tag:theconversation.com,2011:/africa/topics/international-labour-organization-779/articlesInternational Labour Organization – The Conversation2023-11-07T19:01:44Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2164752023-11-07T19:01:44Z2023-11-07T19:01:44ZHow unionization is empowering Jamaican domestic workers to demand decent work<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/558102/original/file-20231107-25-rcwoyx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=24%2C38%2C1226%2C852&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Jamaica has the potential to become a regional leader in advancing decent work for domestic workers thanks to unionization efforts. Members of the Jamaica Household Workers' Union pose for a photo.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Jamaica Household Workers' Union)</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span></figcaption></figure><iframe style="width: 100%; height: 100px; border: none; position: relative; z-index: 1;" allowtransparency="" allow="clipboard-read; clipboard-write" src="https://narrations.ad-auris.com/widget/the-conversation-canada/how-unionization-is-empowering-jamaican-domestic-workers-to-demand-decent-work" width="100%" height="400"></iframe>
<p>In thousands of households across Jamaica, domestic workers do the work of cooking, cleaning, gardening and caring for children, the elderly and people with disabilities. </p>
<p>While this work is essential to the functioning of the economy and to the well-being of many Jamaican families, domestic workers often experience low pay, poor working conditions and informal work arrangements. Due to their isolation in the home, they’re also vulnerable to sexual harassment and abuse. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/---ed_protect/---protrav/---travail/documents/publication/wcms_802551.pdf">Estimates put the number of domestic workers in Jamaica at around 56,000, 80 per cent of whom are women</a>. </p>
<p>In 2016, <a href="https://caribbean.unwomen.org/en/news-and-events/stories/2016/9/jamaica-ratifies-domestic-workers-decent-work-convention">Jamaica ratified</a> International Labour Organization Convention No. 189, the Domestic Workers Convention. The landmark convention is the first international legal instrument to recognize domestic work as equivalent to all other kinds of work <a href="https://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/---ed_protect/---protrav/---travail/documents/publication/wcms_214499.pdf">and is founded on</a> “the fundamental premise that domestic workers are neither ‘servants’ nor ‘members of the family’ nor second-class workers.” </p>
<p>Jamaica is one of only 36 countries to have ratified the convention. To its credit, the Jamaican government has made progress toward making decent work a reality for domestic workers, <a href="https://jis.gov.jm/national-minimum-wage-moves-to-13000-june-1/">including by raising the national minimum wage</a>.</p>
<h2>Decent work deficits persist</h2>
<p><a href="https://brocku.ca/social-sciences/labour-studies/wp-content/uploads/primary-site/sites/147/Black-and-Marsh.-2023.-Acheiving-Decent-Work-for-Domestic-Workers-Online-version.pdf">A study I conducted with Lauren Marsh, of the Hugh Shearer Labour Studies Institute at the University of the West Indies,</a> has been published to coincide with the seventh anniversary of Jamaica’s ratification of the convention. It finds that domestic workers continue to experience deficits in decent work.</p>
<p>Without government action, we fear that progress toward achieving decent work for this marginalized, but essential, workforce will stall. </p>
<p>We surveyed more than 200 domestic workers, held focus groups and interviewed key stakeholders in government and civil society. </p>
<p>Overall, we found that while domestic workers are generally covered under Jamaica’s labour laws, many experience an “enforcement gap” — the difference between the rights and protections established in law and those that are actually respected by employers in the workplace. </p>
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<img alt="A woman walks along a shopping strip." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/558106/original/file-20231107-15-aslw9g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/558106/original/file-20231107-15-aslw9g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/558106/original/file-20231107-15-aslw9g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/558106/original/file-20231107-15-aslw9g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/558106/original/file-20231107-15-aslw9g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/558106/original/file-20231107-15-aslw9g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/558106/original/file-20231107-15-aslw9g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">A woman shops in the historic downtown of Falmouth, Jamaica.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span>
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<p>And while the <a href="https://jis.gov.jm/domestic-workers-encouraged-to-sign-up-for-nis/">Ministry of Labour and Social Security is sensitive to the challenges facing domestic workers,</a> it currently lacks the capacity to adequately promote and enforce compliance with labour standards in the sector. </p>
<p>Furthermore, far too many domestic workers lack awareness of their rights. Just over half of survey respondents said they were not aware of any laws that protect domestic workers in Jamaica. This finding is troubling, as workers’ awareness of rights is key to their realization. </p>
<p>Domestic workers are generally frustrated with Jamaica’s slow pace toward making decent work a reality in the sector. For instance, nearly 90 per cent of domestic workers surveyed believe the government doesn’t adequately inform domestic workers of their rights; 82 per cent would like to see the government do a better job at enforcing laws that protect domestic workers. </p>
<h2>Raising awareness</h2>
<p>There is some good news. The <a href="https://jhwu.org/">Jamaica Household Workers’ Union</a>, with 7,280 members across 13 chapters, has done excellent work in raising domestic workers’ awareness of their rights and protections. </p>
<p>We found that domestic workers who are members of the union are more likely than non-union domestic workers to contribute to Jamaica’s social security scheme, twice as likely than their non-union counterparts to possess a written employment contract, making enforcing rights easier, and are far more likely than their non-union counterparts to be aware of their labour and social security protections. </p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1673375581176741888"}"></div></p>
<p>These findings suggest that strengthening collective representation for domestic workers is a promising route to ensuring that rights on paper are rights in practice.</p>
<p>Our report includes several recommendations that may act as a guide to action for achieving decent work for domestic workers in Jamaica. </p>
<p>First and foremost, the Jamaican government must invest in building the capacity of the <a href="https://mlss.gov.jm/">Ministry of Labour and Social Security</a> to enforce and promote compliance with labour standards in the domestic work sector — including through the creation of a domestic work section — and through public awareness campaigns to ensure employers and workers alike know their rights and responsibilities. </p>
<h2>Collective bargaining needed</h2>
<p>To strengthen collective representation and worker voice, the government should also work with employers’ groups and the Jamaica Household Workers’ Union to establish the legal and institutional framework and conditions necessary for <a href="https://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/---ed_protect/---protrav/---travail/documents/publication/wcms_436279.pdf">collective bargaining in the domestic work sector.</a></p>
<p>Decent work is fundamental to social justice, gender equality and fulfilling Jamaica’s commitments under the national development plan, <a href="https://www.vision2030.gov.jm/">Vision 2030 Jamaica.</a> </p>
<p>Relative to its Caribbean neighbours, Jamaica is making slow but steady progress toward making decent work a reality for domestic workers — and the Jamaica Household Workers’ Union is establishing best practices in domestic worker organizing and collective representation. </p>
<p>That means Jamaica has the potential to become a regional leader in advancing decent work for domestic workers. It’s a leadership role the government and civil society should fully embrace.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/216475/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Simon Black does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Domestic workers in Jamaica often experience low pay, poor working conditions and informal work arrangements. Here’s how unionization could change their situation.Simon Black, Associate Professor of Labour Studies, Brock UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1404612020-06-17T11:46:22Z2020-06-17T11:46:22ZThe International Labour Organization was founded after the Spanish flu – its past lights the path to a better future of work<p>The fraying fabric of the global order was ill-prepared for a pandemic. As the focus now shifts from health to wealth amid the ensuing economic crisis, the World Health Organization (WHO) will cede the stage to other international bodies tasked with steering a course through the current turmoil and recovery to come.</p>
<p>Enter stage left the International Labour Organization (ILO), a sister body of the WHO and the very first specialised agency of the United Nations. As multilateralism wanes and COVID-19 strikes at the heart of how we work and live, the <a href="https://www.ilo.org/dyn/normlex/en/f?p=1000:62:0::NO:62:P62_LIST_ENTRIE_ID:2453907:NO">founding mandate</a> of the ILO – which was created in 1919 after the first world war and the Spanish flu pandemic – should resonate around the world: “Poverty anywhere constitutes a danger to prosperity everywhere.”</p>
<p>Worldwide, it’s predicted that <a href="https://www.ilo.org/global/about-the-ilo/newsroom/news/WCMS_743036/lang--en/index.htm">305 million jobs will be lost by mid-2020</a>, that one in six young people <a href="https://www.ilo.org/global/about-the-ilo/newsroom/news/WCMS_745879/lang--en/index.htm">have stopped working</a> and that existing inequalities will deepen. This is exacerbated by the fact that more than 62% of the global workforce <a href="https://www.ilo.org/global/topics/employment-promotion/informal-economy/publications/WCMS_743623/lang--en/index.htm">work in the informal sector</a>, beyond the reach of labour legislation and beyond the coverage of social protection. </p>
<p>The market alone cannot guarantee future livelihoods. The ILO’s constitutional <a href="https://www.ilo.org/global/topics/decent-work/lang--en/index.htm">commitment</a> to “decent work”, <a href="https://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/---dgreports/---jur/documents/genericdocument/wcms_441862.pdf">ensuring that</a> “labour should not be regarded merely as a commodity or article of commerce” and liberating working life from commercial imperatives sounds increasingly like a clarion call to politicians everywhere.</p>
