Major Programme 100. Sectoral Activities

Summary of 1998-99 proposals and comparison with previous biennium (including funds from other sources)

100.1. Many of the social issues addressed by the ILO manifest themselves in a specific and concrete form at the level of the main economic sectors and at the enterprise level in each sector. The specific characteristics of the various primary, manufacturing and service sectors account for the varying implications in different industries of trends such as globalization, flexible work organization, changing forms of industrial relations, the evolving need for training to take account of structural and technological change. The situation of vulnerable groups such as migrant workers, children  and  women  workers  also  varies  among sectors. Moreover, labour legislation and collective bargaining are treated along sectoral lines in a significant number of countries. For all these reasons, the economic sector is a meaningful unit of analysis for the design and implementation of social policy. Thus this major programme has a significant role to play as the ILO’s interface with its constituents at the sectoral level.

100.2. The general objective of the major programme is to facilitate the exchange of information between constituents on labour and social developments relevant to particular economic sectors, complemented by practically oriented research on topical sectoral issues. This objective has traditionally been pursued by the holding of international tripartite, or where appropriate bipartite sectoral meetings for the exchange of views and experience with a view to: fostering a broader understanding of sector-specific issues and problems; promoting an international tripartite consensus on sectoral concerns and providing guidance for national and international policies and measures to deal with the related issues and problems; promoting the harmonization of all ILO activities of a sectoral character and acting as the focal point between the Office and its sectoral constituents; and providing technical advice, practical assistance and concrete support to ILO constituents in order to facilitate the application of international labour standards in the various economic sectors.

100.3. The reforms resulting from the evaluation completed by the Governing Body in 1995 provide the flexibility to vary the composition and emphasis of activities within this major programme as a function of changing circumstances, while assuring that the main sectoral groups continue to receive regular attention. Even in their more streamlined form following the evaluation, meetings will continue to account for a large share of the resources of the major programme. However, the role played by other means of action will continue to be strengthened to the extent that resources permit. In particular the resources devoted to follow-up of the meetings have been increased. In order to strengthen the integration of sectoral activities into the general priorities and activities of the Office, proposals for meetings submitted to the Governing Body (November 1996) included both pre-meeting and post-meeting activities; and every effort will be made to collaborate with other units in the Office in the interest of maximum effectiveness. The work of this major programme complements that of other major programmes by dealing “horizontally” with all labour issues as they affect the various sectors. Its activities are largely driven by the Governing Body’s decisions about the programme of sectoral meetings.

100.4. The sectors that receive continuing attention under this major programme are vital in virtually all national economies, notwithstanding current changes. Analysis of sectoral trends in world employment shows that about 36 per cent of world employment (excluding the “informal sector”) is in the primary sector (including agriculture, forestry and mining); 28 per cent in manufacturing, construction and transport; and 36 per cent in services. Many sectors are associated with particular issues of occupational safety and health, working conditions or industrial relations that are specific to the type of activities involved or that are the result of their history. The activities of the major programme are grouped in the following manner: industrial activities (extractive, rural, manufacturing and construction industries); maritime and transport (shipping, fishing, ports, inland water, rail, road and air transport); and public and private services (commerce, financial and professional services, media, communications, education, health services, public utilities and the public service). An integrated approach to employment and other trends in different groups of sectors allows solutions initiated within one sector to be brought to the attention of the others, bringing greater coherence to the groups of sectors. Several sectors are currently characterized by similar tendencies towards technology-induced productivity gains, rising skill requirements, relatively or even absolutely decreasing employment levels and fragmentation due to the subcontracting and delocalization of certain activities to more rapidly growing or lower-labour-cost areas. Yet the dynamics of these processes vary considerably from one sector to another and policy responses need to take this sectoral dimension into account.

100.5 The resources for this major programme have been reduced by some $3.6 million following the decision of principle taken by the Governing Body in November 1995 to reduce the number of sectoral meetings from 16 to 12, which leads to a corresponding decrease in staff resources.

