Fuente: www.ilo.org

ILO: GOVERNING BODY CONCLUDES 297TH SESSION

The Governing Body of the International Labour Office (ILO) concluded its 297th session here following discussions on a range of issues including: follow-up activities to the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) ministerial declaration on generating full and productive employment and decent work for all; respect of basic labour rights in Myanmar, Belarus and other countries; youth employment; and labour inspection.

The tripartite body also approved the 343rd Report of the ILO Committee on Freedom of Association, drawing special attention to the cases of Colombia, Eritrea, Guatemala and Zimbabwe because of their serious and urgent nature.

The meeting also considered the ILO response to the post-crisis situation in Lebanon, ILO activities in the field of youth employment and labour inspection, and new approaches to international chemicals management and ship breaking.

The ILO group considered two reports concerning developments in Myanmar with respect to the continued practice of forced labour (GB.297/8/1 and GB.297/8/2).

Delegates expressed great frustration that the country's authorities had not been able to agree on a mechanism to deal with complaints of forced labour. They requested that the government conclude with the ILO such an agreement as a matter of utmost urgency and decided to place on the agenda of its March 2007 session a specific item to enable it to move on legal options, including involving the International Court of Justice.

The Governing Body also asked the ILO Director-General to bring the relevant documentation to the attention of the United Nations' Security Council when it considers the situation in Myanmar. The documentation should also be made available to the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court for any action that may be considered appropriate.

Regarding trade union rights in Belarus, the Governing Body considered what measures could be taken to promote the implementation of recommendations of the 2004 Commission of Inquiry.

In light of the discussions which the government of Belarus had recently engaged in with the ILO, the Governing Body decided to return to the item in March 2007. In the meanwhile, the government was requested to cooperate, as a matter of urgency, with the ILO so that legislative changes which it was planning would serve the implementation of those recommendations and be in line with the ILO Conventions on Freedom of Association and the Right to Collective Bargaining. The Governing Body would look again at the situation in March in the light of further developments and the assessments made by the ILO supervisory bodies.

The Committee on Employment and Social Policy examined how the quantity and quality of labour inspections worldwide can be improved through an integrated labour inspection system. (See ILO/06/52 for more detailed discussion). It also discussed resolutions on technical cooperation, the employment relationship and on asbestos adopted by the International Labour Conference last June, and progress in the implementation of decent work country programmes in Africa, Asia and the Pacific, Latin America and the Caribbean, Europe and Central Asia and the Arab states (see GB.297/TC/1).

The Working Party on the Social Dimension of Globalization discussed follow-up activities to the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) ministerial declaration on generating full and productive employment and decent work for all, the High-level Panel on UN System-wide Coherence, and potential areas for further study on the changing patterns in the world of work.

Freedom of Association

The case of Colombia was examined by the Committee for the nineteenth time since the complaint was first filed in 1995. In light of the new allegations relating to murders, disappearances, detentions and threats of trade union officials and members, the Committee said that there remained an extremely serious problem of violence in Colombia.

The Committee called upon the Government to put an end to the intolerable impunity and to take all possible steps to provide effective protection for all trade union members so that they could exercise their rights without fear. In particular, the Committee requested information on the progress made in the investigations into "Operation Dragon", a plan allegedly aimed at eliminating trade unionists.

The Committee expected that the tripartite agreement signed in June 2006 by government, employers' and workers' representatives, which included plans for permanent representation of the ILO in the country and careful follow-up of the findings of the Public Prosecutor's special investigation group to combat impunity, will yield tangible results in the near future.

The case of Eritrea concerns the arrest in March and April 2005 of three trade union leaders - Tewelde Ghebremedhin, chairperson of an IUF (International Union of Foodworkers) affiliated Federation, Minase Andezion, secretary of an International Textile, Garment and Leather Workers' Federation (ITGLWF) federation and Habtom Weldemicael, chairperson of the Red Sea Bottlers Coca-Cola Workers' Union. The three have been detained incommunicado since their arrest and the authorities have refused to give any information on their whereabouts or on the reasons for their arrest.

The Committee urged the Government to ensure their immediate release and to provide all relevant information on the reasons for their arrest.

In the case of Guatemala, the Committee dealt with the murder of two trade union officials, death threats hanging over one of the official's wife and children, the attempted murder of two other trade unionists, assaults on trade unionists, the theft of trade union property and overall shortcomings in the institutional system of protection of trade union and labour rights. It also deplored the murder of trade union officials Rolando Raquec and Luis Quinteros Chinchilla and the attempts made against the lives of Marcos Alvarez Tzoc and Imelda Lopez de Sandoval.

The Committee requested the Government to inform it urgently of the developments in the inquiries and procedures under way and to ensure an adequate and efficient system of protection against acts of anti-union discrimination, including sufficiently dissuasive sanctions and emphasizing reinstatement as a prompt means of redress. It further asked the Government to take measures immediately to safeguard the lives of those who had received death threats.

In the case of Zimbabwe, the Committee deplored the lack of reply by the Government to the serious allegations relating to the arrest of trade unionists, harassments and beatings, despite an earlier urgent appeal made to it. It firmly urged the Government to take the necessary measures so that the charges brought against trade unionists are immediately dropped if it is found that the union members were being tried solely for their participation in the mass demonstrations of November 2003 protesting against the violation of human and trade union rights.

The Committee also urged the Government to initiate independent inquiries without delay into the allegations of beatings and serious injuries suffered at the hands of the police by Messrs. Dengu, Khumalo, Mandinyenya and Munyukwi with a view to providing adequate restitution to them, punishing the guilty parties and preventing repetition of acts of violence and harassment against trade unionists.

The Committee once again expressed its deep concern with the seriousness of the general trade union climate in Zimbabwe.