<h2>Origins of the ILO</h2>
<p>The ILO arose in the ravages of the Spanish flu and the ruins of the first world war. The preceding period had been one of profound social, economic and political upheaval. Increased competition, industrialisation and unprecedented growth were achieved at the expense of workers. Poverty, inequality, discrimination and poor conditions of work meant that Europe was on the brink of what the ILO constitution <a href="https://www.ilo.org/dyn/normlex/en/f?p=NORMLEXPUB:55:0::NO::P55_TYPE,P55_LANG,P55_DOCUMENT,P55_NODE:KEY,en,ILOC,/Document">termed</a> “unrest so great that the peace and harmony of the world are imperiled”.</p>
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<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/342150/original/file-20200616-23261-18c3yow.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/342150/original/file-20200616-23261-18c3yow.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=148&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/342150/original/file-20200616-23261-18c3yow.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=148&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/342150/original/file-20200616-23261-18c3yow.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=148&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/342150/original/file-20200616-23261-18c3yow.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=185&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/342150/original/file-20200616-23261-18c3yow.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=185&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/342150/original/file-20200616-23261-18c3yow.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=185&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Staff at the first International Labour Conference in 1919 in Washington.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Labour_Organization#/media/File:1919-ILC-secretariatstaff.jpg">Schutz Group Photographers (Washington, D.C.) - US Library of Congress via Wikimedia Commons</a></span>
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<p>Established by the Treaty of Versailles in 1919, the ILO was part of an international liberal order built in the wake of the war and the face of totalitarianism. Binding the founding 44 national governments (the ILO now has <a href="https://www.ilo.org/global/about-the-ilo/how-the-ilo-works/member-states/lang--en/index.htm">187</a> member states) to basic labour rights and protections not only safeguarded workers, but stabilised liberalism. It channelled increasingly bold assertions of worker power into institutional reform rather than revolutionary uprising. While peace was on the lips of the ILO’s founders, Bolshevism was on their minds. </p>
<p>Whereas all other international organisations consist solely of government representatives, ILO decision-making brings together governments, trade unions and employers. This unique tripartite structure provided a solid foundation for the ILO’s primary remit of international standard-setting – creating and monitoring labour conventions – agreed by the “social partners” who represent capital, labour and the state.</p>
<p>In the intense upheaval of its inception, this unique structure proved indispensable in countering the social, political and economic consequences of the twin salvo of world war and global pandemic. It’s hard to attribute the hardship and social unrest that followed 1919 to one or the other of these causes. But the Spanish flu certainty hung heavy over the Labour Commission of the Peace Conference where the ILO was founded. Not least because of <a href="https://iloblog.org/2020/05/27/spanish-flu-and-covid-19-are-there-lessons-for-the-world-of-work/">the 50 million people who died during the pandemic</a>, but also because the US president, Woodrow Wilson – a key architect of the ILO – <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/news/daily-comment/woodrow-wilsons-case-of-the-flu-and-how-pandemics-change-history">fell ill with the flu</a>. </p>
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<p><em>Listen to Recovery, a series from <a href="https://theconversation.com/uk/topics/the-anthill-podcast-27460">The Anthill Podcast</a>, to hear more about how the world recovered from past crises, including an episode on the <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-slow-recovery-after-the-combined-shock-of-spanish-flu-and-the-first-world-war-recovery-podcast-part-3-140877">recovery after the Spanish flu and first world war</a>.</em></p>
<hr>
<p>The early decades of the ILO were arguably the most successful in the organisation’s history, starting with <a href="https://www.ilo.org/dyn/normlex/en/f?p=NORMLEXPUB:12100:0::NO::P12100_ILO_CODE:C001">a convention endorsing</a> the long sought-after 48-hour working week and a further 66 international labour standards agreed before the outbreak of the second world war. Whether the standards and employment rights concerned working age, maternity protection, occupational safety, compensation in the event of an accident, sickness insurance, holiday pay, old age insurance, the beneficial effects for workers’ health and wellbeing was undeniable. Health and wealth <a href="https://science.sciencemag.org/content/287/5456/1207">go hand-in-hand</a>. </p>
<p>Regrettably, as liberal democracies left the rise of fascism unchecked, the spirit of international cooperation summoned up at Versailles, and the ILO’s ambition to <a href="https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=YBqvCwAAQBAJ&dq=history+of+the+ilo&lr=&source=gbs_navlinks_s">lessen tensions within and between nations</a>, soon faded with the onset of the second world war.</p>
<h2>Paths of despair and repair</h2>
<p>Just as the ILO confronted a world falling radically apart during the interwar years, there is a danger that COVID-19 is exacerbating current trends towards a more authoritarian and nationalist political-economic order with little respect for established global standards. At the same time – and on a more positive note – the COVID-19 crisis offers the possibility of a policy reset reminiscent of those put in place by reforming governments in response to the Great Depression. This is epitomised by President Franklin D Roosevelt’s New Deal – in the wake of which the US finally joined the ILO in 1934.</p>
<p>Between these paths of despair and repair lies a thin line defended and extended by international coordination and social dialogue. For more than 100 years, the ILO has been the only international organisation with the constitutional mandate to bring capital, labour and the state together to promote decent work. </p>
<p>However, long before the COVID-19 crisis, tripartite cooperation within the ILO was <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0018726717719994">increasingly fractious</a>, characterised by the current director general, Guy Ryder, <a href="https://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/---ed_norm/---relconf/documents/meetingdocument/wcms_369026.pdf">as</a> “special pleading by vested interests to the detriment of the common good”. While employers frustrate progress on new labour standards and the effective enforcement of existing international conventions, most notably the <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1564-913X.2014.00196.x">freedom of association and the right to strike</a>, the ILO continues to engage in concerted technical cooperation programmes, cementing its role as the leading recognised expert in the world of work.</p>
<p>Social dialogue between governments, workers and employers is <a href="https://theconversation.com/coronavirus-how-uk-job-retention-plan-borrows-from-collectivist-europe-134194">increasingly on the cards</a> in countries around the world. If this new sense of local and national partnership is to be scaled up to the international stage, then the ILO’s tripartite structure once again seems uniquely placed to meet demands for the <a href="https://democratizingwork.org/">democratisation of work</a> in the shadow of a pandemic.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/140461/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Huw Thomas has previously worked with the International Labour Organization (ILO). He has received funding from the Economic & Social Research Council. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Frederick Harry Pitts has received funding from the Economic & Social Research Council.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Peter Turnbull has previously received funding from the International Labour Organization and the UK's Economic & Social Research Council.</span></em></p>The International Labour Organization was founded in 1919 at the Treaty of Versailles after the ravages of pandemic and world war. Its model offers a way forward for us now.Huw Thomas, Lecturer in Work, Employment, Organization & Public Policy, University of BristolFrederick Harry Pitts, Lecturer in Work, Employment, Organisation & Public Policy, University of BristolPeter Turnbull, Professor of Management, University of BristolLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1398672020-06-05T02:56:45Z2020-06-05T02:56:45ZFast moves in India-Australia relations risk pushing millions more into modern slavery<p>This week the leaders of India and Australia reaffirmed their mutual interest in closer diplomatic and economic ties.</p>
<p>Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi told Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison during their long-delayed Thursday “<a href="https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/pm-modi-holds-india-australia-virtual-summit-with-pm-scott-morrison-key-points/articleshow/76189422.cms">virtual summit</a>”:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>India is committed to expanding its relations with Australia on a wider and faster pace. This is important not only for our two countries, but also for the Indo-Pacific region and the world.</p>
<p>But I will not say that I am satisfied with this pace. When a leader like you is leading our friend country, then the criteria for the pace of development in our relations should also be ambitious.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Australia should be ambitious for its friendship with India. We have a long-term interest in India developing as another prosperous, harmonious democracy. </p>
<p>Standing in the way of that is India’s chaotic web of labour laws. There are hundreds at both national and state levels. They’ve long been a disincentive to trade and investment because of the compliance challenges for law-abiding foreign businesses. </p>
<p>Yet those same laws are so loosely enforced domestically that dodgy and unlawful working conditions are rife. </p>
