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The General Conference of the International Labour Organisation,
Having been convened at Geneva by the Governing Body of the International Labour Office, and having met in its thirty-second session on 8 June 1949, and
Having decided upon the adoption of certain proposals concerning the application of the principles of the right to organise and to bargain collectively, which is the fourth item on the agenda of the session, and
Having determined that these proposals shall take the form of an international Convention, Adopts this first day of July of the year one thousand nine hundred and forty-nine the following Convention, which may be cited as the Right to Organise and Collective Bargaining Convention 1949:
2. Such protection shall apply more particularly in respect of acts calculated to:
(a) Make the employment of a worker subject to the condition that he shall not join a union or shall relinquish trade union membership;
(b) Cause the dismissal of or otherwise prejudice a worker by reason of union membership or because of participation in union activities outside working hours or, with the consent of the employer, within working hours.
2. In accordance with the principle set forth in paragraph 8 of article 19 of the Constitution of the International Labour Organisation the ratification of this Convention by any Member shall not be deemed to affect any existing law, award, custom or agreement in virtue of which members of the armed forces or the police enjoy any right guaranteed by this Convention.
2. It shall come into force twelve months after the date on which the ratifications of two Members have been registered with the Director-General.
3. Thereafter, this Convention shall come into force for any Member twelve months after the date on which its ratification has been registered.
(a) The territories in respect of which the Member concerned undertakes that the provisions of the Convention shall be applied without modification;
(b) The territories in respect of which it undertakes that the provisions of the Convention shall be applied subject to modifications, together with details of the said modifications;
(c) The territories in respect of which the Convention is inapplicable and in such cases the grounds on which it is inapplicable;
(d) The territories in respect of which it reserves its decision pending further consideration of the position.
2. The undertakings referred to in subparagraphs (a) and (b) of paragraph I of this article shall be deemed to be an integral part of the ratification and shall have the force of ratification.
3. Any Member may at any time by a subsequent declaration cancel in whole or in part any reservation made in its original declaration in virtue of subparagraphs (b), (c) or (d) of paragraph I of this article.
4. Any Member may, at any time at which the Convention is subject to denunciation in accordance with the provisions of article I 1, communicate to the Director-General a declaration modifying in any other respect the terms of any former declaration and stating the present position in respect of such territories as it may specify.
2. The Member, Members or international authority concerned may at any time by a subsequent declaration renounce in whole or in part the right to have recourse to any modification indicated in any former declaration.
3. The Member, Members or international authority concerned may, at any time at which this Convention is subject to denunciation in accordance with the provisions of article 11, communicate to the Director-General a declaration modifying in any other respect the terms of any former declaration and stating the present position in respect of the application of the Convention.
2. Each Member which has ratified this Convention and which does not, within the year following the expiration of the period of ten years mentioned in the preceding paragraph, exercise the right of denunciation provided for in this article, will be bound for another period of ten years and, thereafter, may denounce this Convention at the expiration of each period of ten years under the terms provided for in this article.
2. When notifying the Members of the Organisation of the registration of the second ratification communicated to him, the Director-General shall draw the attention of the Members of the Organisation to the date upon which the Convention will come into force.
(a) The ratification by a Member of the new revising Convention shall ipso jure involve the immediate denunciation of this Convention, notwithstanding the provisions of article 11 above, if and when the new revising Convention shall have come into force;
(b) As from the date when the new revising Convention comes into force this Convention shall cease to be open to ratification by the Members.
2. This Convention shall in any case remain in force in its actual form and content for those Members which have ratified it but have not ratified the revising Convention.
The foregoing is the authentic text of the Convention duly adopted by the General Conference of the International Labour Organisation during its thirty-second session which was held at Geneva and declared closed the second day of July 1949.
IN FAITH WHEREOF we have appended our signatures this eighteenth day of August 1949.
* This is a direct link to the ILO ILOLEX
database. Ratification information is updated daily.
ILO to seek new Convention aimed at abolishing
extreme Forms of Child Labour
Monday 25 May 1998
(ILO/98/20)
GENEVA (ILO News) - Backed by growing international support for abolishing extreme forms of child labour, the International Labour Organization (ILO) is to seek a new Convention and Recommendation aimed at bringing an immediate halt to hazardous, exploitative working practices that confront millions of children with daily, work-related stress, exposure to injury, illness and death, and deprive them of a normal life.
According to the results of recent national surveys contained in a comprehensive brief entitled "Abolishing Extreme Forms of Child Labour" and released worldwide by the ILO, at least one-third and in some countries, up to two-thirds of the children queried were employed in hazardous industries or sectors, including construction, mining, quarrying, transport or agriculture that are even dangerous for adults. In many instances, girls suffered more than boys, as they were more susceptible to injury and illness.
The ILO found that some 50 percent of working children surveyed described their work as stressful, up to 60 percent said they returned to their homes exhausted and up to 80 percent said they had no days off or free time.
"While we know and must accept that the ultimate eradication of child labour is contingent on growth and equitable forms of development, there are certain forms of abusive and exploitative forms of child labour for which there can be no alibi, whether economic or cultural," says ILO Director-General Michel Hansenne. "These can and must be identified, confronted and eliminated without further delay."
