Monitoring International Labor Standards Techniques and Sources of Information (2004) / Chapter Skim
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8 Acceptable Conditions of Work
8 Acceptable Conditions of Work
Pages 224-246
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The first two are, together, one of the four core labor standards of the International Labour Organization (ILO) as are the next two.
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. Ratification of an ILO convention is an imperfect measure of a nations' commitment to international labor standards, and some countries that have not TABLE 8-1 The Four Core International Labor Standards Convention Ratifications Four Fundamental Corresponding as of June 6, 2003 Principles ILO Conventions (of 175 ILO members)
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ratified the core conventions have equivalent legal provisions. Nevertheless, as shown in Table 8-2, the smaller number of ratifications of ILO conventions on working conditions suggests there is less international agreement on wages, hours, and working conditions than on the core labor standards.
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Legislative History The Trade Act of 2002 does not define "acceptable conditions of work with respect to minimum wages, hours of work, and occupational safety and health," and no regulations defining these terms have been promulgated. Because the 2002 law continues worker rights provisions that were originally approved by Congress in 1984, it is useful to look at the history of that law.
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. The conference report states, "It is the intention of the Conferees that this definition of internationally recognized worker rights [the list of rights included in the Trade and Tariff Act of 1984 and most recently in the Trade Act of 2002]
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government would not only look at the status of ratification of ILO conventions, but also examine national laws to see whether they contain similar provisions governing wages, hours, and occupational safety and health. Common international norms in ratifications or laws would become the standard for assessing acceptable conditions of work.
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By this external standard, a wage level that does not provide a worker and his or her family with wages above the poverty line might be deemed unacceptable. Because this issue is so important, both with regard to ILO conventions and with regard to the U.S.
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Finally, even if it had been possible to account for all of these factors to establish a correct "living wage," a lack of high quality, comparable data on minimum wages and on prevailing or average wages in the footwear and apparel industries hampered the analysis. The authors concluded: For several countries where data are available, the minimum wage (and in a few more countries, the prevailing wage in the footwear or apparel industries)
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. As required by these laws, the Secretary of State has submitted annual reports on countries' human rights and worker rights practices since 1977.
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· If there is no national minimum wage, posts should indicate whether the average wage provides a decent living for a worker and family. · Standard Language: Posts must use or adapt the following language: "The national minimum wage (average daily wage)
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Trade Representative (USTR) requesting action to remove GSP trade benefits because of alleged violations of internationally recognized worker rights (U.S.
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The textile agreement calls for the government of Cambodia to improve working conditions in the textile and apparel sector "including internationally recognized core labor standards, through the application of Cambodian labor law" (Trade Compliance Center, 1999)
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TABLE 8-4 Department of State Definition of Acceptable Conditions of Work and Cambodian Labor Law Acceptable Condition Provisions in Cambodian Law Wages that provide a decent living The minimum wage for the garment sector for workers and their families is $45 per month for regular workers, $40 per month for workers on probation, and $30 per month for apprentices. If a piece rate worker falls below $45 per month, the employer must make up the difference.
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Using alternative interpretations has the benefit of allowing the government to interpret the law flexibly, as called for by the legislative history. The Department of State definition, incorporates many elements that are also found in ILO conventions and are often found in national laws and regulations.
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1, 30, 47 and on widespread national law) ; · the nation has and enforces a law providing for a specified number of paid holidays days each year for covered workers (based on ILO Conventions No.
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; A-5. ratification of ILO Conventions No.
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of the following: B-1. a mechanism for fixing minimum wages; B-2.
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Within ILOLEX, the comments of the ILO Committee of Experts on the Applications of Conventions and Resolutions, which focuses on comparing national labor laws and regulations with ratified conventions, are a particularly useful resource. In addition to ILO sources on national labor law, many research libraries around the world maintain online databases of national laws and regulations, including labor laws.3 Country reports to the United Nations under the International Covenant on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights provide another useful source of information on laws and their enforcement governing wages, hours, and occupational health and safety.
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Rama and Artecona (2002) have developed a global database of labor market indicators across countries including several indicators of compliance with International Labor Standards.
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Similarly, data on hours of work in Argentina are available for only one region of the country -- Greater Buenos Aires (International Labour Organization, 1995) , and employment data for Brazil is based on surveys that exclude the rural population in the northern part of the country (Behrman and Rosenzweig, 1994)
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trade law if that nation has: · a mechanism to establish minimum wages, · a regular workweek of 48 hours or less, · a specific number of paid holidays each year for covered workers, · a provision that all workers receive a full day of rest every 7 days, and · a mechanism for setting health and safety standards. 8-2 The committee recommends examining whether funds for household surveys could be more efficiently used by designing fewer, more comprehensive household surveys.
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Paper prepared for the National Research Council Workshop on National Legal Frameworks and Enforcement Mechanisms: Assessing National Compliance with International Labor Standards. Washington, DC.
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Paper prepared for the National Research Council Workshop on National Legal Frameworks and Enforce ment Mechanisms: Assessing National Compliance with International Labor Standards. Washington, DC.
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