<p>Indeed of India’s workforce of 500 million, it is estimated <a href="https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/economy/indicators/national-database-of-workers-in-informal-sector-in-the-works/articleshow/73394732.cms?from=mdr">about 450 million</a> are in the “informal sector”, with no minimum pay rates, let alone other benefits.</p>
<p>So there are good reasons for Australia to support India reducing its sheer number of labour laws. But there are also good reasons to encourage it to enforce the commitments required of both nations under international labour conventions.</p>
<p>In the shadows of the agenda to accelerate trade and investment is the risk of pushing more Indian workers into slave conditions. </p>
<h2>450 million informal workers</h2>
<p>In truth, no one <a href="https://www.businesstoday.in/sectors/jobs/labour-law-reforms-no-one-knows-actual-size-india-informal-workforce-not-even-govt/story/364361.html">knows the exact size</a> of India’s informal sector. Statistics are unreliable for work defined as “disorganised”. </p>
<p>As in other countries, India’s COVID-19 response has hit these workers in lowly paid, insecure manual labour hardest. This was amplified by the severity and swiftness of measures.</p>
<p>Modi’s March 24 orders for “<a href="https://www.thehindu.com/news/resources/article31190830.ece/BINARY/PM%20announes%2021-day%20lockdown.pdf">a complete lockdown</a>” were issued at 8:58pm, and took effect at midnight. </p>
<p>Shops, markets, factories and construction sites were shut down. All public transport services were stopped. India’s population of more than 1.3 billion people was told to stay home. </p>
<h2>139 million migrant wokers</h2>
<p>But hundred of thousands had to get home first. </p>
<p>India has an estimated <a href="https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2017/10/india-has-139-million-internal-migrants-we-must-not-forget-them/">139 million</a> internal “migrant workers”. They come from poor regions all across India to find work in the <a href="http://www.walkthroughindia.com/offbeat/top-10-richest-cities-india-based-gdp/">wealthiest cities</a> such as Mumbai, Delhi and Surat. Typical jobs are in building and manufacturing, where the average daily pay rate is about <a href="https://tradingeconomics.com/india/wages-in-manufacturing">US$4.60</a>. </p>
<p>With no work, no money, in fear of having no food and of catching the coronavirus, migrant workers have for weeks queued at train and bus stations for restricted services to get home. </p>
<p>Tens of thousands opted to <a href="https://www.nationalgeographic.com/history/2020/05/they-treat-us-like-stray-dogs-migrant-workers-flee-india-cities/">walk home</a>. </p>
<p>A survey of about 3,200 of these walkers in early April found nearly a third were in debt, usually to money lenders from their communities. </p>
<p>Bhagwan Das, who walked for three days to get back to his village after losing his job as a construction worker in Delhi, told his story to the <a href="https://news.trust.org/item/20200413065535-edq5n">Thomson Reuters Foundation</a> </p>
<blockquote>
<p>Unable to maintain repayments on the 60,000 rupee (US$787) loan he took out in 2017 for his daughter’s wedding, Das had no choice but to offer his son’s labour to service the rising debt.</p>
</blockquote>
<h2>8 million modern slaves</h2>
<p>The Global Slavery Index 2018 estimates <a href="https://www.globalslaveryindex.org/2018/findings/regional-analysis/asia-and-the-pacific/">about 8 million</a> Indians are in some form of modern slavery – in situations were they are forced to work under threat; are owned or controlled by another; are dehumanised or treated as a commodity; and are not free to leave. </p>
<p>Globally there is an estimated <a href="https://www.globalslaveryindex.org/2018/findings/highlights/">40 million</a> modern slaves. About 25 million are in forced labour. This may be through use or threats of violence, physical or emotional restraints, or bonded labour – also known as debt bondage, forcing people to work to pay off a debt.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/human-trafficking-and-slavery-still-happen-in-australia-this-comic-explains-how-112294">Human trafficking and slavery still happen in Australia. This comic explains how</a>
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<p>Debt bondage is the most <a href="https://www.ohchr.org/en/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=20504&LangID=E">prevalent</a> form of forced labour. In India, a <a href="http://www.indianet.nl/pdf/FabricOfSlavery.pdf">2016 investigation</a> in the southern state of Tamil Nadu (India’s largest producer of cotton yarn) found 351 of 743 spinning mills used so-called “Sumangali” schemes to lure young women with the promise of lump sums for use as a dowry. </p>
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<p>In practice this lump sum is made up of withheld wages, and used as a means to bind workers to the mill. Girls only receive the lump sum if they fulfil their three to five years contract period, under exploitative and unhealthy conditions. Girls who fail to do so, and many do because of health problems, abuse and exhaustion, most often do not receive the withheld wages. </p>
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<p>This despite bonded labour being outlawed since 1976, and dowries since 1961.</p>
<h2>Suspending labour laws</h2>
<p>So clearly law enforcement in India needs work. As things stand, however, the push is on to do even less. Half a dozen of India’s 28 states have already signalled their desire to suspend <a href="https://indianexpress.com/article/explained/what-labour-law-changes-mean-coronavirus-6403611/">labour laws</a>. </p>
<p>The northern state of Uttar Pradesh, for example, summarily suspended most laws including its minimum wage act. It reportedly plans to maintain most suspensions <a href="https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/other-states/up-clears-ordinance-exempting-businesses-from-labour-laws/article31529945.ece">for three years</a>.</p>
<p>As Radhicka Kapoor, of the Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations, has put it, these policies are “creating an enabling environment for exploitation”.</p>
<h2>Upholding commitments</h2>
<p>The <a href="https://www.business-standard.com/article/economic-revival/ilo-reaches-out-to-pm-modi-over-labour-law-changes-in-various-states-120052500335_1.html">International Labour Organisation</a>, which sets international labour standards, has written to Modi asking him to ensure India upholds its international commitments. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/modern-slavery-bill-a-step-in-the-right-direction-now-businesses-must-comply-99135">Modern Slavery Bill a step in the right direction – now businesses must comply</a>
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<p>Both India and Australia are signatories to the International Labour Organsiation’s Declaration on the Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work, which <a href="https://www.ilo.org/declaration/lang--en/index.htm">states</a> “these rights are universal” and apply “to all people in all states - regardless of the level of economic development”.</p>
<p>Ensuring they apply to all of Australia’s supply chains is crucial for the Morrison government to continue to be “a world leader in eradicating modern slavery” – as Home Affairs Minister Jason Woods declared just <a href="https://minister.homeaffairs.gov.au/jasonwood/Pages/australian-government-world-leader-eradicating-modern-slavery.aspx">three days before</a> the Modi-Morrison meeting.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/139867/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Bodean Hedwards does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>In the shadows of the agenda to accelerate India-Australia trade and investment is the risk of pushing Indian workers into slave conditions.Bodean Hedwards, Lecturer, Monash UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1123382019-02-25T11:58:04Z2019-02-25T11:58:04ZRoma: how Alfonso Cuarón’s movie is spurring Mexico to treat domestic workers more fairly<p>Mexico City, 1970. Cleo’s alarm sounds very early in the morning. She gets up and climbs down the stairs from her rooftop room in the upper middle class house where she lives and works. Everyone else in the house is still sleeping. Cleo gently wakes up the kids, serves the family breakfast and takes the youngest child to kindergarten. </p>
<p>She works from sunup to sundown, even providing emotional support to family members along the way. After a day of cleaning and housekeeping tasks, she welcomes everyone back home. She serves her employers snacks while they watch TV together in the living room. She takes the kids to bed, turns off the light, and climbs the stairs to her room after everyone has gone to sleep.</p>
<p>Cleo’s long working days are magnificently portrayed by director Alfonso Cuarón in Roma, which has just won three Oscars, including best director. You are left appalled at the state of her work-life balance – and wondering about the lives of domestic workers today. </p>
<p>There <a href="https://www.ilo.org/global/topics/domestic-workers/who/lang--en/index.htm">are at least</a> 67m domestic workers worldwide and almost three quarters are women. Many are migrants who – like Cleo – are required to live in their workplace. Over 70% are employed informally, with no contract of employment. They <a href="https://academic.oup.com/ilj/article-abstract/43/3/319/693366">often work</a> very long hours for low pay; get <a href="https://www.dur.ac.uk/law/policyengagement/ufw/challenges/careeconomy/">treated</a> violently or harassed; and are casually hired and fired at will. The profession still tends to be excluded from many labour laws and social security regimes. Recent estimates <a href="https://www.ilo.org/travail/whatwedo/publications/WCMS_536998/lang--en/index.htm">indicate that</a> 90% of domestic workers worldwide have no access to social security, for instance. </p>
<p>These workers’ rights remain a grave concern in many countries, but there have been significant recent reforms – despite commentaries on Roma <a href="https://qz.com/quartzy/1491476/alfonso-cuarons-roma-shows-domestic-workers-complex-emotional-labor/">implying</a> otherwise. Latin America has led the way here, hauling employment protections into line with other professions, for instance, but Mexico is only finally catching up. As we shall see, Roma and Cuarón have played a key role in helping bring this about. </p>
<h2>Latin American reformers</h2>
<p>Domestic work is perhaps undervalued because it is associated with tasks commonly performed by unpaid housewives. The lack of legal protection makes domestic workers exceptionally vulnerable. Even when labour laws do protect workers, it can be difficult to check that employers are meeting the relevant standards, so there are often problems with noncompliance. </p>
