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"Trade union rights are human rights"
A monthly newsletter produced by the ILO Bureau for Workers' Activities
No. 4/03
May 30, 2003
Contents
 91st International Labour Conference
Working out of poverty
Discrimination in the workplace
Human resource development
Scope of the employment relationship
Identification system for seafarers
Health and safety at work
Occupied territories
Application of Conventions and Recommendations
Wage protection - a very current concern
Special paragraphs
Workers' Group
World Day Against Child Labour
ACTRAV's team for the Conference
Feature: Organizing Out Of Poverty
International Labour Conference - the world's social barometer
Social issues affecting workers in particular and society in general will be at the heart of the 91st session of the International Labour Conference, to be held in Geneva on June 3-19. The keynote for the discussions will be given by the Director-General of the International Labour Office when he presents his report on "Working Out Of Poverty". Up for discussion are equality at work, health and safety, learning and training for work in the knowledge society, the scope of the employment relationship, wage protection and better security for seafarers. Quite an agenda - and it will enable the ILO not only to assess the current social state of the world but also to map out solutions to the problems facing workers in a globalized economy. A number of distinguished guests will address some 3,000 government, employer and worker delegates taking part in the conference. Major speakers will include South Africa's President Thabo Mbeki and the King of Jordan, Abdullah II. And Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Da Silva (Lula) will be at the ILO on the eve of the conference, on 2 June.
Working out of poverty: "As things stand today, the Millennium Development Goal of reducing extreme poverty by half in 2015 will not be reached. There is a perverse interaction blocking the way: inequitable national and international income distribution patterns, governance problems from the local to the global level in the public and private spheres, and a model of globalization incapable of stopping the growth of unemployment and the informal economy." This shock analysis gives some idea of the effort that the international community will have to put into breaking the poverty cycle. But, in his report to the conference, ILO Director-General Juan Somavia does not simply list the many problems. He also sets out solutions to which the ILO, thanks to its unique tripartite structure, can make a vital contribution. Focussing on the working poor and the poor who are excluded from work, the report shows the "decent work dividends" that accrue to families and societies as a whole through a concerted effort to attack poverty. Logically enough, it concludes that poverty cannot be eliminated without decisive tripartite commitment. Employment, rights, protection and dialogue are the key words in the Director-General's approach to fighting poverty. He advocates a programme that would harness all the energies and creativity of the international community.
Discrimination at work - more subtle but still there: Even if the most flagrant forms of workplace discrimination are on the wane, prejudice is still very much alive in the workaday world. And it is taking on new, more subtle forms. These are more and more worrying, says the global report to be discussed at the Conference. Prepared in line with the 1998 Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work, the report notes that discrimination can destroy or adversely affect equality of opportunity or treatment at work. Thus, it may perpetuate poverty, shackle development, productivity and competitiveness and cause political instability. The report notes that many victims of discrimination - notably on the basis of gender or skin colour - face a continuing equality gap vis-à-vis the better-off, dominant groups or even their own peer groups who have benefited from anti-discrimination laws and policies. Women are still by far the group suffering the most discrimination. Not only do they often hit a "glass ceiling" in white-collar careers, but most women "everywhere" earn less than their male colleagues. Discrimination against HIV-positive people and AIDS sufferers is of growing concern, particularly in the case of women. It can take on various forms, such as a pre-hiring test which may be enough to get a candidate turned down for a job. But the news is not all bad, Mr. Somavia points out. "We have made progress," he says. "Today, discrimination is officially condemned more or less everywhere, and measures have been brought in to fight against discrimination at work. However, the struggle against discrimination is constantly evolving, and we still have a long way to go on the road to equality."
Human resource development - updating Recommendation 150: Adopted in 1975, Recommendation No. 150 on human resource development reflects the economic and social conditions of that time. Most countries were then following policies of economic, social and industrial planning, information and communications technology was in its infancy, work organization within firms was largely based on Taylorist principles and a large part of the active population was in secure waged employment. This Recommendation accompanies Convention No. 142, which bears the same name. The Convention is of a general nature and is still recognized as a valuable instrument for the guidance of countries when elaborating their training policies and systems. In fact, the Convention obliges a State to adopt and develop concerted occupational training programmes in line with the principles of non-discrimination and in close relation to employment. The Recommendation, on the other hand, has lost much of its relevance. In 2000, a general discussion during the International Labour Conference led to the conclusion that a more dynamic instrument was needed. It was also emphasized that education and training are everybody's right and that governments, in cooperation with the social partners, must ensure universal access to them. The specific needs of developing countries, lifelong learning, the concept of employability, the role of fiscal, economic and social policy and collective bargaining will be among the points to be discussed with a view to adopting a new instrument next year.
