Publications

ASIST Bulletin no. 8, January 1999

Employment ... ? yes, but quality employment with fair working conditions ... !

By Jan de Veen, POLDEV, ILO, Geneva

During the 1970s and the first half of the 1980s, in promoting the use of labour-based approaches for infrastructure construction and maintenance, the ILO worked directly with government agencies in some 30 developing countries. During the latter half of the 1980s a significant shift took place towards increased involvement of the private sector, particularly in the implementation of civil works. Many countries initiated contractor development projects, while at the same time establishing an agency capacity to manage and monitor the contract work.

Small local contractors proved very successful in carrying out labour-based irrigation and rural roadworks for several reasons. First, the intensive use of locally available resources required relatively limited capital investments in heavy equipment, (raising capital and particularly foreign exchange is a big problem for small contractors). Instead, it drew heavily upon the contractors' knowledge of local people and conditions (a mostly unexploited strength of local contractors). Second, development programmes aimed to establish a reasonable working environment, e.g. by introducing administrative systems that allow timely and regular payment for construction. Third, technical and business management training was provided, enabling the contractors to perform efficiently both in terms of managing labour-based sites and in running their businesses.

However, the use of labour-based methods through the private sector is potentially more risky than a situation where a government agency directly executes the work. In the latter case, the agency concerned will normally automatically apply the labour regulations related to the workers employed by it. But, when contractors are involved, temptations exist to increase profit margins by underpaying workers or in other ways to reduce costs by lowering working conditions. Fortunately, many local contractors consider good working conditions essential for their relations with their workers and the long-term prospects of their enterprise. Most are, therefore, keen to know and apply the relevant labour regulations, to treat their workers fairly and to pay them regularly and on time.

Even small improvements make a big difference

It remains essential nevertheless in labour-based infrastructure works to give the right priority to labour issues and to introduce regulations to avoid worker exploitation and improve upon worker's productivity. The best guarantee for large-scale and successful labour-based programmes — whether executed by the private or the public sector — is a motivated and fairly treated workforce!

So, what are the most important issues to consider? As a first consideration, child labour and forced labour should be avoided through the application of the related labour legislation in the country concerned. In respect of forced labour it must be ensured that ‘voluntary' contributions are truly voluntary, in other words that the workers concerned work for their own benefit and are not forced in any way.

Then, workers should get a fair wage, at least equal to minimum wages or to applicable collectively bargained wage levels where these exist. Where these do not exist or where they are clearly irrelevant to the labour-based sector, an attempt should be made to negotiate an agreement with the social partners involved. The wage level for unskilled agricultural labour or the closest comparable regulated wage for similar work could be used as a starting point for such negotiations, leading to a collective agreement. There are also clear guidelines on the use of payment in kind (food or other) or partial payment (incentives for community initiatives) for works of this nature.1 It is equally important — both for the employer and the workers, although for different reasons — that wages are paid regularly and on time.

Furthermore, there is the issue of ensuring a minimum level of social protection. Although it will be very difficult to arrange for social security schemes in this sector, an essential minimum is some form of insurance coverage for work-related injuries, complemented by measures to avoid accidents on worksites. Where contracts are concerned, the related costs should be borne by the responsible contractor, who in turn should be in a position to pass on these costs to the client through a specific item in the contract.

Equal treatment of male and female workers is another issue to be taken seriously. Men and women should get equal pay for comparable tasks, as well as equal access to employment and higher level supervisory and management jobs.

Finally, the basic minimum working conditions on sites should be defined and enforced. Minimum measures would include the availability of clean drinking water, first aid facilities, and protective clothing for dangerous work such as rock-breaking.

Of course, all this costs money, and may be difficult to enforce on many and dispersed worksites, particularly when the private sector is involved. Use should therefore be made of the tendering and contract system for this purpose. Simple contract documents should be introduced with appropriate clauses on the treatment of workers, dealing with the issues discussed above. The client — for civil works in most cases a government agency — should define the items of particular concern in the tender documents and be prepared to accept the additional costs involved as specified in the contractors' bid. Similarly, the agency has the obligation to make timely and regular payments for certified work thereby enabling the contractor to pay the workers timely and regularly.

The development of such a ‘fair' working environment will take time and effort, but is indispensable for labour-based programmes to last, and for local labour-based contracting firms to have a long term future. The involvement of representatives of government, employers and workers in defining appropriate standards, conditions and regulations is important. For this reason the employment-intensive infrastructure projects supported by the ILO strongly encourage the formation of contractors' and workers' associations, and the start of a dialogue between the social partners concerning the labour issues referred to in this article. The Labour Policies and Practices Guide mentioned in the footnote presents the current experience on how these issues may be dealt with in the project environment. It also gives guidance and advice to government ministries responsible for civil works, labour and employment and to workers' and employers' organisations2 on how to jointly make progress in this field.

Mechanisms for enforcing labour clauses

1 See Annex 3 of Employment-Intensive Infrastructure Programmes: Labour policies and practices, D. Tajgman and J. de Veen, ILO, Geneva, 1998.

2 Upon request to ILO/ASIST or the Development Policies Department of the ILO in Geneva, reasonable numbers of copies of this Guide will be made available free of charge to ILO constituents and labour-based practitioners.