Labor Standards as per International Labor Organization (ILO)

Labor Standards as per International Labor Organization (ILO)

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  Labor Standards asper International Labor Organization (ILO)
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  What is InternationalLabour Organization (ILO)  The International Labour Organization (ILO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations system which seeks the promotion of social justice and internationally recognized human and labour rights. 2
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  When & WhyILO was created  The ILO was created in response to the consciousness that followed the First World War at the Peace Conference, which convened first in Paris and then in Versailles. The ILO is the only major surviving outcome of the Treaty of Versailles on 11 April 1919.  The ILO provides technical assistance, mainly in the following fields: • vocational training and vocational rehabilitation; • employment policy; • labour administration; • labour law and industrial relations; • conditions of work; • management development; • cooperatives; • social security; • labour statistics, and occupational safety & health. 3
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  When & WhyILO was created (cont…)  The ILO formulates international labour standards . These standards take the form of Conventions and Recommendations, which set minimum standards in the field of fundamental labour rights: freedom of association, the right to organize, the right to collective bargaining, the abolition of forced labour, equality of opportunity and treatment, as well as other standards addressing conditions spanning across the entire spectrum of work-related issues.  International labour standards are legal instruments drawn up by the ILO’s constituents (governments, employers and workers) which set out basic principles and rights at work. 4
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  When & WhyILO was created (cont…) 5
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  ILO in India India– A statistical profile  Population: 1 Billion. Plus  Workforce: 384 Million Plus  Organized labour force: 28 Million  Unionized labour force: 16 Million Plus  Unemployment: 40 Million Plus  Educated unemployment increasing 6  Incidence of poverty poor among employed than unemployed!
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  India and InternationalTrade  India’s share in FDI very less  India’s share in international trade declined from 1.5% at the time of independence to 0.67% in 2000  300 Japanese investment in India against 3000 in Singapore  Major exports: textiles, gems & jewellery and software  Exports: volumes up but revenues down  Imports: revenue outgo increasing faster than volume 7
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  India & InternationalLabour Standards  ILO Member since 1919  Ratified 38 out of 182 conventions  Ratified only 3 of the 8 core conventions: 29,100 and 111  Will soon ratify 182 conventions  Still has reservations about ratifying 87 and 98 8
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  Child Labor inIndia  India is sadly the home to the largest number of child labourers in the world. The census found an increase in the number of child labourers from 11.28 million in 1991 to 12.59 million in 2001.  The problem of child labour continues to pose a challenge before the nation. Government has been taking various proactive measures to tackle this problem. However, considering the magnitude and extent of the problem and that it is essentially a socio-economic problem inextricably linked to poverty and illiteracy, it requires concerted efforts from all 9 sections of the society to make a dent in the problem.
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  The Action Plan Legislative Action Plan for strict enforcement of Child Labour Act and other labour laws to ensure that children are not employed in hazardous employments, and that the working conditions of children working in non-hazardous areas are regulated in accordance with the provisions of the Child Labour Act. It also entails further identification of additional occupations and processes, which are detrimental to the health and safety of the children.  Focusing of General Developmental Programmes for Benefiting Child Labour - As poverty is the root cause of child labour, the action plan emphasizes the need to cover these children and their families also under various poverty alleviation and 10 employment generation schemes of the Government.
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  The Action Plan (cont...) Project Based Plan of Action envisages starting of projects in areas of high concentration of child labour. Pursuant to this, in 1988, the National Child Labour Project (NCLP) Scheme was launched in 9 districts of high child labour endemicity in the country. The Scheme envisages running of special schools for child labour withdrawn from work. In the special schools, these children are provided formal/non-formal education along with vocational training, a stipend of Rs.150 per month, supplementary nutrition and regular health check ups so as to prepare them to join regular mainstream schools. Under the Scheme, funds are given to the District Collectors for running special schools for child labour. Most of these schools are run by the NGOs in the district. 11
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  Provisions for ChildLabour Constitutional Provisions Article 21A 24 39 Title Right to Education Description The State shall provide free and compulsory education to all children of the age of 6 to 14 years in such manner as the State, by law, may determine. No child below the age fourteen Prohibition of Employment years shall be employed in work of Children’s in Factories in any factory or mine or engaged in any other hazardous employment. The state shall in Particular direct its policy towards securing That the health and strength of workers, men and women, and the tender age of children are not abused and that citizens are not forced by economic necessity to enter avocations unsuited to their 12 age or strength
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  Provisions for ChildLabour Legislative Provisions Child Labour (Prohibition & Regulation) Act, 1986  As per the Child Labour (Prohibition & Regulation) Act, 1986 “child” means a person who has not completed his 14th year of age.  The Act prohibits employment of children in 18 occupations and 65 processes contained in Part A & B of the Schedule to the Act (Section 3).  Under the Act, a Technical Advisory Committee is constituted to advice for inclusion of further occupations & processes in the Schedule.  The Act regulates the condition of employment in all occupations and processes not prohibited under the Act (Part III).  Any person who employs any child in contravention of the provisions of section 3 of the Act is liable for punishment with imprisonment for a term which shall not be less than three months but which may extend to one year or with fine which shall not be less than Rs. 10,000 but which may extend to Rs 20,000 or both. (Section 14).  The Central and the State Governments enforce the provisions of the Act in their respective spheres.  Central Government is the appropriate authority for enforcement of Child Labour (P&R) Act in respect of establishments under the control of Central Government or a railway administration or a major port or a mine or oil field and in all other cases, the 13 State Government.
