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Geneva, 23-27 February 1998 INFORMATION NOTE
INFORMATION NOTEThis meeting is one of a regular series of tripartite sectoral meetings - comprising representatives of governments, employers and workers - held under the auspices of the International Labour Organization to discuss current employment and labour issues of importance in the industry concerned and to provide guidance for action, at national and international levels, by employers' and workers' organizations, governments and the ILO itself. The participants represented the governments, employers and workers from the world's major oil refining countries. In addition, the International Organisation of Employers, the relevant international trade union confederations, and other organizations concerned with this sector were present. Meetings such as this are open to the general public, but the right to take the floor is restricted to the official delegates, to technical advisers accompanying them, and to representatives of invited intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations. The official delegates comprised equal numbers of employer, worker and government representatives (19 for each group). Governments of the following countries were present: Argentina, Azerbaijan, Brazil, China, Egypt, France, India, Indonesia, Islamic Republic of Iran, Japan, Kuwait, Mexico, Nigeria, Norway, Romania,Trinidad and Tobago, Turkey, United States, and Venezuela. Employer and worker participants were selected based on nominations of the employers' and workers' groups of the ILO Governing Body; they did not necessarily come from the same countries as the governments. The purpose of such sectoral meetings is generally to exchange views on selected labour issues (in this case quantitative and qualitative employment trends, and industrial relations) in the industry under consideration, and to adopt one or more of the following texts: conclusions that include proposals for follow-up action; resolutions; and a report on the proceedings. The "conclusions" embody the consensus of the meeting on the nature of the employment and industrial relations issues and on the kind of policy actions that are appropriate at national and international level. The "resolutions" express the sense of the meeting on labour and social issues, other than those covered by the title of the meeting, related to the oil and gas industries. The Note on the proceedings is a published document, issued some months after the close of the meeting, that is the record of its deliberations and outcome. As a basis for the discussions the International Labour Office (as the secretariat of the International Labour Organization is called) prepared a published, book-length report containing statistical and other information and analysis of the topic. At the end of this report a list of "Points for discussion" are identified which the meeting agreed to use as the framework for its discussion. Three panel discussions on general labour issues of topical interest to the oil and gas sector (not restricted to refining, nor to employment/industrial relations issues) were held in the course of the meeting and included participants as well as outside speakers. These panel discussions are not intended to produce negotiated texts; a summary record of the discussions will be included in the Note on the proceedings. Official languages of the meeting were English, French and Spanish. All reports and documents will be available in all three. The previous meeting of the ILO for the oil and gas sector was the Tripartite Meeting on Safety and Related Issues pertaining to Work on Offshore Petroleum Installations, held in Geneva in April 1993. Earlier, a standing body known as the Petroleum Committee held 10 sessions, covering a variety of labour issues, between 1947 and 1986. Documents from many of these earlier meetings are available on request. EMPLOYMENT AND INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS
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Introduction |
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The oil industry context |
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Trends in demand, supply and price |
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Industry structure |
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The refining segment |
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2. |
Recent trends in refining: Economic and technical issues |
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General issues |
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Excess capacity |
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Changes in crude oil supply and oil product demand patterns |
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Environmental requirements |
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Profitability |
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The situation in the major regions |
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Western Europe |
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North America |
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Asia |
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Central and Eastern Europe and Central Asia |
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Middle East |
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Latin America |
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Africa |
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3. |
Employment |
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General trends |
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Employment experience at regional and national level |
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North America |
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Asia |
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Western Europe |
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Central and Eastern Europe and Central Asia |
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Latin America |
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Middle East and Africa |
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Employment and refinery performance |
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Role of labour costs |
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Women workers |
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4. |
Industrial relations issues |
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Institutional and procedural aspects |
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National features |
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Industry-specific issues |
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Freedom of association and collective bargaining in the oil industry |
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Some specific issues |
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Contract labour |
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Health, safety and environment |
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Remuneration and working conditions |
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5. |
Summary and points for discussion |
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Suggested points for discussion |
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