INTERNATIONALLY RECOGNISED CORE LABOUR STANDARDS IN GUYANA

Transcription

1 INTERNATIONAL CONFEDERATION OF FREE TRADE UNIONS (ICFTU) INTERNATIONALLY RECOGNISED CORE LABOUR STANDARDS IN GUYANA REPORT FOR THE WTO GENERAL COUNCIL REVIEW OF THE TRADE POLICIES OF GUYANA (Geneva, October 2003) EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Guyana has ratified all eight core ILO labour Conventions. In view of restrictions on the trade union rights of workers, and continuous problems with discrimination and child labour, determined measures are needed to comply with the commitments Guyana accepted at Singapore, Geneva and Doha in the WTO Ministerial Declarations over , and in the ILO Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work. Guyana has ratified the ILO core Conventions on the Right to Organise and Collective Bargaining and on Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise. Yet in both law and practice, there are restrictions on the freedom to form trade unions, and on the right to strike in the public and private sector. There is insufficient protection against anti-union discrimination. Guyana has ratified both the core ILO Conventions on discrimination. There is a lack of information on discrimination in employment, wages and working conditions. Guyana has ratified both ILO core Conventions on child labour, but child labour is prevalent. Guyana has ratified both ILO core Conventions on forced labour. Some forced labour exists in the form of forced prostitution (national and international trafficking of women and girls).

2 2 INTERNATIONALLY RECOGNISED CORE LABOUR STANDARDS IN GUYANA Introduction This report on the respect of internationally recognised core labour standards in Guyana is one of the series the ICFTU is producing in accordance with the Ministerial Declaration adopted at the first Ministerial Conference of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) (Singapore, 9-13 December 1996) in which Ministers stated: "We renew our commitment to the observance of internationally recognised core labour standards." The fourth WTO Ministerial Conference (Doha, 9-14 November 2001) reaffirmed this commitment. These standards were further upheld in the International Labour Organisation (ILO) Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work adopted by the 174 member countries of the ILO at the International Labour Conference in June The ICFTU's affiliate in Guyana is the Guyana Trade Union Congress (GTUC). Approximately 32 percent of the workforce is unionised. In 2001 agriculture accounted for 31.3% of GDP, industry 28.3% (of which manufacturing comprised 8.2 percent), and services 40.4%. Total exports in 2002 accounted for US$ 406 million, of which US$ 57 million was rice, US$ 115 million was sugar, and US$ 78 million was manufactures. Guyana s main agricultural exports, sugar and rice, which are also major foreign exchange earners, benefit from non-reciprocal preferential arrangements, mainly under the Cotonou Convention with the European Union. These arrangements will undergo changes over the coming years due to the end of the waiver for the Cotonou Convention under the WTO agreement reached in Doha. Guyana s trade policy is therefore to diversify and to move away from dependence on the exports of primary commodities. Current negotiations for the establishment of a hemisphere-wide Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA) and the regional arrangements for the implementation of the Caricom Single Market and Economy (CSME) are of priority importance to the nation s foreign trade agenda. So are the negotiations between Caricom and the European Union for an economic partnership agreement (EPA). I. Freedom of Association and the Right to Collective Bargaining Guyana ratified ILO Convention No. 87 on Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise in 1967, and Convention No. 98 on the Right to Organise and Collective Bargaining in The Constitution recognises workers rights to form and belong to trade unions, but there is no law prohibiting anti-union discrimination. In 1999 the Trade Unions Recognition Law came into effect. This law requires employers to recognise a union provided that over 40% of workers have supported it. However the process of recognition of new unions was delayed and the Recognition Board only recognised existing unions. Most of the unionised workers are employed in the public sector and in state-owned enterprises. 2

