Towards full employment

3.6 The role and ratification status of international labour standards

The ILO's international labour standards provide an enabling environment and encourage States to pursue economic development in a socially constructive manner by broadly defining a set of social policies. For example, the Employment Policy Convention, 1964 (No. 122) provides a useful framework for underpinning conceptual, institutional and practical aspects of employment policies both in times of crisis and in an environment conducive to economic growth. Conventions related to the freedom of association provide protection against acts of anti-union discrimination and interference, and promote voluntary collective bargaining to determine conditions of employment. The standards outlawing discrimination contribute to a more even distribution of income and reduction in poverty, particularly among the vulnerable groups. The training standards aim to promote Aemployability@ for workers, improve the functioning of labour markets by reducing mismatches, and increase productivity C all objectives towards the goal of full employment.

The International Labour Conference at its 86th Session in June 1998 adopted a Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work C in other words, core labour standards C as one means of setting a floor below which no country can reduce its social framework. These principles and rights, including freedom of association, the elimination of forced labour, child labour and discrimination in employment and occupation, are vital tools enabling workers to claim Afreely and on the basis of equality and opportunity their fair share of the wealth which they have helped to generate@. The prospects for harmonious social progress and economic growth are therefore linked to securing these principles and rights. This is also in line with the expectations voiced in Commitment 3 of the Copenhagen Declaration.

The Employment Policy Convention, 1964 (No. 122)

The Employment Policy Convention requires each member State to declare and pursue, as a major goal, an active policy designed to promote full, productive and freely chosen employment. It has so far been ratified by 13 out of 26 economies in the Asia-Pacific region, which compares favourably with the worldwide average of just over 50 per cent. It is significant that, despite the constraints imposed by structural adjustment programmes, two of the most populous countries in the region C China and India C have ratified this Convention since the Copenhagen Declaration in 1995, China in December 1997 and India in November 1998. Intentions to ratify the Convention by some other countries in the region bear witness to a continued interest in it. The ratification situation by economic groupings is very satisfactory in the case of advanced economies, where all three countries C Australia, Japan and New Zealand C have ratified the Convention. In the East and South-East Asian economies, four out of seven countries have ratified the Convention, while three C Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore C have yet to do so. In the Pacific island economies only one country, Papua New Guinea, has so far ratified this Convention. In the South Asian economies (including the Islamic Republic of Iran), although employment policy issues are very much in the forefront and crucial in formulating and implementing economic reform policies, only two of the countries in this group (India and the Islamic Republic of Iran) have so far ratified Convention No. 122.

Fundamental rights Conventions

Freedom of association, and the right to organize and to bargain collectively

The ratification record of these two very basic Conventions of the ILO is not very encouraging in the region compared to the worldwide position. Of the 26 economies in the Asia-Pacific region, only ten (38 per cent) have ratified Convention No. 87 as compared to 70 per cent worldwide, while 14 (54 per cent) have ratified Convention No. 98, as against 80 per cent worldwide. An encouraging feature, however, is that two new countries C Indonesia and Sri Lanka C have ratified Convention No. 87 since the Copenhagen Declaration of 1995, while one country, Nepal, has ratified Convention No. 98 since 1995. All three countries have been undergoing extensive structural adjustments and economic reforms, and their faith in the tenets of the two Conventions reaffirms the belief that strong and free trade union organizations are essential to more orderly, equitable and rapid economic growth.

By economic groupings, the ratification position is rather unsatisfactory in the East and Southeast Asian economies, where Convention No. 87 has been ratified by two countries (Indonesia, the Philippines) and is also binding in a modified form on Hong Kong (China). Convention No. 98 has been ratified by four countries (Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore) and is binding on Hong Kong (China). However, complaints about their non-observance and reluctance to grant workers= organizations the required measure of independence and freedom of operation have been received from some countries by the ILO's Committee on Freedom of Association. Whether it concerns restrictions on the right to organize at, for instance, enterprise or national level (as in the case of Indonesia, the Republic of Korea and Malaysia), or restrictions on the right to strike (in Indonesia and the Republic of Korea), or mandatory government approval to join an international trade union federation (in Hong Kong [China]), or denying public sector workers the right to organize (in varying degrees by all economies except the Philippines), the denial of these rights imposes a serious constraint on workers to properly defend themselves and to develop their capacity to promote wage and price policies that are in harmony with the objectives of full employment, economic growth and improved standards of living.

In South Asian economies (including the Islamic Republic of Iran), neither of the fundamental rights Conventions Nos. 87 and 98 have been ratified by Afghanistan, India and the Islamic Republic of Iran, while Nepal has ratified Convention No. 98 but not Convention No. 87. However, ratification of these Conventions by other countries in this group has not guaranteed their flawless application. In Pakistan, for example, senior public employees, managers, medical, railway and forestry workers, as well as those in the nationalized banking sector, cannot defend themselves and participate in collective bargaining. In Bangladesh, attempts to curb the multiplicity of trade unions tend to thwart the development of both new workers= organizations and collective bargaining in the small business sector.

