child labour
The ILO estimates that upwards of 250 million children between the ages of 5-14 are obliged to work either full time or part time in developing countries alone. Many work under conditions that are debilitating for their physical, moral or emotional well being. The new draft Convention on child labour seeks to address the plight of these victimised children.
Following discussions on a new Convention and Recommendations concerning child labour, the Conference unanimously adopted a resolution to place the item on the agenda of its 87 th session in June 1999. The move concluded an intense, three-week series of activities focusing on child labour, which included the reception by the delegates at the Conference of hundreds of children participating in a "Global March against child labour" which got underway in January and had crossed over 100 countries before arriving in Geneva.
A 181-member Committee on Child Labour comprised of government, worker and employer representatives adopted a series of improvements to a proposed draft Convention. The proposed conclusions urge the Conference to adopt new standards on the immediate ban of the "worst" forms of child labour, and strengthen existing standards, including the ILO Minimum Age Convention, 1973 ( No. 138) of 1973 and its accompanying Recommendation No. 146 which are aimed at the total abolition of child labour. More than the previous Convention, the new instrument would bring into sharper focus the kinds of measures needed to suppress "the worst forms of child labour."
The Committee proposed that the term "child" in a new Convention should apply to all persons under the age of 18. The Committee said the "worst" forms of child labour should include all forms of slavery and practices similar to slavery, such as the sale and trafficking of children, forced or compulsory labour, debt bondage and serfdom; the use, procuring or offering of a child for prostitution, for production of pornography or for pornographic performances, as well as illegal activities, such as the production and trafficking of drugs; and any other type of work or activity which, by its nature or the circumstances in which it is carried out, could jeopardize the health, safety or morals of children.
The draft also called on each ratifying member State to establish "appropriate mechanisms" for monitoring the provisions of the proposed Convention, as well as designing and carrying out programmes of action to eliminate the worst forms of child labour. In addition, the draft also calls for each ratifying member State to "take all necessary measures to ensure its effective implementation and enforcement including the provision and application of penal and other sanctions." Finally, the draft urges members to take into account the importance of education in eliminating child labour, and adopt "effective, time-bound measures" to assist in the removal of children from the worst forms of work and "provide rehabilitation and social reintegration."
This was the first discussion of the new instrument and it will be discussed again next year with the view to adoption. Under the ILO Constitution, the new Convention, if adopted in 1999, will come into force one calendar year after the second ratification by an ILO member State.
"Contract Labour": Future Directions
The Conference adopted a Resolution concerning the possible adoption of international instruments for the protection of workers in the situations identified by the Committee on Contract Labour, inviting the Governing Body of the ILO to place these issues on the agenda of the International Labour Conference by the year 2002, with a view to the possible adoption of a Convention supplemented by a Recommendation, if considered necessary.
Persisting conceptual problems, combined with divergences of viewpoints, prevented the Committee on Contract Labour from recommending to the Conference the adoption of proposed instruments on contract labour as had been originally foreseen. Not since 1961 has a Committee of the International Labour Conference set up to examine draft instruments not reported back to the Conference with proposals for the adoption of international labour standards.
The Workers' delegation to this year's Conference expressed disappointment that the Committee did not come up with a draft Convention and Recommendation. The Workers' Vice-Chairperson, however, welcomed the fact that there will be a follow-up to the work of the Committee with guidance given to the Governing Body to ensure that all the necessary steps will be taken to bring back a draft Convention and Recommendation for future consideration. Such a Committee should "address the situations identified by the actual Committee where workers require protection and complete the work commenced by this Committee on Contract Labour", he said.
According to the Employers' Vice-Chairperson, "the outcome of the Committee's work reflects the fact that the subject of contract labour should not have been on the agenda for consideration of an international instrument. It has been demonstrated that the conceptual, definitional and linguistic difficulties, associated with the term contract labour made any meaningful consideration impossible". He expressed his hope that "future considerations will be much more tightly focussed and based on a more precise understanding of the issues under discussion".
The Committee's Chairperson, and its Reporter, as well as a number of other delegates, put forward fresh approaches to dealing with the issues addressed by the Committee.
The Resolution approved by the Conference invites the Governing Body of the ILO to take measures to have the work commenced by the Committee on Contract Labour completed. These steps are to include meetings of experts to assist the International Labour Office in doing the preparatory work for the future Conference discussion.
Recommendation stimulates job creation in SMEs
The International Labour Conference adopted a Recommendation on General Conditions to Stimulate Job Creation in Small and Medium-Size Enterprises (SME) (Endnote 2)
, enterprises which generate more than 80 per cent of new jobs worldwide. A Recommendation sets a non-binding, international benchmark for activities.
In order to create a business environment conducive to the growth and development of SMEs, the Recommendation asks member States to adopt "measures which are appropriate to national conditions and consistent with national practice in order to recognize and to promote the fundamental role that small and medium-size enterprises can play as regards the promotion of full, productive and fully chosen employment." The Recommendation also highlights inter alia the contribution of SMEs to greater income-earning opportunities, sustainable economic growth, increased economic participation of disadvantaged groups, increased investment, training and development of human resources and a balanced development of local and regional markets.