100.6. Extra-budgetary resources amounting to some $5.7 million are expected to become available for technical cooperation activities, particularly in the forestry, port and agricultural sectors. An RBTC provision of $513,600 will be used for follow-up activities to the sectoral meetings, including technical cooperation and technical advisory services in priority areas identified by sectoral meetings and in response to specific requests for assistance.

Technical and relations work

100.7. This subprogramme provides for the planning, monitoring, evaluation and reporting on all activities carried out under the major programme. In addition, provision is made for ongoing activities such as: the identification of priorities and issues in the various sectors and the regular collection of information on developments in the sectors concerned from printed and electronic sources in specialized periodicals, academic literature, NGOs, official documents and other relevant sources. Information is supplied to constituents and the general public upon request and information networks will continue to be developed, using both printed and electronic means (such as electronic bulletin boards on sectoral labour issues) to facilitate communication with and among sectoral constituents. Relations are maintained with employers’ and workers’ organizations, government departments, intergovernmental organizations, NGOs and sectoral specialists in academia and consultancies and the ILO is represented in sectoral events and media through such means as professional papers, lectures and articles. This subprogramme is a contact point for relations with other United Nations organizations, including through joint committees, as appropriate. Administrative follow-up to meetings includes communication to other major programmes of requests made by sectoral meetings that are within their competence, as well as the exchange of information and the provision of advice to the major programmes concerned. The work of this subprogramme includes servicing the Governing Body Committee on Sectoral and Technical Meetings and Related Issues.

Sectoral meetings

100.8. Provision is made under this subprogramme for the direct costs of preparing for and servicing 12 sectoral meetings, to be held in Geneva, with an average duration of five days and an average of 20 participants per group per meeting (the range being from 15 to 30). The exact composition of each meeting will be determined by the Governing Body. There is an overall ceiling of 507 participants in respect of whom provision is made for travel and per diem expenses, which includes an average of 20 workers’ representatives and 20 employers’ representatives per meeting, up to 15 experts to participate in panel discussions at the various meetings and one Governing Body representative to preside over each meeting.

100.9. At its 267th Session (November 1996) the Governing Body selected the following 12 meetings for inclusion in the programme of sectoral meetings for the 1998-99 biennium:

Chemical industries: Voluntary initiatives affecting training and education on safety, health and environment.

Commerce: Human resource implications of globalization and restructuring in commerce.

Food, drink and tobacco: Technology and employment in the food and drink industries.

Health services: Terms of employment and working conditions in health sector reforms.

Maritime, ports, fisheries and inland waterways: Safety and health in the fishing industry.

Mechanical and electrical engineering: The impact of flexible labour market arrangements in the machinery, electrical and electronic industries.

Mining (coal mines and other mines): Social and labour issues in small-scale mines.

Oil and gas production and oil refining: Employment and industrial relations issues in oil refining.

Postal and other communication services: The human resources dimension of structural and regulatory changes and globalization in postal and telecommunications services.

Public service: Human resource development in the public service in the context of structural adjustment and transition.

Transport (including civil aviation, railways and road transport): The social and labour consequences of technological developments, deregulation and privatization of transport.

Utilities: Managing the privatization and restructuring of public utilities.

Support to sectoral meetings

100.10. The support provided for sectoral meetings under this subprogramme includes: the coordination of administrative arrangements at the preparatory stages of sectoral meetings; clerical supervision and support during meetings; the provision of clerk and chief of secretariat services at such meetings; and the provision of linguistic support for the activities of the major programme, and particularly for the preparation and follow-up of meetings.

Follow-up to sectoral meetings

100.11. The conclusions and resolutions adopted by sectoral meetings are most useful when applied at the national level. This application of internationally agreed conclusions often requires technical assistance, which the ILO regularly makes available to constituents in various forms, including the promotion of tripartite sectoral dialogue on priority labour issues at the country level and the provision of advisory services on sectoral labour issues. ILO activities in all sectors generally deploy an appropriate combination of mutually supportive means of action. The exact composition of this mix varies from sector to sector depending on several factors, of which an important one is whether a meeting is scheduled during the biennium. The description of activities which follows mainly concerns activities relating to those sectors for which no meeting is to be held in the biennium 1998-99, and recurrent activities regarding the maritime industry and the service sector.