<p>As Cuarón beautifully depicts in Roma, the boundaries between home and the workplace <a href="http://www.trabajo.gov.ar/downloads/newsletter/ctio/plurales2/trabajo_domestico_ma-elena-valenzuela.pdf">can be</a> particularly unclear in Latin American countries. Too often, employers take advantage of unequal bonds of affection to justify taking liberties. The region’s domestic workforce is mostly black or indigenous, and includes the most dispossessed elements of the population. High inequality rates and intergenerational poverty, plus the fact that most workers are female, makes regulating the sector a crucial route to social justice. </p>
<p>Domestic worker NGOs and other civil society organisations in the region began pushing for reform in the early 2000s, and many countries <a href="https://journals.openedition.org/nuevomundo/65153">had a</a> lively <a href="http://www.uy.undp.org/content/dam/uruguay/docs/IDH/Lilian%20Soto%20ESP%20pag%20Individual.pdf">debate</a> about the best way forward. On the back of this, <a href="https://www.ilo.org/legacy/english/inwork/cb-policy-guide/uruguaylabourrelations2005to2008.pdf">Uruguay</a> (2006), <a href="https://www.social-protection.org/gimi/RessourcePDF.action;jsessionid=JCEZAkHFtTmEeXGESQ57GAJ0a_lO-1qL2TKBMUTkyAYAka3AiRoJ!241796269?id=53103">Argentina</a> and <a href="http://www.loc.gov/law/foreign-news/article/brazil-constitutional-amendment-approved/">Brazil</a> (both 2013) adopted rules that put domestic workers on a par with other workers in relation to conditions like holidays, working hours and maternity pay. They also <a href="https://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/---americas/---ro-lima/documents/publication/wcms_480352.pdf">established</a> wage-bargaining mechanisms for the profession, and encouraged employers to introduce formal contracts. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/260656/original/file-20190225-26184-a24ydd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/260656/original/file-20190225-26184-a24ydd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/260656/original/file-20190225-26184-a24ydd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/260656/original/file-20190225-26184-a24ydd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/260656/original/file-20190225-26184-a24ydd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/260656/original/file-20190225-26184-a24ydd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/260656/original/file-20190225-26184-a24ydd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/260656/original/file-20190225-26184-a24ydd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Latin America’s clean slate.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/young-woman-cleaning-floor-living-room-1018591744?src=hDICwawi4KT2zIbD6PQ-6A-2-40">kitzcorner</a></span>
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<p>To promote the new rights, these countries raised awareness through publicity campaigns on television and billboards. They also took a progressive approach to enforcement which proved effective. In Uruguay, for instance, labour inspectors visited homes with domestic workers; but instead of punishing infringements, they took the opportunity to educate employers about their obligations. Uruguay <a href="https://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/---americas/---ro-lima/documents/publication/wcms_371217.pdf">has since</a> seen domestic worker wages take a big step towards the national average. <a href="https://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/---americas/---ro-lima/---ilo-buenos_aires/documents/publication/wcms_592331.pdf">Argentina</a> and <a href="http://www.ipea.gov.br/portal/images/stories/PDFs/mercadodetrabalho/bmt60_11_politica1.pdf">Brazil</a> have achieved various improvements, too. </p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/we-need-to-combat-forced-labour-and-in-work-poverty-brazil-and-india-offer-some-lessons-106570">We need to combat forced labour and in-work poverty – Brazil and India offer some lessons</a>
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<p>In parallel, the UN International Labour Organisation (ILO) launched the <a href="https://www.ilo.org/dyn/normlex/en/f?p=NORMLEXPUB:12100:0::NO::P12100_INSTRUMENT_ID:2551460">Domestic Workers Convention</a> in 2011 – international laws aimed at improving domestic worker rights across the world. The convention entered into force in 2013, and has been <a href="https://www.ilo.org/dyn/normlex/en/f?p=NORMLEXPUB:11300:0::NO:11300:P11300_INSTRUMENT_ID:2551460:NO">ratified by</a> 27 countries including 14 in Latin America and others such as South Africa, the Philippines and Germany. Among the entitlements are a minimum wage, daily and weekly rest hours, the right to choose where to live, and clearly communicated conditions of employment. The majority of countries around the world have still not ratified the convention, however. Mexico, unfortunately, is one of them. </p>
<h2>Why so slow, Mexico?</h2>
<p>Mexico was actually the first country <a href="https://archivos.juridicas.unam.mx/www/bjv/libros/9/4430/23.pdf">to enshrine</a> labour protection in its constitution, but domestic workers still get a raw deal. With <a href="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://ilsb.org.mx/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/Policy-Jornada_A.pdf&source=gmail&ust=1551176078894000&usg=AFQjCNExyY9Kme9ydfrEv8KeTsWMvCWEjw">over 2.4m</a> domestic workers in a country of <a href="https://www.indexmundi.com/mexico/demographics_profile.html">some 90m</a> adults, the law discriminates against them by not limiting their working hours or mandating a minimum wage equal to that of other workers. Very few domestic workers have employment contracts, so the limited legal protections that do exist are rarely followed. As many as 97% of domestic workers <a href="https://ilsb.org.mx/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/Policy-Seguridad_A.pdf">still have</a> no access to social security in the country. </p>
<p>The first sign of progress came when the first domestic workers’ union was <a href="https://www.solidaritycenter.org/first-ever-domestic-workers-union-launched-in-mexico/">recognised</a> in 2015. The National Union of Household Workers (SINACTRAHO) has since fought tirelessly for domestic worker rights. In December 2018, the Supreme Court duly <a href="https://www.apnews.com/1c1869c6be994907815588d66f5484c0">ruled</a> that excluding these employees from the country’s obligatory social security regime is unconstitutional. The court mandated a <a href="https://www.huffingtonpost.com.mx/2018/12/05/corte-determina-que-trabajadoras-del-hogar-deberan-ser-inscritas-al-imss_a_23609981/">pilot programme</a> that will this year develop a new system for these workers. </p>
<p>Meanwhile, the new left-wing <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-46404650">government</a> of Andrés Manuel López Obrador, which took office in December, has said it will present the ILO Domestic Workers Convention before the senate for ratification. The country’s two biggest parties are also jointly sponsoring a <a href="https://www.elsoldemexico.com.mx/mexico/politica/derechos-laborales-trabajadoras-domesticas-hogar-senado-2756849.html">bill</a> aimed at the profession. It proposes to equalise domestic workers’ rights with other waged workers, including a minimum wage and a maximum 44-hour working week. </p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/260653/original/file-20190225-26184-uu9dem.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/260653/original/file-20190225-26184-uu9dem.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/260653/original/file-20190225-26184-uu9dem.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=801&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/260653/original/file-20190225-26184-uu9dem.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=801&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/260653/original/file-20190225-26184-uu9dem.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=801&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/260653/original/file-20190225-26184-uu9dem.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1006&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/260653/original/file-20190225-26184-uu9dem.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1006&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/260653/original/file-20190225-26184-uu9dem.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1006&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Activist Marcelina Bautista.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Marcelina_Bautista_Bautista.jpg#/media/File:Marcelina_Bautista_Bautista.jpg">Wikimedia</a></span>
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<p>While these developments owe much to vigorous campaigning by SINACTRAHO and other domestic worker organisations, Roma has played an important role by highlighting the struggle of the profession. Cuarón dedicated the film to Mexico’s domestic workforce, and <a href="https://twitter.com/untrabajodigno/status/1074847506603728896">recently invited</a> activist Marcelina Bautista to give a speech at the national premiere of the film. “Mexico owes a lot to women,” she concluded. “We need to stop violence and abuse of power against women.”</p>
<p>If the promising signs in Mexico bear fruit, Cuarón’s masterpiece will have helped secure decent conditions for domestic workers in a country which has denied them for too long. Roma surely deserves its Hollywood awards, but achieving real reform will be worth a great deal more.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/112338/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Karina Patricio Ferreira Lima is a Research Assistant on the Project on Decent Work Regulation at Durham Law School, which is funded by the ESRC, HEFCE and GCRF. She is also the recipient of a Modern Law Review Scholarship.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Arely Cruz-Santiago receives postdoctoral research funding from the ESRC. </span></em></p>While other Latin American countries like Argentina and Brazil led the way on reforming legal protections for domestic workers, Mexico looked the other way.Karina Patricio Ferreira Lima, Doctoral Researcher in Law, Durham UniversityArely Cruz-Santiago, ESRC Postdoctoral Research Fellow in Geography, Durham UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/543302016-05-17T19:33:11Z2016-05-17T19:33:11ZDespite gains, Europe’s indigenous people still struggle for recognition<p><em>Australia is being held back by its unresolved relationship with its Indigenous population. Drawing on attempts at reconciliation overseas, <a href="https://theconversation.com/au/topics/indigenous-reconciliation">this series of articles</a> explores different ways of addressing this unfinished business. Today, we look at the Saami people of Europe, who live in Norway, Sweden, Finland and Russia.</em></p>
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<p>The Saami (previously known in English as Laplanders) are the only recognised indigenous people of Europe. But they rarely make international headlines. </p>
<p>Unlike most indigenous peoples in the post-colonial world, Saami people don’t live in extreme poverty and aren’t exposed to high levels of violence. But they too have a history of colonisation and discrimination, and tend not to have easy relationships with the four modern states they inhabit. </p>