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  Child Labour Policies ThePolicy of the Government on the issue of Child Labour The National Policy on Child Labour declared in August, 1987,contains the action plan for tackling the problem of Child Labour. It envisages:  A legislative action plan: The Government has enacted the Child Labour (Prohibition & Regulation) Act, 1986 to prohibit the engagement of children in certain employments and to regulate the conditions of work of children in certain other employments.  Focusing and convergence of general development programmes for benefiting children wherever possible, A Core Group on convergence of various welfare schemes of the Government has been constituted in the Ministry of Labour & Employment to ensure that, the families of the Child Labour are given priority for their upliftment.  Project-based action plan of action for launching of projects for the welfare of working children in areas of high concentration of Child Labour. 14
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  CHILDLINE India Foundation Thecalls would come late in the night: "Didi, can you come? There's been a fight at the station." "Didi, can you help? The police have battered Raju."  And a CHILDLINE volunteer would get up and rush out to where a street child was waiting. On one of those dashes across the sleeping city of Mumbai , an idea was born.  What street children in Mumbai needed was a helpline, their own helpline.  In 1996, Mumbai launched CHILDLINE, the country's first toll-free telehelpline for street children in distress. As of March 2011, total of 21 Million calls since inception have been serviced by CHILDLINE service and operates in 255 cities/districts in 30 States and UTs through its network of 415 partner organizations across India. CHILDLINE Helpline No.: 1098 15
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  Promoting Youth Entrepreneurship The UN/ILO/World Bank High-Level Panel on Youth employment has identified Youth Entrepreneurship as one of four priorities for a National Youth employment Action Plan. Youth Entrepreneurship - Making it easier to start and run enterprises so as to provide more and better jobs for young women and men  The other complimentary areas being Employment Creation, Employability and Equal Opportunities. 16
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  Why promote YouthEntrepreneurship “Entrepreneurship and business creation are also a growing alternative for young people whose age group often faces a labour market with double digit unemployment rates. Traditional career paths and opportunities are disappearing rapidly. A growing number of young people are taking up the challenge of starting their own business.” (Juan Somavia, Director General ILO) 17
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  Advantage of promotingyouth entrepreneurship  More employers  Employees who better understand business  More innovative and socially responsible enterprises  More jobs (most likely jobs for other young people)  Better informed consumers … 18
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  Faces of IndianWomen “One of the most enduring cliches about India is that it is the country of contradictions. Like all cliches, this one too has a grain of truth in it. At the heart of the contradiction stand Indian women: for it is true to say that they are among the most oppressed in the world, and it is equally true to say that they are among the most liberated, the most articulate and perhaps even the most free. Can these two realities be simultaneously true?” Urvashi Butalia
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  Place of womenin Indian society: A (cultural) historical perspective • The Goddess (Devi) • The mother • The sister • The wife 20
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  Indian Women inModern Times Education:  Literacy › Gender gaps:  Differences across states (Kerala has highest female literacy; Rajasthan, Bihar and Uttar Pradesh have the lowest)  Differences between rural and urban areas  Parental preference for boys going to school Female Male 1971 22% 46% 1991 39% 64% 2003 48% 70%  Higher dropout rate among girls 21
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  Indian Women inModern Times Education: Gender gaps in higher education About 1 percent of total women population has college education Women account for a third of the students at college/university level In engineering and business, the proportion of female students is much smaller In education, nearly half of the students are women 22
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  Indian Women inModern Times Barriers to Female Education:  Poverty: one-fourth of India’s population lives below the poverty line (2002)  Social values and parental preferences  Inadequate school facilities  Shortage of female teachers: 29 percent at the primary level and 22 percent at the university level (1993)  Gender bias in curriculum 23
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  Indian Women inModern Times Employment  Difficult to get an overall picture of employment among women in India Most women work in the informal sector  Women accounted for only 23 percent of the total workers in the formal sector in 1991  The number of female workers has increased faster than the number of male workers  Female unemployment rates are similar to male unemployment rates 24
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  Indian Women inModern Times Barriers to Female Employment Cultural Restrictions Hierarchical society (caste system) Purdah system: the veiling and seclusion of women Discrimination at Workplace More prevalent in fields where male competition is high Less prevalent in fields where competition is low Lack of employment opportunities 25
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  Indian Women inModern Times Empowerment • Social Empowerment • Education • There is no direct relationship between education and work force participation; but may affect their participation in household decision making • Economic Independence: • Economic independence does not imply significant improvement in social standing • Culture and tradition play an important role • A small fraction has opened up towards Western values 26
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  Indian Women inModern Times • Economic Empowerment • Property Rights • Patriarchal society • Economic Decision Making • In the household • In businesses 27
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  Indian Women inModern Times • Political Empowerment • Representation in democratic institutions • Government reservations policy for women: the constitutional amendment of 1990s 28
