Labour Rights in Crisis

Transcription

1 Labour Rights in Crisis

2 Also by W. R. Bohning The migration of workers in the United Kingdom and the European Community. The effects of the employment of foreign workers (jointly with D. Maillat). Black migration to South Africa: A selection of policy-oriented research. Studies in international labour migration. Aid in place of migration? Selected contributions to an ILO-UNHCR meeting (jointly with M. -L. Schloeter-Parades). Employing foreign workers: A manual on policies and procedures of special interest to middle- and low-income countries.

3 Labour Rights in Crisis Measuring the Achievement of Human Rights in the World of Work W. R. Bohning

4 W. R. Bohning 2005 Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition All rights reserved. No reproduction, copy or transmission of this publication may be made without written permission. No paragraph of this publication may be reproduced, copied or transmitted save with written permission or in accordance with the provisions of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, or under the terms of any licence permitting limited copying issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency, 90 Totten ham Court Road, London W1T 4LP. Any person who does any unauthorized act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages. The author has asserted his right to be identified as the author of this work in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act First published 2005 by PALGRAVE MACMILLAN Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 6XS and 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y Companies and representatives throughout the world PALGRAVE MACMILLAN is the global academic imprint of the Palgrave Macmillan division of St. Martin's Press, LLC and of Palgrave Macmillan Ltd. Macmillan is a registered trademark in the United States, United Kingdom and other countries. Palgrave is a registered trademark in the European Union and other countries. ISBN ISBN (ebook) DOI / This book is printed on paper suitable for recycling and made from fully managed and sustained forest sources. A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Bohning, w. R. Labour rights in crisis: measuring the achievement of human rights in the world of work I W. R. Bohning. p. em. Includes bibliographical references and index. 1. Employee rights. 2. Human rights. 3. Labor laws and legislation, International. I. Title. HD B '.01'1-dc OS Transferred to digital printing 2006

5 Contents List of Boxes List of Tables List of Figures List of Abbreviations Preface 1 Basic Labour Rights are Human Rights 1.1 In traduction ix X xi xii xiv Freedom of association Elimination of all forms of forced of compulsory labour Effective abolition of child labour Elimination of discrimination in respect of employment and occupation Basic labour rights matter Purposes of measuring human rights achievements 9 2 Can the Achievement of Rights be Measured Quantitatively? 2.1 Credible outcome measurements are lacking Foundations of the new indicator system Human rights indicators must fulfil certain criteria 21 3 The Architecture and Scope of the Gap System 3.1 Concepts and principles of measurement 3.2 Unit of analysis- countries and years 4 Measuring Adherence 4.1 Core Conventions component Ratification indicator v

6 vi Contents Reporting indicator Testing indicators 1 and Declaration component The Declaration's relationship to Conventions Declaration reporting Declaration progress indicator Testing indicators 3 and 4 47 S Measuring Implementation 5.1 Starting points 5.2 Relevant supervisory and complaints procedures Committee of Experts component CFA component 5.3 Scoring Committee of Experts component Committee on Freedom of Association component Combining the two components Testing indicators S and 6 Testing indicator Shortcut to implementation gaps 6 Time Lags and Finalization of the System's Features 6.1 Time-lag effects and extensive recent ratifiers 6.2 Reweighting adherence 6.3 Normalization 6.4 Long-standing ratifiers 7 Human Rights Achievements- Measuring the Four Freedoms as a Whole 7.1 Introduction 7.2 Global and regional evolution 7.3 Overall ranking of countries 7.4 Focus on implementation Full measurement Proxy measurement so

7 Contents vii 7.5 Correlations? Conclusions regarding overall gaps Achievements in the Area of Freedom of Association Introduction Global and regional evolution Ranking of countries Focus on implementation Full measurement Proxy measurement Correlations? Conclusions regarding freedom of association Achievements in the Area of Forced Labour Introduction Global and regional evolution Ranking of countries Focus on implementation Full measurement Proxy measurement Conclusions regarding forced labour gaps Achievements in the Area of Child Labour Introduction Global and regional evolution Ranking of countries Focus on implementation Full measurement Proxy measurement Conclusions regarding child labour gaps Achievements in the Area of Non-discrimination Introduction Global and regional evolution 162

8 viii Contents 11.3 Ranking of countries Focus on implementation Full measurement Proxy measurement Correlations? Conclusions regarding non-discrimination gaps Typical Country Patterns and Conclusions Illustration of typical country patterns across all areas Conclusions 177 Appendix Rights Gaps Indicators 182 Table 1 Countries' normalized overall Core Rights Gaps since Table 2 Countries' normalized freedom of association gaps since Table 3 Countries' normalized forced labour gaps since Table 4 Countries' normalized child labour gaps since Table 5 Countries' normalized non-discrimination gaps since Notes Bibliographic References Index

9 List of Boxes 2.1 Human rights commit governments to their application in the private sector Levels of conceptualization, measurement, disaggregation and reaggregation of gaps Raising standards through the addition of Convention No Logical structure and method of calculating countries' gaps Changes in membership of the International Labour Organization since What does it mean 'to respect, to promote and to realize' the Declaration? Distinctions among the three principal supervisory and complaints bodies Yes/No distinctions vs. further grading of the severity of implementation problems Commitment without ratification? The US and freedom of association Forced labour is everywhere 149 ix