<p>Although the Saami have made political and legal gains in the past decades, progress is precarious. And recognition of their rights by the governments of Norway, Sweden, Finland and Russia cannot be taken for granted. </p>
<p>As recently as February 2016, for instance, a small Saami village in Sweden <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/feb/03/sweden-indigenous-sami-people-win-rights-battle-against-state">won a court case</a> against the state after a decades-long battle over hunting and fishing rights, which had been restricted by the national parliament in 1993. </p>
<h2>Difficult relationship</h2>
<p>The Saami established themselves as a distinct ethnic group in Scandinavia around 2,000 years ago. While they’re mostly known as semi-nomadic reindeer herders today, traditionally their livelihood also included hunting, fishing, trapping and farming. </p>
<p>From the Middle Ages onwards, Saami people were pushed further and further north because of migration into the areas they’d occupied. This led to a progressive loss of land as well as access to natural resources. </p>
<p>Attempts were made to convert them to Christianity, and assimilationist policies were adopted in the late 19th century, especially in Norway and Sweden. Saami languages and cultural activities were suppressed and, until the 1960s, many children were placed in <a href="http://www.un.org/esa/socdev/unpfii/documents/E_C_19_2009_crp1.pdf">boarding schools</a>, where they were forbidden from speaking their native tongue.</p>
<p>Current population estimates vary greatly: there may be between 50,000 and 65,000 Saami in Norway; up to 20,000 in Sweden; around 8,000 in Finland; and 2,000 on the Kola Peninsula in Russia. They encompass nine language groups, but <a href="http://www.ohchr.org/Documents/Issues/IPeoples/SR/A-HRC-18-35-Add2_en.pdf">this diversity is decreasing</a>. </p>
<p>Today, it’s mostly mining and logging, oil and gas, as well as wind power development projects promoted by the state and private companies that threaten Saami people’s traditional lifestyle, cultural identity and spiritual values – because all are closely connected to the natural environment. Many Saami have also left their homelands to find work in the cities further south.</p>
<h2>Inadequate constitutional protection</h2>
<p>Saami people started to organise themselves politically in the early 20th century. And the first tangible regional initiative to represent their populations in Nordic countries resulted in the creation of the <a href="http://www.saamicouncil.net/en/about-saami-council/">Nordic Saami Council</a> in 1956. </p>
<p>This, along with the influence of international law and the mobilisation of indigenous peoples worldwide, led to important forms of legal recognition in the second half of the 20th century. Still, although the Saami are considered one people, the degree of their recognition varies greatly in the four countries where they live. </p>
<p>In Norway, it was only in the aftermath of attention-grabbling <a href="http://www.jus.uit.no/ansatte/somby/hunger.html">protests against the construction</a> of a major hydroelectric dam on the Alta river that the national constitution was amended (in 1988) to protect Saami culture. But the change didn’t explicitly recognise the Saami as a people, as the constitution of Finland has done since 1995 and the constitution of Sweden since 2010. </p>
<p>Norway added legal protection by ratifying the 1989 Indigenous and Tribal Peoples Convention of the International Labour Organisation and by adopting the <a href="http://www.wipo.int/wipolex/en/text.jsp?file_id=244972">Finnmark Act</a> in 2005. The latter recognises that the Saami have – collectively and individually – acquired rights to land in the northeastern part of the country. </p>
<p>Still, some of the constitutional protections given to the Saami lack implementing legislation, and there are no comprehensive guarantees regarding cultural self-determination. The provision in the Swedish constitution is considered to be particularly weak. And the Russian constitution says nothing about the Saami at all. </p>
<h2>Largely symbolic progress</h2>
<p>So-called Saami parliaments have been established in Finland (1973), Norway (1989), and Sweden (1993). These are a positive step towards self-governance, and play an important advisory role for governments. But problems remain: the parliaments have few decision-making powers, and many Saami don’t participate in elections.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.ohchr.org/en/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=16330&LangID=E">Initiatives to address injustices</a> stemming from assimilationist policies include an apology by the Norwegian king in 1997 and the prime minister a couple of years later. Norway has also established a compensation fund. </p>
<p>Overall, constitutional recognition by the Nordic states of their Indigenous people has gone further than in Australia. But, in practice, the legal protection of Saami people is far from satisfactory. The Saami don’t have any real self-determination, and they still lack adequate protection of their culture and lifestyle.</p>
<p>Even though there’s specific legislation to protect Saami languages, as in Finland and Norway, laws are limited or not fully implemented. Access to public education in the Saami language, for instance, is restricted to designated areas. But more than half of the Saami live outside these areas, which means that many children don’t have access to education in their first language.</p>
<p>And while participation by and consultation of the Saami are often legally required for development and exploitation projects that impact the environment, these obligations are not always honoured. All this despite international law increasingly putting forward the importance of free, prior and informed consent by indigenous peoples. </p>
<p>As recently as December 2015, the Finnish government introduced a bill that would radically change the way forests are managed in the country, <a href="http://www.ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=16897&LangID=E">without adequately consulting</a> the Saami. </p>
<p>On the positive side, recent mining legislation in Finland requires consultation with the Saami and sets an obligation to conduct a cultural impact assessment before any mining activities can take place in the Saami homeland.</p>
<h2>Stalled move</h2>
<p>To strengthen and harmonise legal protections given to the Saami in the Nordic countries, efforts have been made in recent years to adopt a <a href="http://www.arcticgovernance.org/the-nordic-sami-convention-international-human-rights-self-determination-and-other-central-provisions.4644711-142902.html">Saami Convention</a>. </p>
<p>This could become the first regional treaty concerning indigenous peoples and would enshrine various rights, including the right to self-determination, Saami language and culture, and land and water, endorsing the principle of free, prior and informed consent. </p>
<p>The convention mirrors the essence of the <a href="http://www.un.org/esa/socdev/unpfii/documents/DRIPS_en.pdf">United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples</a>, but it would create even stronger legal obligations for the Nordic states. Unfortunately, negotiations have stalled, and it’s not clear whether the 2005 draft convention will be adopted anytime soon. </p>
<p>A certain degree of recognition of the Saami and reconciliation has arguably been achieved in the Nordic countries, and this could inspire other Indigenous peoples and states in the world. </p>
<p>But Saami people still face significant threats. Clearly, these should be dealt with by listening to the voices of the Saami, and by considering them with respect and as full and equal partners. And by respecting their rights as an indigenous people under international law. </p>
<hr>
<p><em>This is the fifth article in our <a href="https://theconversation.com/au/topics/indigenous-reconciliation">series on efforts towards indigenous reconciliation in settler countries around the world</a>. Tomorrow, we turn our gaze to what’s happening in Australia.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/54330/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Elisabeth Roy Trudel receives funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (Doctoral Fellowship). </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Leena Heinämäki is currently leading a project for the Finnish Government on Actualizing Sámi Rights.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Philipp Kastner does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Although the Saami have made political and legal gains in the past decades, progress is precarious. And recognition of their rights cannot be taken for granted.Elisabeth Roy Trudel, PhD Candidate in Humanities, Concordia University; Honorary Fellow, UWA Faculty of Law, The University of Western AustraliaLeena Heinämäki, Senior Researcher, University of LaplandPhilipp Kastner, Assistant Professor in International Law, The University of Western AustraliaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/413672015-05-13T04:32:02Z2015-05-13T04:32:02ZGlobal standards miss the nuance in local child labour<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/80987/original/image-20150508-22740-1af93br.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Children's labour entails both benefits and harm that should be assessed at the local level</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Reuters/Finbarr O'Reilly</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Images of children working in hazardous and abusive conditions naturally provoke strong emotional reactions. For this reason, measures designed to stop children from working, and make sure they go to school, attract little opposition or debate. </p>
<p>Yet the reality is that a rigid approach to child labour has a downside. Work is neither all good nor all bad for children. It is often both.</p>
<p>Clearly the worst forms of child labour need urgent action. However, the solution is not necessarily a ban. Conditions sometimes can be changed to reduce the risk of harm. Working conditions can be rendered benign or even beneficial, which is more constructive than simply banning work that children often need or want for their own and their family’s survival. </p>
<h2>Both benefit and harm in most work</h2>
<p>The common assumption that, for children, work in the home is harmless while work for pay is harmful is wrong. There is both benefit and harm in most work depending on conditions, aptitude and training of children. So rather than classifying particular activities as harmful, we should recognise that the same work can entail both benefits and harm that should be assessed at the local level.</p>