In the case of transition economy countries, only two (Mongolia and Myanmar) of the six countries have ratified Convention No. 87 and only one (Mongolia) has ratified Convention No. 98. Myanmar has, however, continuously failed to apply Convention No. 87, as revealed in the annual discussions in the International Labour Conference Committee on the Application of Standards since 1993. In the advanced industrialized countries, New Zealand has ratified neither Convention No. 87 nor No. 98, and along with Australia it has given more importance to individual over collective wage bargaining. This has given rise to the argument that it could result in weakening the workers= capacity to organize and bargain collectively, and that such policies run counter to the principle of the promotion of free and voluntary collective bargaining.

Abolition of forced labour

In terms of ratification, Convention No. 29 scores the highest position with 19 (73 per cent) of the economies in Asia and the Pacific having ratified it. The worldwide average for ratification of this Convention is 86 per cent, and although there is room for improvement, the Asia-Pacific region's record is encouraging although marked, in some countries, by serious problems of application in relation to, for example, bonded labour and child labour. Convention No. 105, which also deals with forced labour, has been ratified by 13 (50 per cent) of the 26 economies in the region C the worldwide average in this case is 76 per cent. Two countries in the region C Malaysia and Singapore C have denounced this Convention. These two Conventions are Aamong the most widely ratified of all ILO Conventions, and indeed are among the most highly ratified of all the human rights Conventions adopted by the United Nations system@. While efforts continued to persuade the remaining countries in the region to ratify these Conventions, no new ratifications have been made since 1995.

Discrimination in employment and occupation

The Equal Remuneration Convention (No. 100) focuses on the principle of equal remuneration for men and women workers for work of equal value. The principle goes beyond equal treatment for Asame@ or Asimilar@ work in that it requires components of different kinds of work to be compared without discrimination based on sex.

The Equal Remuneration Convention has been ratified by 16 (62 per cent) of the economies in the region, compared to 79 per cent worldwide. As a result of the ILO's follow-up efforts, four new countries C Bangladesh, the Republic of Korea, Malaysia and Viet Nam C have ratified this Convention since 1995. Among the seven fundamental rights Conventions, Convention No. 100 is the second most widely ratified and has the largest number of new ratifications since 1995. The record of Pacific island countries in this case also is disappointing as none of the three countries has ratified the Convention. All three advanced industrialized countries C Australia, Japan and New Zealand C have ratified this Convention, while only four of the seven East and Southeast Asian economies and six of the seven South Asian countries have done so. The only country in South Asia which has not ratified Convention No. 100 is Pakistan.

Abolition of child labour

Migrant Workers Conventions (Nos. 97 and 143)

Two international labour Conventions (Nos. 97 and 143) protect the Ainterests of migrant workers when employed in countries other than their own@. The key concern of ILO standards for migrant workers is non-discrimination or equality of opportunity and treatment. Despite the existence of national institutions designed to help and protect migrant workers in many countries, such workers often face multiple forms of discrimination in the work they do, the wages they earn, their chances of promotion, and the risks of unemployment they face. Some of these problems are connected with objective handicaps such as inadequate education and training, non-recognition of qualifications gained abroad or inadequate command of the host country's language. But, in addition, migrants often experience discrimination on grounds of their nationality, colour, race or ethnic origin. This discrimination adversely affects migrants= welfare and seriously impedes their integration into the host country's labour market, and thus into the society as a whole.

Domestic service is one of the most vulnerable occupations, particularly for female migrants. Because domestic servants are isolated within a household they have little opportunity for mutual support. Their Ainvisibility@ also offers ample opportunity for evading labour legislation. As a result, domestic service is frequently associated with long working hours, low wages and bad working conditions.

While greater efforts are required to promote ratification and application of these two Conventions, other mechanisms will have to be developed to protect the rights of migrant workers, including promotion of bilateral agreements and greater cooperation between labour-exporting and labour-importing countries. Greater cooperation is also required among Asia-Pacific countries to contain the problem of growing illegal migration and to establish a more orderly migration regime that would accommodate demand-driven processes for integration of labour markets. While few obstacles stand in the way of exchanges of professional and technical labour, especially those related to foreign direct investments and increasing trade, there are virtually no inter-state arrangements for providing the most basic safety nets, even for the most skilled. There is already a clear need for agreements on social security, especially important for the growing numbers of people who spend most of their working lives in other countries. In order to promote equal treatment of migrant workers it would be essential to promote mutual recognition of technical training certification and professional qualifications.

Table 3.1. Key dimensions of labour market flexibility

Table 3.2. Trade union density in selected economies, 1985-95 (per cent)

at national level

surveyed in 1998)

Table 3.5. Trends in real wages in selected countries, 1996-98

Table 3.6. Wage bargaining in establishments, Republic of Korea

in selected countries

Table 3.8. SME intensity in selected countries

Table 3.9. Changes in SME employment in selected economies (per cent)

Table 3.10. Impact of selected enterprise promotion projects

Table 3.11. Policies to promote women's full employment in Asia and the Pacific

(as on 1 December 1998)

No. 138 Minimum Age Convention, 1973