Using the ILO Reporting and Supervisory Mechanisms

The elimination of child labour is one aspect of the wider trade union agenda to achieve decent work for all and respect for fundamental rights at work. The right to freedom of association, collective bargaining, non-discrimination and the elimination of forced and child labour are mutually reinforcing.

Declaration of Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work

The ILO Declaration of Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work (1998) recognises that all states, by virtue of their membership in the ILO, have an obligation to respect the fundamental rights which are the subject of the core conventions - even if they themselves have not ratified a particular convention. Paragraph 1(c) of the Declaration calls for “the effective abolition of child labour”. As part of the follow-up procedures, governments which have not ratified one or more of the core conventions must submit a report on the situation in their country, and to re-examine obstacles to ratification. Employers' and workers' organisations are invited to provide their comments, and governments are required, in accordance with practice under article 23 of the ILO Constitution, to identify the organisations to which they have sent copies of their annual report. If, for any reason, the employers' and workers' organisations have not been consulted, they can submit their own comments directly to the International Labour Organization. Ratification of ILO Conventions 138 and 182

There is almost universal ratification of Convention 182, on the worst forms of child labour. However, there are still 14 countries that have ratified Convention 182 and not ratified Convention 138 on the minimum age of employment. These are countries with a significant proportion of the world’s children. In those cases, trade unions should still be advocating for ratification as part of their campaign strategies.

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India: Ratification campaign for the core ILO Conventions on child labour and on freedom of association and collective bargaining

ILO ACTRAV has worked closely with the nine Indian trade union centres to develop an Action Programme for the ratification and implementation of ILO labour standards. As part of this wider programme, the Hind Mazdoor Sabha national trade union centre is coordinating a project to intensify trade union activity calling for ratification of the core ILO Conventions on child labour and on freedom of association and collective bargaining. HMS has created a group to develop and implement the campaign strategy, which includes workers’ education sessions, national and State level rallies, including tripartite meetings, and the publication and dissemination of relevant materials. Finally, the project includes an organising campaign among domestic workers in Tamil Nadu and Karnataka in order to fight child domestic labour.

Reporting on the Application of Conventions

Governments must submit reports to the ILO on each ratified Convention on a regular basis, according to the list prepared by the Governing Body, describing:

• The arrangements made to achieve the goals of a convention; • How to overcome any obstacles in the way of its full application; • How it is applied in practice.

Trade unions are entitled to receive copies of these reports and to comment on them. Where there are concerns about the application of the Conventions, the reports are examined by the ILO Committee of Experts on the Application of Conventions and Recommendations. The committee can make observations in cases where countries are not complying with the ratified convention. The report of the Committee of Experts is also referred to the ILO Conference where the Tripartite Committee on the Application of Conventions and Recommendations reviews the most serious cases.

There are also general surveys on specific topics agreed by the Governing Body and analysing the situation of the application of a convention in all member countries, whether they have ratified the convention or not.

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Find out more about ILO Standards and the Declaration

See the ILOLEX Database of International Labour Standards which is a trilingual database containing ILO Conventions and Recommendations, ratification information, comments of the Committee of Experts and the Committee on Freedom of Association, representations, complaints, interpretations, General Surveys, and numerous related documents. http://www.ilo.org/ilolex/english/

If you wish to raise an issue of non-compliance of a ratified Convention (No 138 or 182), you can discuss it with the ILO and any national or international organisation to which you are affiliated

Case Study: Uzbekistan and forced child labour in the cotton industry

Over the last decade, the issue of State-organised forced child labour in the cotton industry in Uzbekistan has been a major concern of the international trade union movement and human rights organisations. Because of international pressure, Uzbekistan ratified ILO C. 182 on the elimination of the worst forms of labour in 2008 and C. 138 on the minimum age of employment in 2009. It also developed a national list of worst forms of child labour, under which terms persons under the age of 18 were prohibited from working in cotton picking or watering. The government also established a National Action Plan on Child Labour in 2008. However, there still remains a vast disparity between the legal commitments and the practice on the ground.

The ITUC has brought the issue of forced child labour in Uzbekistan to the attention of the ILO Committee of Experts on the Application of Conventions since 2008.It was also examined in the ILO Conference Committee on the Application of Standards since 2010.