10 List of Tables S.l CEACR component: Six grades yielding four distinct implementation scores per Convention 6S S.2 CFA data ranking regions from hypothesized best to worst achiever of freedom of association Conventions not ratified by countries in the gap system as of]anuary 200S Achievement of basic labour rights as a whole, by region, 198S The 20 worst overall implementers in and short-term trends Correlations of countries' overall gaps with other indicators Achievement of freedom of association rights, by region, 198S The 20 worst freedom of association implementers in and short-term trends Type of problems evoked in the allegations examined by the CFA since the mid-1990s Correlations of freedom of association gaps with other indicators Achievement of forced labour rights, by region, 198S The 20 worst forced labour implementers in and short-term trends Achievement of child labour rights, by region, 198S-2004 ISS 10.2 The 20 worst child labour implementers in and short-term trends 1S Achievement of non-discrimination rights, by region, 198S The 20 worst non-discrimination implementers in and short-term trends Correlations of countries' non-discrimination gaps with other indicators 171 X

11 List of Figures 7.1 Origin of Guatemala's and Uganda's normalized overall CRGs, Contrasting normalized adherence and implementation gaps: The Czech example Trends in regional observations, Trends in observations in the different areas of freedom, Evolution of cases of progress in the different areas of freedom, Origin of]apan's and Jordan's normalized freedom of association CRGs, Trends in regional observations and global satisfaction in the area of freedom of association, Trends in regional observations and global satisfaction in the area of forced labour, Trends in regional observations and global satisfaction in the area of child labour, Trends in regional observations and global satisfaction in the area of non-discrimination, Illustration of normalized CRGs and implementation averages: Barbados and Guatemala, xi

12 List of Abbreviations CEACR ILO Committee of Experts on the Application of Conventions and Recommendations, also referred to for short as 'Committee of Experts' CFA ILO Committee on Freedom of Association CIRI Cingranelli and Richards Human Rights Dataset Convention No. 29 International Labour Organization Forced Labour Convention, 1930, in force since 1932 Convention No. 87 International Labour Organization Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organize Convention, 1948, in force since 1950 Convention No. 98 International Labour Organization Right to Organize and Collective Bargaining Convention, 1949, in force since 1951 Convention No. 100 International Labour Organization Equal Remuneration Convention, 1951, in force since 1953 Convention No. los International Labour Organization Abolition of Forced Labour Convention, 1957, in force since 1959 Convention No. 111 International Labour Organization Discrimination (Employment and Occupation) Convention, 1958, in force since 1960 Convention No. 138 International Labour Organization Minimum Age Convention, 1973, in force since 1976 Convention No. 182 International Labour Organization Abolition of the Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention, 1999, in force since 2000 CPI Corruption Perceptions Index of Transparency International CRG Core Rights Gap Declaration International Labour Organization Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work and its Follow-up, 1998 FDI Foreign Direct Investment ICCPR United Nations International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, 1966, in force since 1976 xii

13 List of Abbreviations xiii ICESCR ICFTU ILO OECD Organization NGO UDHR UNDP UNESCO United Nations International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, 1966, in force since 1976 International Confederation of Free Trade Unions International Labour Office (Secretariat of the International Labour Organization) Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development International Labour Organization Non-Governmental Organization Universal Declaration of Human Rights United Nations Development Programme United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization

14 Preface Why a book about measuring fundamental rights in the world or work? Because it is high time! Indicator development in the labour field has been the poor cousin of recent advances in other fields of human rights. Even the body in which I served the bulk of my professional life, the ILO, experiences great difficulties in spelling out the extent to which labour rights are realized in law and in practice. The short time-span since the recent consensus on what constitutes fundamental rights in the labour field is but a feeble explanation for the lack of indicator development because most of these rights date back to the beginning or middle of the 19 1 h century. The complexity of measuring human rights is part of the reason why the literature is barren. However, difficulties must be tackled, and novel ideas should be put forward, which is the purpose of this book. Its underlying purpose was well captured by UNDP in the following words: 'Statistical indicators are a powerful tool in the struggle for human rights. They make it possible for people and organizations- from grassroots activists and civil society to governments and the United Nationsto identify important actors and hold them accountable for their actions. That is why developing and using indicators for human rights has become a cutting-edge area of advocacy' (UNDP, 2000, p. 89). While the new indicators, which I call the 'gap' system, are still at the infant and development stage, it is not too early to throw the bones of their structure to the academic and political communities interested in the subject. But it is too early to take all the empirical meat on their bones as ready for consumption, notably when countries are ranked. I expect the empirical results to be fully digestible when the time lags have worked themselves out of the system by the second half of the decade. I should like to thank former ILO colleagues Zafar Shaheed and Peter Peek, who benignly looked upon my extra-curricular activities, and David Kucera, who extensively commented on my initial elaborations. Thanks are also due to Christiane Veltsos, who set up an Excel programme to handle the thousands of data in such a way that I could handle them as well, to Prof. Dieter Senghaas and Dr. Bernhard Zangl, both of the University of Bremen, and to an anonymous reader for helpful suggestions. All remaining errors and shortcomings are mine. Roger Bohning xiv