GENEVA (ILO News) - The Governing Body of the International Labour Office (ILO), which concluded its 279th session on Friday opened the way for the full implementation of a resolution of the International Labour Conference, adopted in June of this year, aimed at compelling the Government of Myanmar (Burma) to comply with Convention No. 29 on forced labour. Myanmar (Burma) ratified Convention No. 29 in 1955.

Taken under the never-before invoked article 33 of the ILO Constitution, the Governing Body action allows for a series of measures to take effect on 30 November and calls on Myanmar (Burma to "take concrete actions" to implement the recommendations of a 1998 Commission of Inquiry, which found that resort to forced labour in the country was "widespread and systematic."

The measures which could be implemented include:

• keeping under review the implementation of the Commission of Inquiry's recommendations at future sessions of the Conference so long as Myanmar (Burma) has not been shown to have fulfilled its obligations;
• recommending to the Organization's constituents - governments, employers and workers - that they review their relations with Myanmar (Burma), take appropriate measures to ensure that such relations do not perpetuate or extend the system of forced or compulsory labour in that country, and contribute as far as possible to the recommendations of the Commission of Inquiry;
• inviting the Director-General of the ILO to inform international organizations working with the ILO to reconsider any cooperation they may be engaged in with Myanmar (Burma) and, if appropriate, to cease as soon as possible any activity that could have the effect of directly or indirectly abetting the practice of forced or compulsory labour;
• inviting the Director-General to request the United Nations' Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) to place on the agenda of its July 2001 session an item concerning the failure of Myanmar (Burma) to implement the recommendations of the Commission of Inquiry and seeking the adoption of recommendations directed by ECOSOC or by the General Assembly, or by both, to governments and other specialized agencies to ensure that by their involvement they are not directly or indirectly abetting the practice of forced labour;
• requesting the Director-General to submit to the Governing Body a periodic report on the outcome of measures directed to international organizations and the United Nations and to inform those entities of any developments in the implementation by Myanmar (Burma) of the recommendations of the Commission of Inquiry.

The Governing Body also examined a report from Rafael F. Alburquerque, Special Representative of the Director-General of the International Labour Organization (ILO), who visited Colombia in October and met with representatives of workers' and employers' organizations, and government officials regarding widespread violence against trade unionists. Mr. Alburquerque stressed the seriousness of the situation in Colombia and warned that violations of fundamental workers rights were increasing.

Mr. Alburquerque expressed the hope that the establishment of an ILO office to assist the Government of Colombia would facilitate social dialogue and help to reverse the current situation there as it affected workers. In response, the Minister of Labour and Social Security of Colombia, Angelino Garzón, expressed the commitment of the Government of Colombia to cooperate with the ILO and the trade unions to defend the security of trade unionists and employers.

The Governing Body's Working Party on the Social Dimension of Globalization held a full day's debate on the topic of "Organization, bargaining and dialogue for development in a globalizing world". Summing up a rich and lively debate, the Chair of the Governing Body Ambassador Celso L. Nunes Amorim of Brazil identified several areas of consensus. These included:

• the extension of research, including into issues such as trade, investment and employment, poverty reduction and decent work and best practices in participation for development, especially with regard to informal sectors and micro and small businesses;
• an exploration of areas of possible collaboration with other organizations as part of a strongly reaffirmed commitment to the promotion by the ILO of fundamental principles and rights at work;
• further discussion at the Working Party's next meeting of how to move forward with the research proposals starting with an examination of the scope for the integration of social and economic policies at national level to progress poverty reduction and decent work. .

The Governing Body of the ILO welcomed unanimously a new "integrated" approach to standards-related activities of the ILO. This approach was proposed by the Office with a view to improving the efficiency of ILO standards implementing the objectives of the Organization. The purpose is to reinforce the coherence and relevance of the standards and to enhance their impact through integrated action and their systematic promotion and evaluation. The integrated approach is a response to calls for improvements raised by the constituents of the ILO for several years. It will be fully applied for the first time in 2003 to ILO standards in the area of occupational safety and health.

Committee on Freedom of Association

The latest Report of the Committee on Freedom of Association adopted at the same session of the Governing Body drew special attention to the grave and urgent situation prevailing in Guatemala where the exercise of trade union activity is frequently subject to violations of human rights, including murder, physical assaults, death threats, raids on the home and attempted abduction of trade union officers and members, anti-union dismissals, obstruction of collective bargaining and the requirement of approval of collective agreements on working conditions.

The Committee noted with "deep concern the large number of acts of violence against trade union officials and members that have been alleged and the fact that, since its last examination of the case, two trade union officials have been murdered - including one against whom a death threat had already been alleged in the context of this case." The Committee recalled that in such cases an independent judicial inquiry should be immediately instituted with a view to punishing those responsible and preventing repetition of such acts and requested the Government to keep it informed of the proceedings currently under way.

In response to allegations made by Education International (EI) and the Ethiopian Teachers' Association (ETA) of government interference in trade union activity in Ethiopia, the Committee requested "the Government, once again, to take the necessary measures to ensure that all the ETA members and leaders detained or charged are released and all charges withdrawn." This serious case concerning the killing of trade unionists, arrest, detention, harassment, dismissal and transfer of trade union leaders and members, as well as government interference in trade union functioning, has been examined by the Committee over several years now.

The Committee also deplored the Government's refusal to establish an independent judicial inquiry into the killing of Assefa Maru, particularly in light of the extremely serious nature of the allegation and urged the Government once again to ensure that such an inquiry was carried out and that those responsible be appropriately punished.

The Committee noted with satisfaction the adoption on 24 June 2000 of the Trade Unions Act which the complainant has indicated will resolve the serious problems affection trade union registration. The Committee has drawn the attention of the Committee of Experts on the Application of Conventions and Recommendations to this legislation for examination within the framework of the application of Convention No. 87.

The Committee on Freedom of Association, established in 1951, oversees compliance with the fundamental principles of freedom of association, which guarantee, inter alia, the right of workers to organize and to engage in collective bargaining. It meets three times annually and consists of 3 government representatives, 3 employer representatives and 3 worker representatives.

The Governing Body is the executive body of the International Labour Office (the Office is the secretariat of the Organization). It meets three times a year, in March, June and November. It takes decisions on ILO policy, decides the agenda of the International Labour Conference, adopts the draft Programme and Budget of the Organization for submission to the Conference, and elects the Director-General.

It is composed of 56 titular members (28 Governments, 14 Employers and 14 Workers) and 66 deputy members (28 Governments, 19 Employers and 19 Workers). Ten of the titular government seats are permanently held by States of chief industrial importance (Brazil, China, France, Germany, India, Italy, Japan, the Russian Federation, the United Kingdom and the United States). The other Government members are elected by the Conference every three years. They are Algeria, Burkina Faso, Canada, Chad, Croatia, Ethiopia, Ghana, Guatemala, the Islamic Republic of Iran, the Republic of Korea, Malaysia, Namibia, Peru, Saudi Arabia, Slovakia, Switzerland, Trinidad and Tobago and Venezuela.