European Parliament International Trade Committee 12 July 2012 Intervention of Karen Curtis, Deputy Director of the ILO Office International Labour Standards Department It is a pleasure to be here today to continue an exchange of information on labour-related matters in a number of countries of interest to your Committee. The ILO Office deeply appreciates the opportunity it has to collaborate with various European Union instances towards the promotion of decent work around the world. I understand that these exchanges have now become even more relevant in light of the recent free trade agreements with trade and sustainable development chapters that include commitments to promote and effectively implement core labour standards and up-to-date Conventions of the International Labour Organisation and on the eve of a revised Generalised System of Preferences. Monitoring the application of ratified Conventions falls within the purview of a complete and complex machinery in the ILO that includes report reviews and complaints-based examination by both independent experts and tripartite-constituted bodies. The vision that the ILO can provide through the considerations and findings of these bodies serves as a critical reference point when considering the progress made in contributing to decent work for all. In this regard, the ILO has been able to share with your institution the objective and apolitical evaluations of the independent Committee of Experts in difficult and controversial situations complemented by appreciations given in relevant ILO tripartite fora. This has permitted a meticulous appreciation of where progress has been made even in situations where much work remains to be done. In this regard, the International Labour Office assures technical assistance and follow-up to contribute to making decent work a reality on the ground. Today, I will touch upon outstanding issues on the implementation of core labour standards in some countries, as well as the assistance provided by the ILO to make progress thereon. The FTA with Colombia highlights the importance of effective implementation of core labour standards in law and in practice. The supervisory bodies have recently observed a number of steps towards fuller implementation of the freedom of association Convention. The report of the high-level tripartite mission in February 2011 focused on the need to strengthen social dialogue, take further measures to combat violence and impunity, eliminate obstacles to freedom of association in cooperatives and strengthen labour inspection. Subsequently steps were taken to strengthen the labour inspectorate, the Special Committee for the Handling of Conflicts referred to the ILO (CETCOIT) was re-launched and has resolved a number of pending complaints, the Public Prosecutor is promoting specialized training of investigators and prosecutors as regards crimes against trade unionists, and convictions for such crimes had
risen to 415 in 2011 demonstrating the efforts made to combat impunity. The supervisory bodies nevertheless continue to deplore the deaths of trade unionists and firmly hope that the efforts made will bring an end to violence against trade unionists. A plan of action agreed with the United States is about to be implemented by the ILO aimed at strengthening the capacity of the Colombian labour and national stakeholders to comply with ILS, especially in the area of freedom of association and collective bargaining. Notably, this project contains specific objectives for enhancing protection measures, including through public information campaigns, training justice officials, prosecutors and police investigators in evaluating antiunion animus in violent crimes, consolidating meaningful collective bargaining in the public sector and improving the capacity of labour inspectors to identify and remedy improper uses of labour intermediation (in particular cooperatives and temporary service agencies). The numerous freedom of association complaints arising out of the Latin American region more generally are often due to the insufficiency of national mechanisms and social dialogue to address concerns and provide appropriate remedies. In this regard, a number of other countries in the region have been inspired by the CETCOIT in Colombia and are seeking ILO assistance to put into place national mechanisms for conciliating and mediating labour disputes which will have the confidence of the parties. Discussions with the Government of Peru have begun in this regard. The case of the Philippines has demonstrated how the comprehensive supervision resulting from reviews not only by the Committee of Experts, but also the tripartite Conference Standards Committee and the Committee on Freedom of Association have opened the doors to enhanced cooperation with the Government, including the commencement of a three-year ILO programme on freedom of association in the country and the adoption of Guidelines on the Conduct for many departments including the police and the army relative to the exercise of workers rights and activities and a first important judgement drawing a clear link between the assassination of a trade unionist and his union activity thus sending a resounding signal that such acts will be severely punished. An exemplary case of ILO impact concerns the situation of forced labour and freedom of association in Myanmar. The June 2012 ILC has suspended for 1 year the request for member States to review their trade relations with Myanmar and referred to the November Governing Body a review of priority areas of action for the elimination of all forms of forced labour, as well as the consideration of progress made in guaranteeing full freedom of association rights. A special advisor on freedom of association has joined the team in Yangon. The supervisory bodies have had long outstanding comments on the need for the Government of Pakistan to amend its legislation to bring it fully into conformity with core labour standards. Concerns were highlighted in 2010 when labour issues had been devolved to the provinces, leaving a legal vacuum for freedom of association and social dialogue at the national level. While tripartite consultations had finally given way to the adoption of a new Page 2 of 5