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  TRIVIA Recognize Famous Faces 29
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  30
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  Famous Faces • • • • • • • • • Indira Gandhi MotherTeresa Mira Nair Kalpana Chawla Gurinder Chadha Arundhati Roy Jhumpa Lahiri Aishwarya Rai Sushmita Sen 31
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  Introspection Faces of anIndian woman • Wife • Mother • Sister • Bread earner • Compassionate member of the society 32
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  Women and LegalFramework Women specific Legislations  Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act, 1956  The Maternity Benefit Act 1961  The Dowry Prohibition Act, 1961  Indecent Representation of Women (Prohibition) Act, 1986  The Commission of Sati (Prevention)Act, 1987  Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, 2005 33
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  Evolution of Indian Initiatives
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  Seventh Plan • 1985-Ministry of Human Resource Development set up Department for Women and Child Development constituted in HRD Ministry • 27 major women specific schemes identified for monitoring to assess quantum of funds/benefits flowing to women 35
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  Eighth Plan • TheEighth Plan (1992-97) for the first time highlighted the need to ensure a definite flow of funds from general developmental sectors to women • It commented: “ … special programmes on women should complement the general development programmes. The latter in turn should reflect greater gender sensitivity” 36
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  Ninth Plan  Women’sComponent Plan- 30% of funds were sought to be ear-marked in all women related sectors – inter-sectoral review and multi-sector approach  Special vigil to be kept on the flow of the earmarked funds/benefits  Quantifies performance under Women’s Component Plan in Ninth Plan-Approach Paper Tenth Plan indicates 42.9% of gross budgetary support in 15 women related Ministries/Departments has gone to women 37
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  Tenth Plan • Reinforcescommitment to gender budgeting to establish its genderdifferential impact and to translate gender commitments into budgetary commitments. • Aims at initiating immediate action in tying up the two effective concepts of Women Component Plan (WCP) and Gender Budgeting to play a complementary role to each other, and thus ensure both preventive and post-facto action in enabling women to receive their rightful share from all the women-related general development sectors. 38
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  Holistic approach toEmpowerment Health & Nut. Water & San. Political Participation Education Asset base Skills Marketing Technology Credit 39
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  Action Areas • Womenavailing services of public utilities like road transport, power, water and sanitation, telecommunication etc. • Training of women as highly skilled workers- top end skills • Research/Technology for women • Women in the work force • Asset ownership by women • Women as Entrepreneurs 40
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  • Implementation ofLaws like • Equal remuneration • Minimum Wages • Factories Act • Infrastructure for women like • Water and sanitation at workplace • Creches • Working Women Hostels • Transport services • Security 41
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  2005-06 National FamilyHealth Survey (NFHS-3) Gender Inequality and Women’s Empowerment
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  Gender Disparity inMedia Exposure Not only are fewer women than men literate but fewer are also regularly exposed to media • Percentage of men and women age 15-19 regularly exposed to print media, TV, radio, or cinema • Men 88% • Women 71% • Gender Disparity 19% 43
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  The majority ofemployed women are engaged in agricultural work Type of worker Occupational Distribution (%) Women Men Professional 7 7 Sales 4 14 Service 7 5 Production 22 37 Agricultural 59 33 2 4 Other
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  Control over Women’sEarnings as Reported by Currently Married Women and Men Percent Women’s report about their own earnings Men’s report about their wife’s earnings 15 Mainly husband 16 57 Husband & wife jointly 63 24 Mainly wife 20 45
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  Are some womenmore likely than others to NOT participate in the use of their earnings? Percent of currently married women 39 21 13 21 21 10 6 15-19 40-49 Age Urban Rural Residence None 12+ Education 8 Lowest Highest Wealth Index
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  What are someof the other hurdles that prevent women from attaining gender equality? • Limited freedom of movement • Gender norms that promote men’s control over women. • Wife beating • A husband’s right to have sex with his wife irrespective of his wife’s wishes 47
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  Percentage of womenage 15-49 who are allowed to go alone to: Market 51 Health facility 48 Places outside the village/comm unity 38 All three places None of the three places 33 4 The majority of women have little freedom of movement. Only one-third go alone to all three destinations: the market, health facility and outside the village or community.
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  Percentage who agreethat a husband is justified in hitting or beating his wife if she: 37 41 Shows disrespect for in-laws 24 25 He suspects she is unfaithful 13 Doesn’t cook properly Refuses to have sex 8 20 Women Men 14 Argues with him 26 30 Neglects the house or children 29 Goes out without telling him At least one reason 23 35 29 51 54 49
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  Key Findings • Womenare disadvantaged absolutely and relative to men in terms of access to education, media exposure, and employment for cash. • The majority of married women do not have the final say on the use of their own earnings or all other household decisions asked about. • Traditional gender norms, particularly those concerning wife beating, remain strongly entrenched. 50
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  Bibliography  http://www.childlineindia.org.in  http://www.labour.nic.in http://www.ilo.org/global/lang--en/index.htm  http://www.ilo.org/newdelhi/lang--en/index.htm 51
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  We would behappy to answer questions and receive comments 52