Monitoring International Labor Standards International Perspectives: Summary of Regional Forums (2004) / Chapter Skim
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4. Trade Unions
4. Trade Unions
Pages 34-54
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From page 34... ...
the APFOL represents nearly 400 unions in Pakistan emphasized the responsibility of governments to oversee the implementation of labor standards and to provide the legal framework and institutional mechanisms to promote and enforce compliance. It is the employers' responsibility tO adhere to national laws, codes of conduct, and the terms of collective agreements.
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From page 35... ...
Mr. Awan concluded that a "national and international rethinking is therefore necessary to determine the extent to which workers in the developing nations have to sacrifice the basic rights, rights of unionism and collective bargaining, for transient economic gains." LAYMAN BAHADUR BASNET NEPAL TRADE UNION CONGRESS, NEW Mr.
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From page 36... ...
President Mugabe's regime has established a parallel trade union organization that undermines independent unionism in the country, and a number of trade union members have been forced into exile. Members of the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions have reported that they are placed under surveillance and cannot attend conferences such as this regional forum without being accompanied by officers of the Central Intelligence Office who "monitor the nature of their input," Mr.
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From page 37... ...
Candray, "They provide global figures, but they do not make it possible to assess what aspects of the labor standards are not being complied with." He discussed the specific limitations of collecting data about compliance with the core standards. In terms of forced labor, he said, labor statistics do not show the increases in overtime that are being imposed on workers in the maquila sector, often under the threat of dismissal.
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From page 38... ...
TERESA CASERTANO~OLIDARIrY CENTER, COSTA RICA Ms. Casertano described the methodology used by the Solidarity Center and its parent organization, the AFL-CIO (American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations)
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From page 39... ...
trade law overlaps with the Declaration in induding freedom of association, the right to collective bargaining, and the elimination of child labor and forced labor, but it does not include discrimination. Additionally, the U.S.
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From page 40... ...
Casertano said, the Solidarity Center has tried to work with unions "to train them to reflect the facts of the cases, without exaggerations, without multiple interpretations, without qualifying the facts because, in general, the facts are enough to determine if there was compliance or not." Each assessment, she said, contains a judicial analysis, which seeks to identify "bottlenecks or legal obstacles for the exercise of rights." While the Solidarity Center has only studied labor legislation of one regional country in depth, case studies have helped highlight particular problems in legislation or judicial procedures.
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From page 41... ...
We talk about the right to collective bargaining when, in more than 4,000 maquila factories in Mexico, Central America, and the Caribbean, there are less than 10 collective contracts total. We talk about the prohibition on forced labor and child labor when we know that millions of children are working and that maquila workers are locked up in their factories until they finish their work.
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From page 42... ...
Hermanson concluded by recommending to the Committee on Monitoring International Labor Standards a four-step process to monitor compliance with freedom of association and collective bargaining rights: 1. Analyze the labor laws with the assistance of legal experts to determine whether the laws are compatible with the fundamental rights.
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From page 43... ...
Although there are mechanisms for social dialogue in Panama with worker representation on the boards of the Social Security Administration, the National Institute of Professional Training, the Minimum Wages Commission, and other governmental bodies the result, Mr. Leon said, is not always a consensus agreement.
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From page 44... ...
Mr. Mendez said that several pilot projects have been developed in Costa Rica, and "the business sector has shown a great deal of interest because of the type of system we are proposing in terms of gradual certification and institutional support." This system, he said, should be ;ncorporated into the regional free trade agreement and be recognized as social, labor, and environmental investments, rather than as subsidies.
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From page 45... ...
get too much pressure, they can just walk out because the infrastructure was developed by the government." CUNNINGHAM NGCUKANA NATIONAL COUNCIL OF TRADE UNIONS, SourH AFRICA Mr. Ngcukana provided an overview of compliance issues confronting countries in the Southern African Development Community (SADC)
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From page 46... ...
LRS is a "trade union-controlled nonprofit organization" that provides empirical research to trade unions with the aim of improving their capacity for collective bargaining.
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From page 47... ...
In 2001 the South African Department of Labor supported the upgrade of AWARD to expand its scope and to make it available to subscribers via the Internet by luly 2003.7 7The AWARD website can be accessed through the LRS website, http://www.lrs.org.za.
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From page 48... ...
The LRS also performs preliminary audits of companies that are under consideration by the Community Growth Fund, a tracte union investment fund. This research measures corporate compliance with best practices across eight criteria: 1.
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From page 49... ...
The country has been cited twice in "special paragraphs" of the committee for continued failure to comply, and an ILO Commission of Inquiry was sent to investigate allegations of abduction, intimidation, and the killing of a 16year-olcl girl at a peaceful demonstration called by the Swaziland Federation of Trade Unions (SFTU)
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From page 50... ...
Many of the companies in this sector, he said, are "rejects" that left South Africa after the end of apartheid because they were not willing to abide by the dictates of the new labor-frien~lly South African Constitution. Other factory owners left Lesotho after the incident described by Mr.
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From page 51... ...
A related tool, initiated by the Solidarity Center's Indonesian office, is a novel agreement with Taiwanese employers, unions, and government. This agreement authorizes the Solidarity Center to monitor compliance with international labor standards by Taiwanese companies operating in other countries.
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From page 52... ...
The AFL-CIO's Center for Working Capital has been working with its South African counterpart, the Community Growth Fund (discussed earlier by Ms. Rykliefl, to formulate policies to realize the "immense potential" of this approach.
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From page 53... ...
" KELLY ZIDANA—INTERNATIONAL CONFEDERATION OF FREE TRADE UNIONS-AFRO, KENYA While the international media often depict Africa as a "hopeless place," Mr. Zidana suggested that in the particular area of international labor standards, Africa "started on a promising note." As newly independent African nations emerged in the 1960s, their constitutions included the key elements of the international standards.
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From page 54... ...
These indude . reforming outdated labor laws; · strengthening the institutions, such as trade unions, employer organizations, and ministries of labor; · supporting subregional and regional groupings, based on the notion that it is "easier to convince Tanzania about changing a situation in favor of international labor standards if they see that it is happening in Kenya or Uganda," Mr.
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