Industrial activities

100.12. Construction. This sector employs an estimated 70 million workers worldwide and accounts for some 50 per cent of fixed capital investment and a large share of national output in virtually all countries. It also faces major labour issues, including safety and health, working conditions, training, terms of employment (contract labour) and job creation. The meeting for this sector held in March 1996 requested the ILO to carry out a study on: the public procurement of construction services, and its impact on employment; all aspects of productivity in the construction industry; and the impact of globalization in the construction industry. This will be done in such a way as to develop the ILO’s capacity to provide technical assistance to constituents at the national level.

100.13. Agriculture — Plantations — Other rural sectors. Although declining, in many countries the share of the workforce engaged in agriculture is still larger than in any other sector. Employment promotion, poverty alleviation and application of basic labour standards to rural workers remain the salient points for which ILO constituents seek comparative information and practical guidance. An information document describing and assessing specific policies and practical measures taken in various countries to promote productive employment and reduce poverty among agricultural wage workers will be prepared, with emphasis on comparative analysis and successful policies and programmes. An assessment of the application of fundamental ILO labour standards for rural workers will be carried out. This assessment will in particular investigate the linkages between the application of labour standards and employment and poverty alleviation policies. It will also investigate the role of employers’ and workers’ organizations in promoting the application of the labour standards. These two activities were requested by the Tripartite Meeting on Agricultural Wage Workers held in September 1996. They should prove useful to the ILO’s field structure in its advisory and technical assistance to ILO constituents.

100.14. Textiles and clothing — Leather — Footwear. Many of the most serious problems related to workers’ rights and working conditions in these sectors involve small and medium-sized enterprises that are direct or indirect suppliers to large brand-name merchandisers or retail firms. Part of the problem has its origins in inadequate management skills in these enterprises. Women typically represent between 50 and 80 per cent of the workforce and are therefore the category most directly affected. An in-depth survey will be undertaken in a representative sample of countries with the cooperation of sectoral constituents. Using direct interviews and questionnaire replies from women employed in these sectors, the survey will establish more clearly the nature of the problems that they encounter with a view to identifying appropriate action, particularly as regards stability of employment, the matching of training and skills requirements and guarantees of non-discriminatory treatment. A similar investigation will be made of the views of employers in small and medium-sized enterprises that are engaged in international subcontracting in these sectors to ascertain their management training needs and the manner in which these needs can best be met. This work will provide a basis for the holding of national workshops to identify feasible measures for the promotion of basic workers’ rights and the improvement of productivity and working conditions (especially for women) in the textile, clothing and footwear industries. Three such national tripartite seminars of between two and three days duration will be held on different continents in countries where these industries play an important socio-economic role, such as India and Morocco.

100.15. As requested by the October 1996 Meeting, the ILO will continue work already initiated concerning codes of conduct that may be undertaken voluntarily by enterprises or employers’ organizations in the textile, clothing and footwear industries. Such work will include studies and the development of models that could be used, with suitable adaptation, in particular countries, as well as technical advisory services concerning the adoption and application of such codes.

100.16. Forestry — Wood — Pulp and paper. Forestry continues to be one of the most hazardous occupations. A revised ILO Code of practice on occupational safety and health in forestry is expected to be adopted at the meeting in September 1997. Activities to promote observance of the Code will be targeted on countries and regions with serious occupational safety and health problems in this sector and where there is a lack of effective prevention arrangements. In support of these activities, a set of educational materials, including a brochure, a technical guide and video, will be produced and disseminated. Three national codes of practice will be formulated, a regional workshop organized and an advisory mission undertaken in Eastern Europe. Support will also be provided for the development of an interregional technical cooperation project for the promotion of the national codes of practice. Another important issue concerns the social and labour implications of globalization in the forest-based industries as a result of the growing trend in the wood and the pulp and paper industries to relocate part or all of their production from traditional bases in industrialized countries to Eastern European transition countries or to newly industrialized countries. The relocation has significant, although different consequences in terms of the volume and quality of employment, working conditions and labour relations in the countries of origin and the host countries of the new production facilities. Women workers, who represent a large proportion of the unskilled workforce in subsectors such as furniture-making and paper products, are particularly affected. However, the consequences of relocation are poorly documented, thereby limiting the capacity of constituents to respond to the problems involved. Research will therefore be carried out and six field studies undertaken covering the different regions and subsectors affected with a view to the publication of a technical report and a briefing note. This work will be supplemented by a number of technical cooperation projects in the forestry sector. One project in Ethiopia focuses on employment promotion for self-employed women forestry workers. Another in Indonesia consists of training for forest workers, while a third, in Zimbabwe, concentrates on training to improve working conditions and productivity.

