For immediate release
27 June 2023
Reference: Edz dela Cruz, edz@apwld.org
More questions than answers: Women workers, unions seek actions in recent resolutions posed by ILO Committee of Application of Standards
The Asia Pacific Forum on Women, Law and Development (APWLD) and its Philippine-based member organisation Center for Trade Union and Human Rights (CTUHR), together with workers and unions from across the globe, attended the 111th International Labour Conference (ILC) in Geneva, Switzerland from 5-16 June 2023 with hopes to discuss and push forward workers’ agenda as they meet with governments and private employers.
However, women workers and unions lamented that the ILC failed to provide an inclusive space and lead concrete steps to address workers’ issues, especially in the Global South. They also did not include many countries in Asia where there were a significant number of labour unrest cases, like Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, India, Hong Kong and Myanmar in the 22 countries tackled by the Committee on Application of Standards (CAS).
Ashila Dandeniya of Stand Up Movement Lanka, an APWLD member organisation, was deeply concerned about the process and how the space was not fully promoting labour rights and decent work.
“Regarding the safety of the employees of our country, the current situation is dire. I still can’t believe why no one in our country joined this conference despite so many problems,” Ashila commented.
“The absence of many countries from the Global South poses more questions than answers, as their contexts and experiences were not included in the discussions. It makes you question the International Labour Organization’s efforts to reach out to and include those countries,” APWLD Labour programme officer Andi Cipta Asmawaty pointed out.
The Philippines was included in the 22 countries shortlisted by CAS for its rampant labour rights violations, including union busting, red-tagging and killings of labour unionists and leaders. Kamz Deligente of CTUHR welcomed the inclusion of the Philippines but noted that there must be concrete steps following the recommendations made to the Philippine government.
“It should not stop with noting the recommendations and adopting them. The Philippine government must have concrete steps to cease attacks against workers’ freedom of association,” Kamz explained.
She also noted that harassment related to union busting and red-tagging continued even after the High-Level Tripartite meeting held in January 2023.
“Meetings, consultations and the creation of new committees are not enough. It is clear that the main problem is that the government’s insurgency campaign includes attacks against legitimate peoples’ organisations, including labour organisations,” she shared, noting that the Philippine government’s Executive Order 70 creating the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC) enabled the attacks and must be immediately reviewed and scrapped.
Meanwhile, CAS also tackled the individual case of Indonesia regarding the Omnibus Law on Job Creation. While unions and worker groups in Indonesia reject the law altogether as it puts the workers at a great disadvantage, the Committee concluded that the law should be reviewed in consultation with social partners and ensure that the law and practice are not interfering with the voting rights of trade unions.
During the review, the Indonesian government committed that it would continue to implement the law effectively to create jobs and enhance employment opportunities.
“The conclusion remarks only reflect how weak and vulnerable resolutions are to misinterpretation. Workers and unions are rejecting the law, but their calls were disregarded. Instead, the resolution opened an opportunity for the government to perpetuate the narrative of neoliberal capitalism that does not serve the interests of workers,” Andi emphasised.
Apart from the issues around the lack of representation of the workers from the Global South, women workers and unions were also concerned about the lack of gender perspective in the resolutions.
“CAS launched a general report on Achieving Gender Equality at Work, but the resolutions do not reflect the principle of gender equality and gender justice in any way, not even in the process. We were expecting they would integrate the gender justice principle throughout, but they did not,” Andi added.
She pointed out that responses from the member-states and employers to the individual cases need to reflect their understanding and acknowledgment of labour and women’s rights. Some denied the claims and CAS took note and passed them as one of the resolutions without any probing or validation.
“Gender justice will only be achieved if justice exists for all workers. Governments and companies should acknowledge and implement International Labour Standards effectively if they are serious about gender justice,” Andi explained.
She also noted that APWLD regards the ILC as an important negotiation space to support labour movements across the world in asserting their rights and winning their battles against labour exploitation, thus expects that CAS will prioritise countries with pervasive labour violations and will hold governments and companies accountable in implementing their resolutions.
“We call on the ILO and CAS to strictly monitor the implementation of the International Labour Standards and to strengthen their resolutions and ensure that these reflect the realities of workers and do not perpetuate abuses of authoritarian regimes,” Andi concluded.##
