LABOUR: ILO Sanctions Members, Adopts Agricultural Health Rules

By Gustavo Capdevila Reprint | | Print |

Gustavo Capdevila

GENEVA, Jun 21 2001 (IPS) - The International Labour Conference concluded Thursday with the approval of the “Convention Concerning Safety and Health in Agriculture” and imposed sanctions against Belarus, Colombia, Ethiopia, Myanmar, Sudan and Venezuela for labour rights violations.

The new accord on farm labourers, the result of an understanding reached by workers, employers and governments, covers half of the world’s workers, estimates Juan Somavía, director-general of the International Labour Organisation (ILO).

The agreement will require the ratifying countries to establish “adequate systems of inspection of agricultural workplaces.” Currently, just five percent of the 1.3 billion farm workers are subject to monitoring and have access to legal protections.

In addition, “the employer shall have a duty to ensure the safety and health of workers in every aspect related to their work.”

Alongside mining and construction, farming is one of the three most dangerous work activities in developing and industrialised countries alike. Nearly half the 1.2 million work-related accidents reported each year occur in the agricultural sector.

The ILO Committee on the Application of Standards studied the situation of six countries and dictated special sanctions reserved for serious violations of labour rights.

In the case of Belarus, the ILO expressed its deep concern about the instructions given by the chief of the presidential administration to “interfere in the labour union elections.”

The climate of impunity in Colombia represents a serious threat to the exercise of union freedoms, said the standards committee after evaluating the situation of the South American country.

Julio Roberto Gómez, of the Colombia’s General Confederation of Democratic Workers (CGTD), denounced the continued violence against labour leaders. In just the last five and a half months, he stated, 45 unionists have been assassinated, he said.

The sanction against Ethiopia is based on accusations of government interference in labour union activities. The president of the Ethiopian Teachers’ Association was “convicted, after three years of preventive detention, on charges of conspiracy against the state and sentenced to 15 years in prison.”

With respect to Myanmar, the ILO committee expressed ” profound regret for the persistence of serious discrepancies between national legislation and practice and the provisions of the convention on freedom of association and protection of workers’ rights to organise.”

The military regime in Myanmar (formerly Burma) has been the target in the past few years of sharp accusations that it engages in practices of forced labour. The 17-day International Labour Conference, which ended Thursday, voted to send a high-level observers mission to assess the situation of this Asian country.

At the conclusion of the conference, Somavía underscored the spirit of consensus that predominated throughout the event and had allowed delegates to reach agreement on “matters that years ago would have seemed impossible, such as the case of Myanmar.” In general, the Asian countries had previously blocked any attempt to sanction Myanmar.

The committee on standards also penalised Sudan due to its verification of “the extreme gravity” of cases of forced labour.

For Venezuela, the committee urged the government “to amend its legislation to ensure that workers and employers can form organisations and freely elect their representatives.”

The conference participants also debated the problem of social security, which Somavía considers one of today’s most complicated issues.

The outcome of the discussion was a “very balanced” document that insists “we must not forget that social security is a key element for the stability of any society,” said the ILO chief.

Willy Thys, secretary general of the World Confederation of Labour (WCL), commented that the resolution on social security was vague and that “employers and certain labour sectors are opposed to a binding text in this area.”

An estimated one billion workers around the world lack social security, observed the leader of the WCL, one of the two leading international union organisations.

But the approved document is also insufficient because it fails to choose between capitalist and distributive systems, maintained Thys, who said his organisation is inclined to the latter option because capitalization “maintains and increases” social inequalities.

The conference, said the ILO’s Somavía, consolidated the “decent work agenda”, an initiative the organisation launched with strategic goals in the areas of employment, social security, safety, employee rights and social dialogue.

With the backing of the conference, the Decent Work programme passes from mere aspiration to action, from vision to policy, stated the ILO director-general.