Scope of the employment relationship: Vague, restrictive or badly implemented laws, disguised or ambiguous employment relationships, difficulties in identifying the employer responsible - these are growing trends and they are helping to boost insecurity and poverty, according to 39 country studies by the ILO and others. For instance, the Conference report notes that recourse to civil or commercial contracts that permit the use of self-employed workers has greatly increased, leading to new forms of employment outside the normal framework of employment relationships. But the distinction between employed (waged or salaried) and self-employed workers can be blurred, the report emphasizes. The work relationship can be disguised or objectively ambiguous, it notes, leading to workers' being deprived of the benefits of labour legislation or collective bargaining. It cites the example of Costa Rica, where a practice has developed of recruiting plantation labour via intermediaries and for periods that never exceed three months, the minimum period required for entitlement to compensation in the case of unjust dismissal. Disguised employment is largely motivated by a desire to avoid the application of employment legislation, social security and taxation, the report maintains. This would explain the exponential increase in temporary work in some countries and the "conversion" of employed workers into self-employed ones. Truck drivers in transport companies are a case in point. In various countries, these drivers have been "transferred" to subcontractors or have been "converted" into freelance truckers who have to own or rent their vehicle, often at the behest of their former employer, in order to keep working. The point being that the drivers then have to shoulder the expenses for their vehicles, and they no longer enjoy the protection afforded to waged employees, even if their continuing dependence on their former employer is quite obvious. So concerns about workers' protection and job security will form the backdrop to a Conference discussion on the scope of employment contracts. The resulting conclusions should guide international and national action on this issue.
Improved security for seafarers' identification: After the attacks on September 11, 2001, States have to reexamine their obligations concerning the facilities granted to seafarers on their territory and the identity documents required in this connection. The competent bodies of the International Maritime Organization and the ILO decided that it was appropriate for the ILO to deal with this question. In March 2002, the ILO Governing Body placed an urgent item on the agenda of this year's International Labour Conference, concerning improved security of seafarers' identification, with a view to the adoption of a Protocol to the Seafarers' Identity Documents Convention, 1958 (No. 108). This new instrument should be adopted by the delegates at this Conference session. It may be recalled that the idea of creating an international identity document for seafarers, a concept that led to the elaboration of Convention 108, was launched by the International Transport Workers' Federation (ITF) in 1954. The Convention does not itself create an identity document. Rather, it provides that each State may issue its own national identity document. Ratified by 61 countries, representing 60.7 percent of the world fleet, it is one of the most-ratified ILO Conventions on maritime labour. If the times now call for a revision of the Convention, some voices on the worker side will certainly emphasize that security issues should not be allowed to obscure the central aim of identifying seafarers - namely, to establish that they really are seafarers and thus to enable them to benefit from various facilities and to carry out their work under decent conditions. So the security of transport and the protection of seafarers, within a context marked by acts of terrorism, will be at the heart of the discussions.
Health and safety at work: With more than 2 million deaths a year and worldwide annual costs put at a trillion dollars, work-related accidents and illnesses claim more victims than wars. They also consume resources equivalent to the combined national incomes of all the countries of Africa, the Middle East (oil-producing nations included) and South Asia. Ever since its foundation in 1919, the ILO has given priority to the promotion of occupational health and safety. But the sad truth is that the Conventions on worker health and safety are among the least ratified. For example, Conventions 121 (1964) on employment injury benefits and 155 (1981) on occupational safety and health have so far been ratified by just 23 and 40 countries respectively - even though these standards are at the very heart of the ILO's work. Beyond the question of standards, the conference discussion will also deal with other instruments in the ILO toolkit: collections of practical guidelines, promotional activities, technical cooperation and information distribution. This will be the first general discussion within the framework of an "integrated approach". It should make it possible to examine the impact, coherence and relevance of ILO safety and health standards and activities and to draw up an action plan that will mobilize all efforts and promote synergies in a field that is crucial for workers.
- The World Day for Safety and Health At Work, organized by the ILO as part of the unions' many events to commemorate those killed and injured at work, was a great success. As well as the round table held in Geneva, tripartite activities organized by ILO offices took place in 50 countries.