100.17. Basic metals. The October 1997 meeting on this sector will generate follow-up in several areas. The issues discussed at the meeting are likely to include the manner in which best practices in some areas can be replicated elsewhere and the changing roles of unions in relation to other workers’ representatives in negotiations with the management on new work practices. Depending on the outcome of the meeting, follow-up activities may include the organization of workshops to examine the changes taking place in state-of-the-art integrated steelworks and mini-mills in selected countries and to discuss their impact on employers and workers’ representatives.

100.18. Food — Drink — Tobacco. Follow-up activities from the planned meeting are likely to include a study and a national workshop on the improvement of women’s working conditions in the food industry in a South Asian country, as well as a study and national workshop on skills requirements and training needs in the informal food sector in an English-speaking African country.

100.19. Mining. Continuing follow-up activities, at the request of the Coal Mines Committee, include collaboration with the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) and the International Energy Agency (IEA) in work to assess the impact on employment in the industry of coal trade and of environmental constraints on the use of coal. A network will be developed for the exchange of information and the promotion of best practices to improve productivity in coal mines. The likely follow-up activities to the meeting on small-scale mines include the development of approaches to combat child labour, increase profitability and improve safety and health in the workforce and the community.

100.20. Transport equipment manufacture. These industries are characterized by the widespread adoption of flexible working time schemes and work rules, combined with new management techniques, which have had a major impact on competitiveness and working conditions. Two aspects of these organizational changes deserve greater attention than they have hitherto received. These are the introduction of performance indicators and incentives in job specifications, and the resulting changes in pay systems, which are having a far-reaching effect on the collective bargaining process and the relationships between workers, trade unions and management. This issue is particularly relevant to the auto parts and automobile industry. Studies in these areas will clarify issues for further consideration.

Maritime and transport

100.21. Shipping. Activities to promote the ratification and implementation of maritime labour standards will focus on major flag and port States, as well as major labour supplying States. In this work, emphasis will be given to the Merchant Shipping (Minimum Standards) Convention, 1976 (No. 147), and the instruments adopted by the Maritime Session of the Conference in 1996. These activities will take the form of the organization of national and regional tripartite seminars and workshops, the increased dissemination of information and the provision of technical advisory services. The ILO model training course on ship inspection, prepared during the biennium 1996-97, will be used as a basis for tripartite seminars and workshops to improve the ability of inspectors to carry out flag and port State inspections of living and working conditions on board ship. Particular importance will be attached to active ILO participation in an increased number of meetings and seminars organized by non-governmental and governmental organizations on the inspection of labour conditions on board national and foreign-registered ships.

100.22. A resolution adopted by the Maritime Session of the Conference in 1996 concerning the inspection of seafarers’ working and living conditions requested the Director-General to make proposals for a meeting of experts to review the guidelines adopted by an ILO meeting of experts in 1989 on “Inspection of labour conditions on board ships: Guidelines for procedure”. The Guidelines, which address both the inspection of national and foreign registered ships, have been an important tool for the inspection of seafarers’ living and working conditions worldwide. A revised draft code of practice will be prepared during the 1998-99 biennium taking into account the relevant standards adopted by the Maritime Conference as well as lessons learned since the Guidelines were adopted in 1989. A meeting of experts to discuss the draft code is planned to be held at a later stage.