3 3 The law on trade union recognition has not proved effective in practice, and employers take advantage of the lack of a law against anti-union discrimination. The Forestry Commission for example has fired workers on at least two occasions in recent years, in retaliation for action by the Guyana Public Service Union (GPSU). In implementing a restructuring plan decided in 1997, the Forestry Commission fired 29 union activists in 1999 and a further 21 union activists in August In May 2000, following persistent refusals by the Forestry Commission to recognise the GPSU, the workers decided to express their discontent during their lunch breaks outside the Forestry Commission. The management responded by ordering the security guards to keep the front gates closed in order to prevent the workers from leaving the buildings. In 2001 the government changed the procedures for payment of union dues by public servants, requiring the Guyana Public Services Union (GPSU) to ask individual members to resubmit authorisation for the deduction of union dues in favour of the union, an expensive and time-consuming process. The authorities interfere in internal union affairs by exacerbating tensions between trade unions caused by political colour and ethnic membership. Unions are branded pro-government or opposition, Afro- Black or Hindu. Hindu workers, for instance, have been pressured not to vote for Black Unions to represent them in the Labour Relations Board. The government seeks to ensure that only friendly unions are elected to the Board. Collective bargaining is recognised by law, both for public and private sector employees. The Ministry of Labour has to certify the collective agreements. However, in the public sector, collective bargaining agreements are frequently ignored by the government and working conditions imposed by means of circulars sent down by the administration. There are serious practical difficulties in collective bargaining, as with a dispute between the government and the union in the bauxite industry when the president of Guyana visited work locations and ignored the elected union leadership, instead pretending to undertake direct negotiations with the workers. The right to strike is recognised. The Trade Unions Recognition Law defines and limits the retaliatory actions employers may take against strikers. However, public employees providing essential services may only strike if they notify the Ministry of Labour and if a minimum of employees remains in place to provide services. All strikes in the public sector are subject to binding arbitration, even those in non-essential services. There are no export processing zones in Guyana. Freedom of association is recognised by law, however there are some legal restrictions making the right to organise difficult to exercise. The right to collective bargaining is protected by law, but in practice this right is not always ensured. The right to strike is recognised but restricted for public sector workers. 3

4 4 II Discrimination and Equal Remuneration Guyana has ratified Convention No. 100 on Equal Remuneration and Convention No. 111 on Discrimination (Employment and Occupation), both in Article 26 of the Prevention of Discrimination Act obliges the employer to pay equal remuneration to men and women performing work of equal value. There are no statistics on equal remuneration for men and women for work of equal value and there is no information on the promotion and enforcement of Art. 26. However, available statistics do show a large degree of occupational segregation on the basis of sex. Few women are employed in traditionally male dominated areas, including positions of responsibility. There is an especially low labour force participation level among Amerindian women. Most of the time, women do not seek legal redress when they suffer discrimination in employment because they are deterred by delays in litigation caused by the enormous backlog of civil cases, and because prosecution by the Chief Labour Officer does not appear to provide effective results. The Government of Guyana established a Poverty Alleviation Programme, which commenced in 1995, to address the specific situation of women and poverty, recognizing that women make up most of the country's poor. The programme targets the following: small business management; consciousness awareness and needs assessments; gender training for managers and executives; computer literacy training and gender in policy and planning. It is administered by the Women's Affairs Bureau. A National Plan of Action for Women was adopted for the period to promote gender equality. Although by law there is no discrimination between men and women, in practice women are concentrated in certain jobs, in the public and private sector. III. Child Labour Guyana ratified Convention No. 138, the Minimum Age Convention, in 1998, and Convention No. 182, Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention, in The law prohibits child labour in industries under the age of 14, and nightwork is prohibited under the age of 16. Under the age of 14 children can only be employed in enterprises which employ members of the same family. Child labour exists primarily in the informal economy and there is a lack of enforcement of legislation by inspectors. It occurs mainly in the following sectors, according to the ILO: agriculture, small-scale traditional mining, fishing and in the commercial sex trade. UNICEF indicate that children also work in family shops, as street vendors and in small scale services. 4