The Recommendation encourages member States to adopt policies to promote a stable economic environment, as regards inflation, interest and exchange rates, taxation and employment and social stability, remove constraints to the development and growth of SMEs, include specific measures aimed at assisting and upgrading the informal sector to become part of the organized sector, ensure the extension of social protection to workers in SMEs and compliance with social security regulations.
The Recommendation also calls on member States to adopt measures in consultation with representatives of employers and workers, to create and strengthen an "enterprise culture" favouring initiative, enterprise creation, productivity, environmental consciousness, quality, good labour and industrial relations. It also calls for consideration to be given to the availability of a range of direct and indirect support services to enhance the growth, job-creation potential and competitiveness of the SME sector.
Committee on Application of Standards
The Committee on the Application of Standards cited two countries in special paragraphs, Myanmar and Sudan, for continued failure to implement ratified Conventions.
In the case of Myanmar, the Committee noted severe and longstanding violations of fundamental and trade union rights in the country and persistent non-compliance with the terms and principles of Convention No. 87 (Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise, 1948).
The Committee recalled that the case had previously been discussed on several occasions and that it was "once again obliged to deplore the fact that no government report had been received by the ILO Committee of experts" despite repeated calls from the Committee. It recalled that Myanmar has already been mentioned in special paragraphs the last two years as being among the cases of continued failure to implement Convention No. 87.
In the case of Sudan, the Committee heard evidence of slavery and related practices in the country, in violation of ILO Convention No. 29 (Forced Labour, 1930). The Committee stressed in its conclusions that "this was a particularly serious case affecting human rights" as witness by the inclusion of Sudan last year in a special paragraph for similar facts. The Committee noted information provided by the Government on measures being taken to track down and bring an end to practices of slavery" and urged that there be "a serious attempt to eliminate slavery throughout the country." In view of the very serious nature of the evidence and the widespread accusations of serious human rights violations in Sudan, the Committee agreed that the case should continue to be mentioned in a special paragraph.
The report of the tripartite Committee on the Application of Standards recorded the views of Conference delegates on current issues of freedom of association and forced labour in the world, as well as problems of application of various Conventions in specific countries.
The Committee based its discussions on the report of the ILO's independent Committee of Experts, which had drawn attention to phenomena arising especially in a time of economic globalization - such as export processing zones, migration for employment, some aspects of the right to strike - and creating problems for application of the leading Convention on freedom of association ( No. 87), adopted by the Conference in 1948.
Another issue attracting debate has been forced labour, and especially the case of prisoners who do work for private companies or in privately run prisons. The Committee was told that in, for example, Canada and the United States questions such as prisoners' consent to work and the control exercised by public authorities over prison labour are being looked at in terms of conformity with the ILO's standards. Worker members see the forced labour issue both as one of basic human rights and one of unfair competition: they raised the cases of Malaysia and Singapore, which denounced Convention No. 105.
Over 20 individual cases of the application of ratified Conventions were discussed in detail. The Committee welcomed the move by Indonesia to ratify Convention No. 87 and the release of several trade union leaders, although there remained many problems in applying ILO standards on the right to organize under Convention No. 98 which the Government should address soon with ILO technical assistance, and which the ILO supervisory bodies would pursue further.
Application by the Russian Federation of the Convention on wage protection ( No. 95) was discussed, revealing continuing difficulty in ensuring payment of wages and the need for effective inspections and penalties for non-payment of arrears.
In all 59 government delegations collaborated with the Committee by providing information on the situation in their countries. The Committee noted 32 fresh cases of progress, and found its proceedings operating under the ILO Constitution a constructive contribution to the social dimension of globalization.
The 86 th International Labour Conference was honoured by the visit of Dr. Rafael Caldera, President of the Republic of Venezuela, who addressed the Conference in a special sitting on 9 June.
Another distinguished guest, Mrs Mary Robinson, the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights, addressed the plenary on 10 June. Mr. Kailash Satyarthi, one of the main organizers of the Global March, also addressed the delegates at the opening ceremony of the Conference, on 2 June. A total of 127 ministerial level delegates participated, as well as the Swiss Federal Counsellor, Mr. Pascal Couchepin, representing the Government of the ILO's host country.
The Conference President was Mr. Jean-Jacques Oechslin (France). The three Vice-Presidents of the Conference were Mr. Alhaji Muhammed Mumuni, Minister of Employment and Social Affairs of Ghana representing governments, Mr. Shri I.P. Anand, of India, representing employers and Mr. Sukesada Ito, of Japan, representing workers.
The International Labour Conference meets annually. It provides an international forum for discussion of world labour and social problems and sets minimum international labour standards and broad policies of the Organization. Every two years, the Conference adopts the ILO's biennial work programme and budget, which is financed by its 174 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.
Endnote 1:
Albania, Algeria, Argentina, Belarus, Belgium, Botswana,
Costa Rica, Croatia, Cuba, Cyprus, Denmark, Dominica, Finland,
France, Germany, Greece, Guatemala, Guyana, Honduras, Hungary,
Israel, Italy, Malta, Netherlands, Nicaragua, Niger, Norway,
Poland, San Marino, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Tunisia,
Uruguay, Venezuela, Zambia.
Endnote 2:
Vote on the Recommendation: Yes - 403; No - 0; Abstentions
- 4
Print
Email
