In Peru, social partners are intercepted and involvement solicited.
In Peru, it has been reported that when there are difficulties in securing the attention and involvement of the social partners in matters related to ILS reporting, their representatives can be “intercepted” at other official or business gatherings and involvement personally solicited.
In Tajikistan, the social partners are briefed when the ILS specialist from DWT/CO Office visits.
In Tajikistan, it is reported that when the ILO specialist on ILS visits the country, meetings are arranged for briefing tripartite partners on improving the quality of reports on ILS application.
In addition to briefing government officials, ILS specialists can brief and train the social partners in reporting processes. This may improve their responsiveness as well as the quality of their involvement in ILS reporting.
In Panama, social dialogue on report contents is used to resolve issues.
It is reported that in Panama, successful social dialogue is seen as a way to resolve issues arising from the application of ILS before they are taken to the ILO. So, although there are challenges faced in dialogue, the benefit derived from resolving issues through the process are seen to be important, and worth the effort.
Ms. Catherine Abayao, Labor and Employment Officer, International Relations and Cooperation Division, Department of Labor and Employment, Philippines describes the benefit of established tripartite structures and high level support (December, 2011).
“Hi, I am Catherine Duladul and I work with Miss Delia and the International Labour Standards division and I have been with this division for seven years now. I want to share here the successes or the success that we have here in the department in producing our report to the ILO on time. First, because we have an established tripartite structure as explained by my colleagues a while ago. We have an institutionalized tripartite structure and an executive order. It is a policy making body where all our reports to the ILO are subjected to this tripartite body. And also one more thing here is that our official, the secretary herself is also very interested in ILO matters. She is knowledgeable in how ILO standards are being adapted and then when a certain country has ratified a certain convention. She knows the obligations that a ratifying State has too. So… in our case we had to work well and submit our reports on time because our heads are aware of our obligations.”
Special thanks go to the Honorable Secretary of Labor and Employment of the Philippines, and the Director and staff of the International Labor Affairs Bureau of the Department of Labor of the Philippines for their generous cooperation in the production of this video.
Ms. Dorine Monica Brooks, Director, International Labour Agencies and Information, ILO Desk Officer, Ministry of Labour and Social Security, Jamaica tells how external expert advice is called upon.
“We call upon professionals from our main University of West Indies, Mona Campus, and sometimes University of Technology to advice the Minister and all the persons within the Ministry on ILS matters.”
Ms. Gloria Beatriz Gaviria Ramos, Chief, Oficina de Cooperación y Relaciones Internacionales, Ministerio del Trabajo, Colombia described legislative provision on tripartite consultation.
“Under Colombian law, our political Constitution, a National Consultation Committee was set up, which is the highest tripartite body existing in Colombia and this Committee specifically deals with all obligations associated with ILS, reports and the ratification of Conventions – and this Committee asked the International Affairs Committee [ … ], which we set up, to deal with all these cases. This Committee meets once a month and recently, for example, we held a meeting to decide on the make-up of the Conference delegation – but we also carries out a tripartite analysis on the reports that we are to present to the ILO.”
Ms. Dorine Monica Brooks, Director, International Labour Agencies and Information, ILO Desk Officer, Ministry of Labour and Social Security, Jamaica contributes practice on involvement and follow up.
“The Social Partners are usually invited to take part in all events (training, seminars, conferences etc.). In addition, every document of importance is circulated all both areas, followed by telephone calls to ensure that documents are received.”
In Turkmenistan, ILO representatives are called on to help engage high level social partners in ILS matters.
It is reported that in Turkmenistan, to explain the importance of ILS to employers and workers on a high level, representatives of the ILO are needed to engage the social partners.
In Chad, an ILS library is open for consultation.
In Chad, it is reported that the service responsible for international labour standards has established and maintains a library with documents relevant to ILS, including government reports. The library can be consulted by labour inspectors who take note of ILS provisions in the questions they deal with in their work.
Ms. Delia S. Palomar, Chief Labor and Employment Officer, International Relations and Cooperation Division, Department of Labor and Employment, Philippines, describes the consultation process followed in the Philippines (December, 2011).
“So for the past six years we have been doing quite well in our reporting obligations due to the fact that we subjected our reports to tripartite consultation, aside from the government consultation that we have upon the first draft. So after we do our first draft and consulted government organizations, we submit our report to the technical Executive committee of the tripartite industrial peace council for their inputs and their comments and as soon as we get their comments, we consolidate all of them into a draft Philippines report which is submitted to the ILO.
For ILS reporting, we… the consultation process takes upon receiving the request from the ILO, we coordinate with the concerned agencies, we write them a letter requesting for their inputs on the reports being requested by the ILO. As soon as we receive their inputs, we prepare them and transmit them, transmit to them (the agencies) through email for validation, after which we call them for a meeting, a consultation meeting to validate their responses. And also if other agencies have inputs to contribute on those reports.
In cases where we don’t have the answers we need, we try to research and we draft the replies and send it to the concerned officers for validation if we… huh if that is the correct reply and if they have more inputs to add. But sometimes that is one of the challenges that we are having in preparing the reports due to the various loads of other officers but as much as possible we try to submit to them the report for their proper answer.”
Special thanks got to the Honorable Secretary of Labor and Employment of the Philippines, and the Director and staff of the International Labor Affairs Bureau of the Department of Labor of the Philippines for their generous cooperation in the production of this video.