5 5 Education is free for all children between 3 and 14 years. More boys receive primary education, however girls outnumber boys in secondary education. There is a lack of qualified teachers, many of them leaving for the US, UK, Canada and Caribbean. Girls from the hinterland areas often lack education as they are recruited to work on the coastland as domestic servants and waitresses in restaurants. Children under the age of 14 are not allowed to work in the industrial sector, however they can be employed if a family member works for the same company. Child labour occurs mainly in small-scale traditional mining, agriculture, fishing and child prostitution. IV. Forced Labour Guyana has ratified both Conventions on Forced Labour. Convention No. 29, the Forced Labour Convention and Convention No. 105, Abolition of Forced Labour, were both ratified in The Constitution prohibits forced or bonded labour. There is no indication that forced or bonded labour exist on a large scale. Forced or bonded labour by children is prohibited and this is generally enforced. Trafficking in persons is prohibited. There is evidence of forced prostitution and reports of child prostitution in cities and remote gold mining areas. Forced labour is prohibited by law and is not common in Guyana. Examples are forced prostitution of women and girls, and trafficking of children and women for forced prostitution. 5

6 6 Final and Recommendations 1. There is a need for legislation to provide for adequate protection, with sufficiently effective and dissuasive penalties, against acts of anti-union discrimination for trade union membership or activities and against acts of interference by employers or their organisations in trade union affairs. The Government in particular has to cease intervening in the internal affairs of trade unions and respect the collective bargaining process concerning negotiations on wages and salaries for public servants. 2. The government has to remove the requirement for binding arbitration in the event of a strike in non-essential services. It must comply with the ILO s insistence that Guyana amend its law requiring binding arbitration in the event of a strike in non-essential services such as public utilities, as this provision offers the government a convenient means to quell strikes. 3. Although there is a lack of good statistical information, wage inequalities certainly exist between men and women. Legislation on equal remuneration alone is not enough to improve matters. Active measures are required to eliminate direct wage discrimination and to improve access of women to education and training. Legal action in cases of discrimination needs to produce effective results. In addition there is a need for the government to provide statistical information on salaries, as well as on the distribution of men and women in the various positions and jobs. 4. More progress has to be made with the effective elimination of child labour. Increased control on child labour is needed, especially in the informal economy and the agricultural sector. 5. Education has to be promoted and more resources have to be allocated to it. In particular girls from the hinterland areas need to have access to education. More training of teachers is necessary, and the Government should make it more attractive for well-trained teachers to remain in Guyana. In this regard the GATS Mode IV negotiations could have an additional impact on migration of teachers, worsening the brain drain problem of the departure of qualified teachers overseas. 6. There is an overall need for increased labour inspection to ensure the application of the Labour Code as well as a need for training of labour inspectors. 7. There is a need for the effective elimination of forced prostitution and trafficking of women and children. 8. In line with the commitments accepted by Guyana at the Singapore, Geneva and Doha WTO Ministerial Conferences and its obligations as a member of the ILO, the Government of Guyana should therefore provide regular reports 6

7 7 to the WTO and the ILO on its legislative changes and implementation of all the core labour standards. 9. The WTO should draw to the attention of the authorities of Guyana the commitments they undertook to observe core labour standards at the Singapore and Doha Ministerial Conferences. The WTO should request the ILO to intensify its work with the Government of Guyana in these areas and provide a report to the WTO General Council on the occasion of the next trade policy review. References - Business and Human Rights Resource Centre, - Education International (EI) Barometer, - Global March against Child Labour, Worst forms of child labour - Guyana, - ICFTU, Annual Survey of violations of trade union rights, 2001, 2002, ILO, Committee reports 2001/ ILO, Ratification of Core Labour Standards - International Women s Rights Action Watch, Honduras, - UNICEF, several publications - US Department of State, 2003, Human rights report on Guyana ****************** 7