IRO to regulate industrial relations in the capital and across provinces, concerns were maintained on a number of discrepancies between the law and practice and the fundamental Conventions that remain unaddressed. Regrettably, the supervisory mechanisms have also observed that child labour has increased in recent years due to growing poverty. While legislation prohibits the involvement of children in hostilities, there have been increasing reports of children being used for armed conflict. Child labour in the carpet industry continues to be prevalent and the Committee of Experts has expressed its deep concern at the significant number of children under the minimum age who are not attending school. Enforcement of laws banning child labour is weak due to an insufficient labour inspectorate. The International Programme for the Elimination of child labour (IPEC) has a project on the ground, funded by the EU, aims at establishing child labour units at federal and provincial level to monitor implementation of the national time-bound programme for the elimination of the worst forms of child labour and withdraw and rehabilitate child labourers. While the supervisory bodies have not as yet noted progress on the part of the Government of Georgia to amend its Labour Code to ensure full compliance with freedom of association conventions, the Government has recently committed to accelerating some requested amendments (two changes having reportedly just been made). In addition, the ILO has been assisting the Government and the social partners to put in place a mediation mechanism to help more rapidly address situations where trade union rights violations have been alleged. In the area of child labour, the supervisory bodies have noted the Action Plan on the Fight against Trafficking for 2009 10, but further observed with concern that the labour inspectorate stands abolished. This very much weakens action on child labour and applications of labour standards in general. Labour inspection is a key governance Convention necessary to ensure the rule of law. All member States of the European Union have observed its pivotal role in the promotion of core labour standards and demonstrated their commitment through ratification.( Beyond the key role labour inspectors can play in bringing to light violations of fundamental Conventions, the labour inspectorate can contribute to awareness-raising, collect relevant data to assist in identifying particularly vulnerable sectors or groups and help to elaborate appropriate remedial measures. The supervisory bodies therefore place great emphasis on the buttressing of inspectorates financially, through adequate human resources and quality training on international labour standards. The supervisory bodies have also observed with particular concern the use of child labour in certain sectors, such as cotton and cocoa production. In the former, the Committee of Experts has raised comments with respect to Azerbaijan, China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. In most of these cases, the use of child labour in cotton picking is prohibited
by law but not fully implemented in practice. IPEC has therefore been providing technical assistance to some Central Asian countries since 2005. The case of Uzbekistan has been the subject of particularly close scrutiny by the supervisory mechanisms over recent years, including consecutive discussions by the tripartite Conference Committee on the Application of Standards. Here, both the international trade union movement and employers organizations have alleged not only significant numbers of child labourers during the cotton harvest but more especially a state-sponsored mobilization behind it. While the office has been engaged in discussions with the Government, to date, the Government has not accepted the invitation from the Conference Committee for a high-level tripartite observation mission, nor has it concretized an invitation to the ILO Office for a mission to fully assess the situation with respect to children s engagement in the cotton sector. This matter was not addressed at the most recent International Labour Conference for reasons not pertaining to the application of the Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention in Uzbekistan. It was considered important to continue reviewing the application of the Convention this year with a request for a new Government report for examination by the Committee of Experts at its up-coming meeting in November-December. This is also the case in respect of number of countries including Belarus, Colombia, Guatemala, (for which there is now an article 26 complaint) Myanmar, and Pakistan. Child labour in cocoa production has been especially observed by the supervisory bodies in Cote d Ivoire and Ghana, with IPEC estimates of some 1.7 million child labourers. Cote d Ivoire established a system to monitor child labour in cocoa plantations (SSTE) in its National Plan of Action for 2007 09 while Ghana has been implementing the National Programme for the Elimination of Worst Forms of Child Labour in the Cocoa Industry since 2006. Ghana has through this Programme, begun sensitization activities about child labour in the cocoa sector initiated a pilot livelihood support scheme to enhance the income of cocoa farmers and provided support to local government structures to foster children s attendance in basic school and skill training activities. The ILO is also engaged with private-public partnerships is addressing child labour and promoting decent work in Cocoa producing countries in West Africa. The ILO highlights the inter-related nature of all the core labour standards and signals in particular the importance of freedom of association as an enabling right to ensure respect for the three other categories of fundamental rights. (In this respect, the ILO has been engaged in promoting freedom of association in the difficult to reach rural sector and raising rural workers awareness of their rights and the role that they can play in combating child and forced labour and eliminating discrimination. Future activities will highlight the special nexus between freedom of association and the role that workers organizations can play, especially in the rural sector, in eliminating child labour. Page 4 of 5
ILO technical assistance on CLS and on wider decent work requires an investment in terms of time and resources as it touches upon governance and social and economic development. The ILO Office notes with interest that recent EU policy documents on development, on trade and on human rights have announced more attention to CLS, to Decent work, to social protection and to cooperation with the ILO. The ILO Office would welcome more concrete EU programmes and operational support for ILO technical assistance. Karen Curtis, Deputy Director of the ILO Office International Labour Standards Department