<p>So how do we regulate children’s work in Africa, and what can be said about interventions seeking to control children’s labour? The African Union (AU) prohibits work that interferes with children’s development but unlike the UN and the International Labour Organisation (ILO) <a href="http://www.un.org/en/globalissues/briefingpapers/childlabour/intlconvs.shtml">conventions</a>, the AU also recognises that rights are accompanied by <a href="http://www.au.int/en/content/african-charter-rights-and-welfare-child">responsibilities to family and society</a>.</p>
<p>The term “child labour” results in conceptual confusions. And given the widespread adoption of the <a href="http://www.ilo.org/dyn/normlex/en/f?p=NORMLEXPUB:12100:0::NO::P12100_ILO_CODE:C182">1999 ILO convention</a>, the 1973 <a href="http://www.ilo.org/dyn/normlex/en/f?p=NORMLEXPUB:12100:0::NO::P12100_ILO_CODE:C138">convention</a> is now redundant. The 1973 convention prohibits work that is not harmful and is often beneficial. Also, sometimes children are overburdened with work in the home, which is not considered by this legislation.</p>
<h2>Cultural norms contrast with global legal regime</h2>
<p>Cultural norms suggest what work children of particular ages and genders can or should do from a young age, with a gradual increase in responsibilities. This contrasts with the international legal regime which says only work after a specific age should be allowed. </p>
<p>Children’s work also has a social and an economic context. International trade can affect children’s work and their relationships with their families, – a point illustrated by an <a href="http://www.younglives.org.uk/publications/PP/childrens-wellbeing-and-work-in-sub-saharan-africa/pb_childrens-wellbeing-and-work-in-ssa">Ethiopian case study</a>. </p>
<p>The production of cash crops generates income for families, but it also creates pressures within families, exacerbates gender inequalities, and competes with the production of food for the family. The net effect is that cash crops increase the contribution of children as producers and carers. So, the system of international trade can lead to exploitation of children.</p>
<p>Research also shows how changes in communities and <a href="http://www.younglives.org.uk/publications/PP/childrens-wellbeing-and-work-in-sub-saharan-africa/pb_childrens-wellbeing-and-work-in-ssa">crises within families</a> affect children’s lives and schooling. It also highlights how children perceive benefits as well as harm in their work. The benefits of working are not just material contributions to families and being able to overcome “shocks” (unplanned difficult events), but also the gaining of skills and the enhancement of children’s moral status and esteem.</p>
<h2>Work is bound with social relations</h2>
<p>The risk of harm to children needs to be measured against these benefits. For these children, not working would be inconceivable. Children’s work is inextricably bound with their social relations with their peers, parents and employers. Work gives meaning to their lives. </p>
<p>Research about poor children working on the streets of Ethiopia and <a href="http://www.slideshare.net/YoungLivesOxford/child-labour-in-sudan-factors-and-repercussions-ibrahim-march2014">Sudan</a> shows how income from work is essential for the livelihoods of children and their families. </p>
<p>The ability to earn money gives children some control over their lives. Working children develop networks to help each other. Many are able to save money and help their families. </p>
<p>Then there is the issue of the relationship between schooling and work. Our research shows that children undertake work to help their families and earn money for school expenses. While work can keep children from school, force them to drop out, or affect their performance, some children have successfully combined school and work. Others are able to continue schooling because of their work. Our research suggests the need for more flexibility in the school systems to support children who have to work. </p>
<p>In <a href="http://www.slideshare.net/YoungLivesOxford/childrens-perspectives-on-their-working-lives-and-on-public-action-against-child-labour-in-burkina-faso">Burkina Faso</a>, the parents and children working on the mines and quarries acknowledge the work as hazardous. But they view it as a necessary response to extreme poverty. Also, children may be better off by accompanying their parents to work than being left alone at home. Interventions to remove children from work tend not to address problems facing their families and the need for alternative support. </p>
<p>In <a href="http://www.slideshare.net/YoungLivesOxford/children-and-work-a-save-the-children-perspective-muokimarch2014">Kenya</a>, a Save the Children programme supports working children, which has led to children’s perspectives being included in a new draft for a child labour policy. However, the programme excludes children under the age of 14 who are supposed to be in school.</p>
<h2>Listening to what children say about work</h2>
<p>The African <a href="http://maejt.org/page%20anglais/English%20about%20us%20history.htm">Movement of Working Children</a> includes “the right to light and limited work” among its <a href="http://maejt.org/page%20anglais/documents/docs%202013/Jeuda104_12_AMWCY_%20rights.pdf">“Twelve Rights”</a> with no mention of age. It is high time that we direct attention to reducing harm in child labour rather than seeking rules that impose a blanket ban on children taking on any work. </p>
<p>A more enlightened approach to children’s work would start by listening to what children have to say and working with local communities to raise awareness of problems faced by working children, especially in balancing work and school, and to enhance the accessibility, flexibility and quality of schooling to cater for working children. </p>
<p>Ultimately, measures to reduce poverty and provide safety nets for children living in families facing crises are more appropriate than approaches that focus narrowly on preventing children from working. </p>
<hr>
<p><em>The research referred to in this article has been compiled into a book, Children’s Work and Labour in East Africa: Social Context and Implications for Policy, edited by Alula Pankhurst, Michael Bourdillon and Gina Crivello. It will be published on June 12, the Day Against Child Labour, by the <a href="http://www.ossrea.net">Organisation for Social Science Research in Eastern and Southern Africa</a>.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/41367/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The Young Lives research on child work, the African Regional Symposium and the publication of the briefs and the book on child work and labour in East Africa were funded by the OAK Foundation. </span></em></p>A more enlightened approach to child labour would listen to what children say about work, balance work and school, and enhance the flexibility and quality of schooling to cater for working children.Alula Pankhurst, Young Lives Ethiopia Country Director, University of OxfordLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/188112013-10-02T15:19:33Z2013-10-02T15:19:33ZLess is more when it comes to migrant rights<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/32334/original/42ggn628-1380720124.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">What, you want all these new skyscrapers AND migrant rights?</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Omar Chatriwala</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>This week the UN General Assembly is debating the global governance of <a href="http://www.un.org/esa/population/meetings/HLD2013/mainhld2013.html">international labour migration</a>. This meeting is particularly timely, following reports of numerous deaths among Nepalese workers on <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/oct/01/qatar-world-cup-2022-nepalese-die-building-sites">World Cup construction sites in Qatar</a>. </p>
<p>But as they gather in New York, policymakers risk once again overlooking one of the hardest questions in this debate: how to manage the trade-offs in immigration policy between openness to admitting migrant workers and some of the rights migrants are granted after admission.</p>
<p>Qatar and the other Persian Gulf states are examples of countries operating a “high numbers/low rights” system; they have very open admission policies but place severe restrictions on migrants’ rights. At the other end of the spectrum you would find some countries of northern Europe, offering migrants comprehensive rights but admitting relatively few migrant workers.</p>
<p>There is a clear trade-off to be made between these two models, but international policymakers are yet to design a strategy for migrant rights with this in mind. The failure to deal with this issue has to end.</p>
<p>The liberalisation of immigration policies in high-income countries is supported by many low-income countries and development organisations such as the World Bank and United Nations Development Programme. There have been particular calls for the rules governing admission of lower-skilled workers to be relaxed. This section of migrants currently face the most restrictions, but it is where migration could easily lead to large gains in income and development. The World Bank, for instance, believes that more international labour migration is one of the most <a href="http://www-wds.worldbank.org/external/default/WDSContentServer/WDSP/IB/2010/11/30/000158349_20101130131212/Rendered/PDF/WPS5488.pdf">effective ways of raising the incomes</a> of workers in low-income countries.</p>
<p>At the same time, workers rights organisations such as the International Labour Organization (ILO) demand more equal rights for migrants. Activists around the world have called for more countries to ratify the <a href="http://www2.ohchr.org/english/bodies/cmw/cmw.htm">1990 UN Convention on the Rights of Migrant Workers</a>, which lays out a very comprehensive set of civil, political, economic, and social rights for migrants, including those living and working abroad illegally. To date, fewer than 50 countries, none of them major migrant-receiving countries, have ratified this convention.</p>
<p>The dilemma is that it is not always possible to have both “more migration” and “more rights” for migrant workers. After examining <a href="http://press.princeton.edu/titles/10140.html">labour immigration policies in over 45 high-income countries</a>, I found an inverse relationship between openness and some rights for migrants. Greater equality of rights for new migrant workers tends to be associated with more restrictive admission policies, especially for admitting lower-skilled workers from poorer countries. </p>
<p>The tension between “access and rights” applies to a few specific rights that are perceived to to be costly for the receiving countries. The right of lower-skilled migrants to access certain welfare services and benefits is particularly affected.</p>
<p>The implication of this trade-off is that insisting that new migrant workers get the same rights as citizens can come at the price of more restrictive admission policies. Equal rights can protect the few migrant workers admitted, but reduce the opportunities of many more to benefit from work available in richer countries. </p>