Occupied territories: The delegates will examine the Director-General's report on the situation of workers in the occupied Arab territories. Based on a mission, this report notes a deterioration in the conditions of Arab workers and their families in the West Bank, Gaza and Golan. It also refers to the economic recession in Israel. The international community is urged to support urgent measures to create jobs and promote social dialogue between Israelis and Palestinians.
Application of Conventions and Recommendations: At the Conference, the Committee on the Application of Standards will make a direct appeal to certain governments to answer a whole series of questions about labour rights and respect for ratified Conventions. The Workers' Group will be out to convince the governments of countries from which abuses are reported that they should provide a response and make commitments. A discussion on Burma will assess developments there in the light of the resolution adopted by the Conference in the year 2000. This called upon all ILO constituents, and international organizations, to review their relations with Rangoon, because of the use of forced labour in Burma. In May 2003, the ILO and Burma (Myanmar) signed an agreement on the nomination of a facilitator whose task is to help the victims of forced labour to obtain reparations. Burma also committed itself to implement an action plan against forced labour. The conference will assess whether this commitment has been kept. In March, the ILO expressed doubts about the credibility and relevance of the plan proposed by Rangoon.
Wage protection - a very current concern: The decision to make an in-depth study of Convention 95 (adopted in 1949) on the protection of wages, for discussion by the Committee on the Application of Standards during the International Labour Conference, could not have been more timely. For a while, the regularity of wage payments gave cause for satisfaction, thanks not least to a Convention so far ratified by 95 countries. However, that regularity is now being woefully flouted. So says a recent issue of Labour Education devoted to wages. Its coverage confirms the tenor of the report submitted to the Conference. For instance, Russian government data showed wage arrears running at 38 billion roubles in April 2000 (about 1.2 billion dollars at present rates). In Ukraine, total arrears in 2001 amounted to 30 percent more than the country's monthly wage mass. In Belarus, unpaid wages in 2001 amounted to 7.5 percent of the wage mass. Africa has also been hit. One of the Labour Education contributors went so far as to call wage debt the continent's "other AIDS epidemic". The problem is also spreading in Latin America. According to the Brazilian government, wage arrears consistently account for the most breaches of pay legislation. More than 50 percent of all cases dealt with! Last but not least, arrears in China run into billions of dollars. All of which will lead Labour Education readers to conclude that the ILO standards on wage protection, minimum wage setting and equal pay are as relevant as ever.
Special paragraphs: At the Conference, the Workers' Group will seize the opportunity to draw attention to the serious problems cited last year in the special paragraphs of the report of the Committee on the Application of Standards. A special publication on this will be distributed to all workers' delegates and specific requests will be made to governments, employers and the ILO itself in an attempt to improve the situation. The Committee on the Application of Standards has a mandate to cite countries in special paragraphs within its report. This procedure is used solely in the case of constant, serious infringements of labour rights, including those set out in the core labour standards. This procedure is applicable only to those countries that have ratified the Conventions concerned. Last year, the following countries were put under the spotlight in special paragraphs: Ethiopia and Venezuela for violations of Convention 87 on freedom of association, and Sudan for violations of Convention 29 on forced labour. As the Belarus government delegates declined repeated invitations to appear before the Committee, it was unable to discuss the situation in Belarus last year. Belarus was the subject of a special paragraph in 2001, due to numerous violations of trade union freedom.
Workers' Group: The Workers' Group is chaired by Leroy Trotman (Barbados) and its Secretary is Dan Cunniah (wkgroup@ilo.org). Each committee will elect a spokesperson for the tripartite meetings. He or she will also present a report to all the workers' delegates. Meetings of all workers' delegates will be held in room XIX at the Palais des Nations from 9.00 to 10.00 a.m. on Wednesday June 4, Friday June 6, Monday June 9, Wednesday June 11, Friday June 13, Monday June 16 and Wednesday June 18.
World Day Against Child Labour
This June 12 will be the World Day Against Child Labour, launched by the International Labour Organization in 2002. The aim of this initiative is to highlight the world movement to eliminate child - particularly its worst forms. The world action day is a catalyst for the further development of the rapidly burgeoning movement against child labour, as shown by the constantly increasing number of ratifications of Convention 182 on the worst forms of child labour (currently 138 ratifications, up from 122 in 2002) and Convention 138 on minimum age (124 ratifications, up from 117 in 2002).
While the ILO's regional offices will be taking various initiatives, the main event will be held in Geneva on June 12, with child trafficking as its theme. Queen Rania of Jordan will be the ILO's guest on this occasion (for more details of the World Day, contact: David St John, ILO Department of Communication - tel. +41 22 799 6939).