100.23. Ports. In recent years, many ports have introduced capital-intensive cargo-handling methods in order to meet the needs of an increasingly competitive, global and multi-modal transport network. Structural adjustment programmes have been introduced to improve efficiency, resulting in reductions in the workforce and affecting conditions of work. More than ever, ports need a competent and skilled workforce, protected by relevant safety and health provisions, within a flexible organization of work in which due regard is paid to safeguarding their rights. Technical advisory services will be delivered, particularly to ports undergoing structural adjustment, to help improve safety and health, human resource development and conditions of work. Assistance will also be supplied upon request for the identification of training needs and the implementation of training programmes. Support will continue to be provided for technical cooperation activities focusing on the identification of training needs in ports, the training of instructors, the strengthening of training capacities and the improvement of operational efficiency. Training activities will be based on the ILO’s training package for ports, the Portworker Development Programme (PDP). Training materials will also be provided to a number of member States for use in container terminals and in the handling of bulk cargo.

100.24. Fishing. In response to the resolution adopted by the Maritime Session of the Conference in 1996 on the application of the Recruitment and Placement of Seafarers Convention, 1996 (No. 179) to the fishing sector, a study will be undertaken to assess which of the other ILO maritime instruments should be applied to the fishing sector through the adoption of appropriate protocols, and/or the adoption of new international labour standards for the sector.

Public and private services

100.25. Commerce. Commercial distribution systems have been deeply restructured in recent years. The rapid development of multinational retailers and wholesalers has led to greater concentration and globalization of the sector. Commercial firms are reacting to intensifying competition and increasing customer demands through new forms of sales and growth policies. These developments, which started in industrialized countries have now reached newly industrialized economies, have deeply affected the organization of work and human resources strategies at the different levels of the commerce sector. An analysis will be made of the impact of the new distribution structures, focusing on employment levels and conditions, remuneration, working conditions and labour management relations and with particular emphasis on the newly industrialized countries in Asia and the Pacific and in Latin America.

100.26. Financial services — Professional services. The downsizing and restructuring of large service sector corporations have transformed the working lives of professional and managerial personnel. Unemployment has struck this highly qualified workforce as never before, while those at work may be subject to extensive overtime in working environments that are often stressful. Research will therefore be undertaken on the incidence of overtime work in financial and professional services enterprises and its relationship to employment levels. Further activities will be carried out to follow up the Tripartite Meeting on Breaking through the Glass Ceiling: Women in Management, to be held in December 1997.

100.27. Media — Culture — Graphical. The media industry is currently undergoing extensive corporate concentration, with a handful of global operators dominating each subsector. Media, culture and graphical workers are experiencing increased casualization of employment as work is outsourced to freelancers or independent contractors. Extensive subcontracting from the largest to the smallest firms has affected collective bargaining processes and has resulted in irregular employment, the individualization of the terms and conditions of employment and decreased benefits for many media workers. Moreover, large segments of the workforce in printing, publishing and graphical work are affected by the delocalization of work, especially in the form of telework through electronic communications systems. In response to the employment issues raised during the Symposium on Multimedia Convergence, held in January 1997, regional seminars and workshops will be organized on the changing conditions of employment and work in the various media industries. Activities in relation to these sectors will include the servicing of the 17th Ordinary Session of the Intergovernmental Committee of the International Convention for the Protection of Performers, Producers of Phonograms and Broadcasting Organizations (the Rome Convention) as part of the ILO/UNESCO/WIPO joint secretariat.

100.28. Education. Two workshops/seminars will be organized to promote joint or tripartite dialogue on the status of teachers in economic austerity, notably best practices and guidelines on the application of the ILO/UNESCO Recommendation concerning the Status of Teachers and related ILO standards. Applied research on items identified as priorities for follow-up action by the Joint Meeting on the Impact of Structural Adjustment on Educational personnel and by previous meetings of the Joint ILO/UNESCO Committee of Experts on the Application of the Recommendation concerning the Status of Teachers (CEART) will cover the qualitative and quantitative aspects of the recruitment of educational personnel, negotiation machinery and participation in educational decision-making related to teachers’ status, working conditions, the impact of privatization and decentralization and the status of higher education teaching personnel. Follow-up activities will include cooperation in the monitoring by CEART or a separate UNESCO body of the UNESCO draft Recommendation on the Status of Higher Education Teaching Personnel.

Departmental management

100.29. Provision is made for the director of the department and support staff.

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