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15.Designing national public policy strategies and proposals
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The ILO's international labor standards establish a framework of obligations and policy guidelines for the creation of public policies. The Conventions, Recommendations, Protocols, and Resolutions adopted at the ILO Conference provide policy and legal guidelines and direction regarding the necessary measures to be taken by States to comply with the international obligations contained in ILO Conventions.
A significant number of the problems denounced by trade unions are related to governance issues, inadequate public policies developed without consultation and without the participation of trade unions.
Trade unions can use international labor standards and the pronouncements of the supervisory bodies to support the elaboration and design of public policy strategies and proposals or national plans with a view to the State's compliance with its international obligations under ILO Conventions. The Recommendations and Resolutions adopted by the International Labour Conference are relevant to the support of this type of strategy and proposals.
For example, in the area of the informal economy, particularly important are the Resolution concerning decent work and the informal economy and Recommendation No. 204 concerning the Transition from the Informal to the Formal Economy. Recognizing that informality is a multidimensional and heterogeneous phenomenon, these ILO instruments have a comprehensive approach and contain guidelines for the design, adoption, and evaluation of public policies in the areas of macroeconomics, employment, wages, labor migration, education, labor inspection, data collection and statistics, among others.
In the area of social security, the following are particularly important: the Resolution concerning the recurrent discussion on social protection (labor protection) and Recommendation 202 concerning
social protection floors. Recognizing that informality is a multidimensional and heterogeneous phenomenon, these ILO instruments have a comprehensive approach and contain guidelines for the design, adoption, and evaluation of public policies in the areas of macroeconomics, employment, wages, labor migration, education, labor inspection, data collection and statistics, among others. In the area of social security, the following are particularly important:
EXAMPLES OF THE USE OF INTERNATIONAL LABOR STANDARDS AND THE PRONOUNCEMENTS OF THE ILO SUPERVISORY BODIES TO SUPPORT THE DESIGN OF STRATEGIES AND PUBLIC POLICY PROPOSALS
Trade union proposals on social security
• Peru. "Proposals of the Trade Unions for the Reform of Social Security in
Peru. Towards universal and solidarity-based social security.”
This proposal was constructed in a coordinated manner by the Peruvian trade union centers, taking into account the fundamental principles of social security (solidarity, universality, financial sustainability, State responsibility, gender equity, democratic participation) and used Convention 102 on social security (minimum standards) as a central reference. Specifically, the proposal includes: (a) a request by the trade union centers for the ratification of Parts IV and VI of Convention 102, in view of the need to universalize coverage of occupational risk insurance and to promote a culture of prevention of occupational accidents and diseases; (b) the creation of new institutions, including a National Social Security Council, a Social Security Treasury, a National Pension Institute, a Social Security
Health Institute, an Occupational Risk Institute, and two Superintendencies for Health Insurance, Pensions and Occupational Risks.
• Dominican Republic. Social Security reform proposal prepared by the
Dominican Republic's trade union confederations.
This proposal for reform of the Dominican Social Security System has been designed jointly by the National Confederation of Union Unity (CNUS), the Autonomous Confederation of Class-Sized Unions (CASC) and the
National Confederation of Dominican Workers (CNTD). The proposal was drawn up from a human rights approach and taking as a reference the
ILO Conventions ratified by the country, especially Convention 102 on
Social Security, Convention 189 on Domestic Work, and Convention 183 on Maternity Protection.
Strategies and Policies on Formalization of Work
• Peru
Using ILO databases and the conceptual guidelines of Recommendation 204 on the transition from the informal to the formal economy in Peru, the
Sectoral Strategy for Labour Formalization was adopted, which includes among its specific objectives the strengthening of the capacity to comply with labor regulations. The legal resolution and technical support of this
Strategy can be found via this link: https://cdn.www.gob.pe/uploads/document/file/355675/Estrategia_ Sectorial_para_la_Formalizaci%C3%B3n_Laboral__2018-2021.pdf
National Child Labour Strategies and Policies
• Latin America
In order to comply with the obligations of Conventions 138 on the minimum age and 182 on the worst forms of child labour, several Latin American and
Caribbean countries have adopted National Plans for the Prevention and
Eradication of Child Labour. Technical assistance from ILO's International
Programme on the Elimination of Child Labour (IPEC) was provided in the design and development of the National Plans. The following link shows the National Plans of Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa
Rica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras,
Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, and Uruguay: http://white.lim.ilo.org/ipec/pagina.php?seccion=23&pagina=102
• Peru
One example is the National Strategy for the Prevention and Eradication of Child Labour adopted in Peru, which included the establishment of the National Steering Committee for the Prevention and Eradication of
Child Labour (CPETI) as a multi-sectoral coordination body and a tripartite space involving the Peruvian trade union centers. In the process of preparing this strategy, technical assistance was provided by the ILO through the International Programme on the Elimination of Child Labour (IPEC).
The Strategy can be found at this link: http://white.lim.ilo.org/ipec/documentos/estrategia20122021.pdf
Strategies and Policies on Forced Labor
• Peru
With a view to fulfilling the obligations of Conventions 29 on forced labor and 105 on the abolition of forced labor, a series of public policy measures were designed and adopted in Peru, focusing on multisectoral coordination and synergies between the ministries involved in implementing actions and interventions to fulfil the tasks of eradicating forced labor and promoting, preventing, detecting, caring for, and recovering the victims of forced labor. The measures include: • Intersectoral Protocol against Forced Labour; • National Plan to Combat Forced Labour https://www.ilo.org/dyn/natlex/docs/ELECTRON-
IC/93507/109343/F-450385432/PER93507.pdf; and • National Commission for the Fight against Forced Labour https://www.ilo.org/dyn/natlex/natlex4.detail?p_lang=en&p_ isn=75528&p_country=PER&p_count=1328&p_classification=03&p_ classcount=7