<p>Few migrant-sending nations insist on full and equal rights for their workers abroad, for fear of reduced access to the labour markets of higher-income countries. Witness, for instance, the muted reaction of the Nepalese government to the deaths of their citizens in Qatar. With the current arrangement suiting both nations’ economic interests, the two governments even held a joint press conference to say migrant rights were “<a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/09/30/us-qatar-labor-rights-idUSBRE98T13Z20130930">fully respected</a>”.</p>
<p>International debates about the global governance of migration have almost completely ignored the trade-off between openness and rights. This week’s UN meeting in New York and the <a href="http://www.gfmd.org/en/">Global Forum on Migration and Development</a> in Sweden next year should open up the discussion. We need a reasoned debate between organisations that advocate more migration to promote development, such as the World Bank, and those primarily concerned with the protection and equality of rights, such as the ILO.</p>
<p>So if there is a trade-off to be made between openness and rights, what is the solution? This is an question with no single answer. But there is a strong case for liberalising international labour migration, especially for low-skilled workers. This could be achieved through temporary migration programs that protect a universal set of core rights and account for the interests of nation-states by restricting a few specific rights that create net costs for receiving countries, and are therefore obstacles to more open admission policies.</p>
<p>We should start discussing the creation of a list of universal “core rights” for migrant workers. Exactly which rights would be on this list is still up for debate, but it is a debate that should be at the centre of upcoming discussions on the global governance of migration. </p>
<p>A “core” list would include fewer rights than the 1990 Convention, but more countries would be likely to accept it. Most significantly, that would include those countries that admit large numbers and currently have minimal incentive to seriously improve conditions. Thus, given the mass numbers involved, overall protection for migrant workers would be increased. </p>
<p>It might be a counter-intuitive conclusion, but it is one grounded in reality: when it comes to protecting migrant rights, it turns out less is more.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/18811/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>This Comment is based on a book ('The Price of Rights: Regulating International Labor Migration') which was written while Martin Ruhs was a researcher at Oxford University's Centre on Migration, Policy and Society (COMPAS) which is core-funded by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC).</span></em></p>This week the UN General Assembly is debating the global governance of international labour migration. This meeting is particularly timely, following reports of numerous deaths among Nepalese workers on…Martin Ruhs, University Lecturer in Political Economy, University of OxfordLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/175922013-08-28T20:26:13Z2013-08-28T20:26:13ZA family affair - good policy is more than paid parental leave<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/30096/original/hymy5bt2-1377669960.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C1000%2C667&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Research on work and family policies support an approach that responds to the intensive demands of early childhood, as well as birth.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Image from www.shutterstock.com</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>When the Labor government introduced a national paid parental leave (PPL) scheme on 1 January, 2011, it was late to the international party. The International Labour Organisation <a href="http://www.ilo.org/global/about-the-ilo/newsroom/news/WCMS_008009/lang--en/index.htm">had been recommending it</a> for almost a century. </p>
<p>The organisation recognised that labour markets relying on women’s labour have to respond to the reality that working mothers need rest and recovery time when they have babies – and that such leave was good for children, workers, workplaces and the labour market.</p>
<p>Only two years after the introduction of the Australian PPL scheme – 18 weeks at minimum wage, plus two weeks paid leave for fathers/partners – Tony Abbott has joined the party with zeal, offering an additional six weeks’ paid leave, superannuation and replacement earnings of up to $150,000. </p>
<p>Much of the controversy about this proposal focuses on its funding source and cost: $6.1 billion, according to the Coalition’s costings, net of the existing Labor scheme’s cost.</p>
<p>In fact, costing this policy is tricky: for example, how will it interact with existing public and private PPL schemes – in companies, universities, and local, state and commonwealth governments? The existing scheme is in addition to paid leave offered by some employers. </p>
<p>However, if the new scheme replaces such arrangements, how will the cost shifting unfold and what effect will it have on the total cost (and the total length of leave)? The waters are muddy.</p>
<h2>Work and Family Policy Roundtable</h2>
<p>In evaluating the policy options on PPL, the 30 members of the <a href="http://www.workandfamilypolicyroundtable.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/WFPR-Election-2013-Evaluation.pdf">Work and Family Policy Roundtable</a> – researchers from 18 Australian research institutions – conclude that the Coalition’s scheme is superior to existing arrangements on length, superannuation and payment level.</p>
<p>But the spend is large and uncertain, and some critical details of its implementation are unclear.</p>
<p>Moreover, work and family policy is about much more than PPL. The body of existing research about good work and family regimes around the world supports a balanced policy approach: one that walks on more than one leg – responding to the intensive demands of early childhood that reach beyond the moment of birth – to ensure quality care for children and flexibility in workplaces.</p>
<p>Quality, affordable childcare must be a work and family priority in Australia in view of the increasing rate of mothers’ participation in paid work. </p>
<p>Both major parties share the policy objective of further increasing this participation rate; the lack of childcare currently inhibits women’s participation and concern about its affordability is acute. Increasing direct government support to lift both wages and the quality of care, and streamlining childcare payments, will help.</p>
<p>The Coalition supports a Productivity Inquiry into the affordability of childcare. While an inquiry is necessary, it will not address the immediate challenge of affordability, nor will it ensure good quality care.</p>
<p>Labor has promised $300 million to boost the wages of childcare workers, to continue the roll-out of its National Quality Standards for childcare, and to increase support for out-of-school care by $450 million, allowing schools to either extend and improve their existing program or to establish a new one. </p>
<p>Labor’s policy on childcare is superior to the Coalition’s, but more is needed to address significant childcare challenges.</p>
<p>Beyond PPL and childcare, secure, decently paid, flexible jobs with access to paid sick and family leave are a critical work and family support. They are increasingly important for workers dealing with the care of older family.</p>
<p>The Coalition states that it will make minimal changes to industrial relations policy in its first term, and that it will hold a Productivity Commission review into IR.</p>
<p>Labor offers more, broadening the right to request flexible working arrangements to more workers who need them (which will assist those caring for aged family members), to workers with disabilities, to mature-age workers, and to those experiencing family violence. It has also required that, in changing awards, the Fair Work Commission must take account of penalty rates.</p>
<p>Neither party has addressed the issue of insecure work, the lack of paid leave for those who work in casual jobs, or the lack of an appeal mechanism for those refused a request for flexibility.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/17592/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Barbara Pocock receives funding from the Australian Research Council and the University of South Australia. This contribution relies upon the Work and Family Policy Roundtable 'Election 2013 Evaluation' statement authored by the 30 members of the Roundtable.</span></em></p>When the Labor government introduced a national paid parental leave (PPL) scheme on 1 January, 2011, it was late to the international party. The International Labour Organisation had been recommending…Barbara Pocock, Professor & Director of the Centre for Work + Life, University of South AustraliaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/150832013-06-13T04:47:27Z2013-06-13T04:47:27ZMind the gap: company disclosure discrepancies not sustainable<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/25393/original/bj73f8n9-1371016239.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=19%2C11%2C967%2C619&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Civilians rescue an injured worker after the eight-storey Rana Plaza garment factory collapsed in Dhaka, Bangladesh, on April 24.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">AAP</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The recent decision by two Australian retailers to sign an accord protecting suppliers in Bangladesh has highlighted discrepancies in company disclosure of sustainability issues and the need for clearer reporting guidance. </p>
<p><a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-06-07/kmart-target-sign-up-to-safety-accord-for-bangaldeshi-workers/4739436">Kmart and Target</a> became the first Australian companies to sign the Global Union Federations’ building and safety <a href="http://www.uniglobalunion.org/Apps/UNINews.nsf/vwLkpById/EC90FA91A0DB11C0C1257B6B0028A4DE/$FILE/2013-05-13%20-%20Accord%20on%20Fire%20and%20Building%20Safety%20in%20Bangladesh.pdf">accord</a>, following the collapse of the Rana Plaza garment factory in Bangladesh. According to Oxfam Australia, Big W and Cotton On are also making moves to sign the accord; however, a lack of information on which companies have suppliers in Bangladesh means a potential lack of other Australian signatories. </p>
<p>Recent research by <a href="http://www.catalyst.org.au/">Catalyst Australia</a>, a collaborative policy network, shows that this lack of supply-chain information is not an isolated incident and that significant gaps exist in sustainability reporting by Australian companies.</p>
<h2>Sustainability reporting</h2>
<p>Many ASX-listed companies are increasingly reporting on sustainability alongside financial matters. In a 2012 report, the Australian Council for Superannuation Investors (ACSI) found that 83% of companies listed on the ASX 200 to some extent <a href="http://www.acsi.org.au/images/stories/ACSIDocuments/generalresearchpublic/Sustainability%20Reporting%20Journey%202012.pdf">reported on sustainability matters</a>.</p>