The brief has been issued prior to the International Labour Conference of the ILO on 2-18 June. The annual gathering of governments, and representatives of workers and employers will discuss the new Convention and Recommendation for the first time. On the basis of this year's discussion and subsequent comments by member States, the ILO will prepare a report for the 1999 Conference which can decide on the final adoption of new standards.
Among the events expected to highlight the issue during the Conference is a "global march against child labour" which began earlier this year in all the regions of the world, and will see hundreds of young people and activists converging on the ILO headquarters and the Conference venue at the United Nations Office in Geneva calling for the abolition of child labour.
The extent of hazardous child labour
The ILO surveys found that 25 percent of all children between the ages of 5 and 14 were economically active (27 percent of the boys and 22 percent of the girls). Of these, between 33 and 67 percent of the boys and 27 and 69 percent of the girls were employed in hazardous work. In the construction sector, 26 percent of working children sustained injuries or illnesses while on the job. In the mining and quarrying sector, the figure was 16 percent, in transport/storage/communication 18 percent and in agriculture 12 percent.
Some 70.4 percent of all working children in the countries surveyed are employed in agriculture, hunting, forestry and fishing, the study found, while other percentages, by sector, are: manufacturing (8.3percent); wholesale and retail trade, restaurants and hotels (8.3 percent); community, social and personal services (6.5 percent); transport, storage and communication (3.8 percent); construction (1.9 percent); and, mining and quarrying (0.9 percent).
Of the estimated 250 million child workers in developing countries who work full or part-time, 61 percent are in Asia, 32 percent are in Africa and 7 percent in Latin America. Although Asia has the largest number of child workers, Africa has the highest incidence at around 41 percent of children between 5 and 14 years old. The corresponding proportion in Asia is approximately one-half of the level in Africa (22 percent) and it is 17 percent in Latin America.
While most child labour is found in developing countries, industrialized economies are not entirely free of the scourge either. In Eastern and Central Europe, for example, child labour has been reappearing in the wake of social and economic dislocation caused by the transition to a market economy.
New standards to be debated
Discussion at the International Labour Conference - the annual meeting of the International Labour Organization - will focus on new international labour standards aimed at extreme forms of child labour: work that is likely to jeopardize the safety, health and morals of children; slavery and practices similar to slavery; and child prostitution and pornography.
Over the past few years, there has been growing interest in adopting new ILO standards which would focus on such child labour abuses. The decision of the ILO Governing Body to put the subject on the agenda of the Labour Conference was reinforced by a Resolution adopted by ILO member States at the 1996 Labour Conference stating that within the context of the progressive elimination of child labour, there was a need "to immediately proceed with the abolition of its most intolerable aspects...".
Member States reaffirmed this interest in replies to a questionnaire on the possible content of new standards. A record number of 116 governments, with an almost equal number of employers' and workers' organizations, expressed overwhelming support. The range of comments reflected a consensus that the persistence and seriousness of the child labour problem warranted renewed international action focused specifically on extreme or intolerable forms of child labour.
A new Convention on child labour
The Minimum Age Convention, 1973 (No. 138) and its accompanying Recommendation No. 146 are the most recent and comprehensive ILO instruments aimed at the abolition of child labour. They are the pillars of ILO action to promote improved national policy and legislation, and in designing technical cooperation to combat child labour.
Convention No. 138 is and will remain the fundamental international standard on child labour - its goal is the total abolition of child labour - but it also allows for progressive implementation and improvement. While it is recognized that eliminating child labour will take time, there are certain kinds of child labour which cannot be tolerated and require immediate action.
There has been growing international consensus that there should be a new standard focused on the worst forms of child exploitation which would make the intolerable the priority for national and international action.
New international standards would put into one legal instrument all extreme forms of child labour. This would not in any way make existing instruments less important, but would bring into a sharper focus the kinds of measures needed to suppress the most dangerous and hazardous work of children. New standards will reinforce the objective of Convention No. 138: the total abolition of child labour.
The proposal for a new Convention would require measures for the immediate suppression of all extreme forms of child labour; call for criminal penalties; specify that measures of prevention, removal of children from extreme forms of child labour, and rehabilitation of child victims are to be taken; and call for steps towards mutual cooperation or assistance in giving effect to the provisions of the Convention.
The proposed Recommendation would call for adopting national programmes of action which would protect the very young; protect girls; include measures for prevention, rehabilitation and social integration; raise awareness and mobilize society; establish monitoring mechanisms to ensure effective application: determine the most hazardous work; compile data; designate certain activities as criminal offences; and take effective enforcement measures.
"There is overwhelming support among ILO constituents for putting an end to the intolerable exploitation and abuse of children in hazardous work and conditions of slavery and practices similar to slavery," says Mr. Assefa Bequele, Director of the ILO's Working Conditions and Environment Department. "Such exploitation and abuse not only jeopardize the physical and mental well-being of children but are also gross violations of their human rights and dignity."
Why new standards for Child Labour?
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