ACTRAV's team for the conference
ACTRAV secretariat at the Palais des Nations: phone number from inside the Palais: 77322 (from outside: +41 22 917 73 22)
Organizing Out Of Poverty
The Director-General's report to the conference is entitled Working Out Of Poverty. It emphasizes the important role that can be played by workers' organizing. Here, as an example of that role, we describe two projects carried out with the support of the Bureau for Workers' Activities.
Africa's informal economy - tackling the challenge
By the end of the 1990s, the informal economy in Sub-Saharan Africa was showing explosive growth. With the ranks of poor informal economy workers swelling due to such factors as successive structural adjustment programmes and the increasing numbers of unemployed youth, trade unions in Mali, Niger, Burkina Faso and Senegal requested the support of the Bureau for Workers' Activities (ACTRAV) to help them meet the needs of these workers. This led to an ACTRAV project to support trade unions in their efforts to organize workers in the informal economy. The project was co-funded by the government of Denmark, the participating unions and ACTRAV.
This project was based on the conviction that collective action was the best way of strengthening the poor and helping them to develop autonomous strategies to get out of poverty. The project therefore aimed at assisting workers in the informal economy to join together in organizations of the working poor, capable of defending the collective interests of their members and developing strategies that would improve their living and working conditions.
The project took off from June 1998 in Mali, Niger, Burkina Faso and Senegal, and lasted till August 2001. Through national trade union coordinating structures in each of these countries, activities were developed for the working poor in the informal economy.
What was done in these countries? Informal economy workers, who were mostly women, were helped by the trade unions to identify their needs, define their priorities and develop their strategies. This was done through training activities, the setting up of local structures composed of trade unionists and informal economy workers to oversee activities, the organization of informal economy workers around different trades, and the development of various socio-economic activities in line with the identified needs of the poor workers.
What were the results of the project? In Burkina Faso, 43 professional structures of informal economy associations were created with an autonomous national coordinating structure working in close collaboration with the unions. Furthermore, a mutual help society was set up to cater for the socio-economic needs of informal economy workers. In Mali, 12 trade unions and 2 associations of informal economy workers were set up. These organizations created a microfinance scheme for themselves and won some degree of recognition from the authorities. In Niger, 25 informal economy unions were created throughout the country and were structured into a National Confederation. Furthermore, a Mutual Health Organization was created, as well as a foundation to oversee the continuity of the project after it ended. In Senegal, 4 cooperatives of second-hand dealers were created as well as 4 mutual health organizations of informal economy workers.
At least two lessons can be learnt from this project. Firstly, that organizing and collective action are a strategic means for the empowerment of the poor, so that they can develop their own strategies to improve their living and working conditions. Secondly, when organizing is accompanied by well-targeted project support, the poor develop programmes that reinforce their social protection, increase their incomes and strengthen their voice.
New life for Neela
Neela Jayaram lives in the village of Kesavarayampatti, Tamil Nadu State, India. Some five years ago, she was toiling away in the paddy fields struggling to support her four children and ageing husband. Life was hard and sometimes she slept on an empty stomach.
Today, Neela Jayaram's life, together with that of her family has dramatically improved. Together with a host of other women in the 120 families living in Kesavarayampatti, she has formed a self-help group based on dairy farming.
This transformation in the life of Neela Jaya and many more like her is the result of a project initiated by the Bureau for Workers' Activities (ACTRAV) and co-funded by the government of Denmark, to organize poor rural women.
In 1997, Neela Jayaram participated in a three-day workshop for rural women organized by the Indian National Rural Labour Federation with the support of the project. This workshop, which sought to make them aware of issues of relevance to their daily lives and the role of trade unions in solving them, led to the organization of a self-help group in Kesavarayampatti. The self-help group was composed of 20 women who decided to save a rupee a day and put it into the coffers of the group. Six months later, they had enough funds to secure a bank loan to buy 15 cows for dairy farming.
Neela Jayaram sums it all up when she says "Before, we didn't have enough milk for our village. Today, we export milk to other villages." The empowerment she has gained from this experience has led her to recruit 100 new members from her village into the self-help group, and she is now helping the INRLF to organize poor women in neighbouring villages through self-help groups.
Based on the conviction that collective action is a strategic means for the empowerment of the poor, so that they can develop their own strategies to improve their living and working conditions, ACTRAV is implementing similar programmes in other regions of the world.
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