<p>Sustainability, a term often interchangeably used with corporate social responsibility, represents a commitment to operate in an economically, socially and environmentally sustainable manner. The <a href="https://www.globalreporting.org/">Global Reporting Initiative</a> (GRI) provides the most well-known reporting frameworks. However, previous research has shown that <a href="http://cfmeu.com.au/sites/default/files/downloads/%5Bfield_download_state-raw%5D/%5Bfield_download_type-raw%5D/banarracfmeu2010labourpracticesreviewreport29mar2011.pdf">significant gaps</a> exist between claimed levels of GRI reporting and the information found in company reports. </p>
<p>Catalyst Australia developed a <a href="http://csr.catalyst.org.au">CSR dashboard</a> to gauge the quality of sustainability reporting by Australian companies. It analysed 32 companies across six topics - gender equality, environmental impact, labour standards, supply chains, community engagement and community investment - and found great variation in how they reported on their social and environmental activities. </p>
<p>Some of these differences can be attributed to the tendency of companies to concentrate on those areas that affect their performance, while meeting stakeholder demands for transparency and disclosure. At the same time, discretionary reporting can lead to highlighting achievements that reflect well on companies while overlooking other important areas.</p>
<h2>Clear expectations</h2>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/25447/original/99ky4yxr-1371081046.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=7%2C8%2C992%2C1462&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/25447/original/99ky4yxr-1371081046.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=901&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/25447/original/99ky4yxr-1371081046.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=901&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/25447/original/99ky4yxr-1371081046.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=901&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/25447/original/99ky4yxr-1371081046.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1133&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/25447/original/99ky4yxr-1371081046.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1133&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/25447/original/99ky4yxr-1371081046.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1133&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Workers layout cable as part of the NBN roll-out, which has caused controversy with recent revelations of asbestos mismanagement.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">AAP</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>However, Catalyst also found that clearly defined reporting expectations lifted reporting and performance. Gender equality, carbon emissions, energy efficiency, and worker health and safety were well-covered topics, compared to other areas. The majority of companies addressed these topics in their public reports, even when disclosures revealed negative performance outcomes. </p>
<p>It is significant that these areas have strong external reporting guidance. For example, disclosures around gender diversity have recently benefited from the increased guidance of a <a href="http://www.asxgroup.com.au/media/asx_diversity_report.pdf">new reporting regime</a>, established through Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) Corporate Governance Principles. Doubtless, the CSR diversity reporting results reflect the clear guidance provided by the ASX Principles, along with a more activist approach by the federal government in spearheading the new <a href="http://www.wgea.gov.au/">Workplace Gender Equality Agency</a>.</p>
<p>External policy underpinning environment topics also helps steer public disclosures. In addition to a growing number of companies voluntarily reporting to the <a href="https://www.cdproject.net/">Carbon Disclosure Project</a>, corporations registered under the commonwealth government’s <a href="http://www.cleanenergyregulator.gov.au/National-Greenhouse-and-Energy-Reporting/Pages/default.aspx">National Greenhouse and Energy Reporting Act 2007</a> are required to report carbon emissions and energy consumption. This has focused attention on reporting in these areas, particularly when compared with other environmental indicators such as waste production and water consumption.</p>
<p>Worker health and safety disclosures are stimulated by the impact of legislation and by bodies such as <a href="http://www.safeworkaustralia.gov.au/">Safe Work Australia</a>, which encourages companies to collect and analyse detailed data, report targets and compare performance against industry peers and benchmarks. Union focus on workplace safety is also critical, as seen in the recent crisis surrounding asbestos in the <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/7.30/content/2013/s3775579.htm">National Broadband Network roll-out</a>.</p>
<h2>Overlooked areas</h2>
<p>But Catalyst found that supply chains and labour standards were the most under-reported topics, with the majority of companies providing no or very limited information about their policy, management and approach. This lack of focus confirms other <a href="http://www.acsi.org.au/board-composition-and-non-executive-director-pay-in-the-top-100-companies72/700-supply-chain-labour-and-human-rights.html">research</a> findings about Australian firms’ comparatively poor standard of reporting about human rights issues. </p>
<p>The absence of clear reporting guidance in these areas is notable. Unlike their global peers, few Australian companies reference the <a href="http://www.ilo.org/global/standards/introduction-to-international-labour-standards/conventions-and-recommendations/lang--en/index.htm">International Labour Organisation (ILO) Core Conventions</a>. This suggests a need to better contextualise the intent and purpose of the ILO Conventions by developing proxies that can be applied in the Australian context.</p>
<h2>Improving standards</h2>
<p>Disclosure inconsistencies can be avoided by introducing clear, persuasive minimum reporting standards, which should be mandated in areas where there are significant gaps in social and environmental reporting.</p>
<p>There is evidence that companies will embrace common standards for sustainability reporting when mandatory guidelines exist, or when expectations concerning disclosure are well defined and understood. In short: clear guidance contributes to greater transparency around social and environmental matters, and it encourages improved monitoring and performance.</p>
<p>Regulatory agencies, investors and industry bodies should consider minimum content guidelines for sustainability reporting. The ASX can play a pivotal role by spearheading improvements in disclosures that are particularly weak, through select amendments to the ASX Corporate Governance Principles.</p>
<p>Trade unions, civil society organisations and others with an interest in the human rights performance of companies have a vital role to play in creating decent and secure work standards by developing Australian proxies that reflect global sustainability principles. </p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/15083/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Martijn Boersma works for Catalyst Australia.</span></em></p>The recent decision by two Australian retailers to sign an accord protecting suppliers in Bangladesh has highlighted discrepancies in company disclosure of sustainability issues and the need for clearer…Martijn Boersma, Researcher in Corporate Governance, University of Technology SydneyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/20012011-07-11T04:33:49Z2011-07-11T04:33:49ZHow a simple signature can help stop people trafficking and worker abuse<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/1956/original/Girl_Kara_Allyson_Flickr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Laws designed to protect domestic workers could also help those trafficked from other countries.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Flickr/Kara Allyson</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Domestic workers now have greater protection from exploitative employers. The International Labour Organization (ILO) has adopted a convention which regulates working hours and prevents violence in the workplace. But it could also help in the fight against people trafficking.</p>
<p>The <a href="http://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/@ed_norm/@relconf/documents/meetingdocument/wcms_157836.pdf">Domestic Workers Convention</a> is an international treaty open to signature by all <a href="http://www.ilo.org/public/english/standards/relm/country.htm">183 ILO member states</a>, recognises the potential for exploitation and abuse inherent in the often hidden nature of domestic work. </p>
<p>The Convention requires states that accept the Convention to “take measures to ensure the effective promotion and protection of the human rights of all domestic workers” and to “take measures to ensure that domestic workers enjoy effective protection against all forms of abuse, harassment and violence.” It sets out to help those engaged in any type of work in the home including cooks, to cleaners and carers.</p>
<p>Most of the provisions provide general employment rights, such as minimum hours of rest and guarantees against discrimination. But it could have a wider application.</p>
<h2>People trafficking in domestic service</h2>
<p>It has become increasingly clear that people trafficking not only feeds into the sex industry, but also into forced labour, including in domestic service. </p>
<p>In 2005, the European Court of Human Rights <a href="http://www.unhcr.org/refworld/category,LEGAL,,,TGO,4406f0df4,0.html">found that France had violated</a> the rights of a teenaged girl from Togo who had been brought into France under false pretences and forced to work as a domestic servant and child carer. </p>
<p>The court found that she had been held in a state of servitude, and that France was obliged to have effective criminal laws to punish the people who had exploited her.</p>
<p>Closer to home, a Queensland couple were <a href="http://www.law.uq.edu.au/documents/humantraffic/news/2010/2010-Feb-18-Qld-Couple-jailed-for-slavery.pdf">jailed in 2010</a> under section <a href="http://www.law.monash.edu.au/castancentre/projects/tip-workshop-background-paper.pdf">270.3 of the Commonwealth Criminal Code</a> for using and possessing a slave, as a result of exploiting a domestic worker. </p>
<p>They had brought a woman from the Philippines to Australia by means of a sham marriage to another man. They required the woman to work in their shop during the day and in their house at night. While sexual abuse was also a factor in this case, the main form of exploitation experienced by the victim was forced domestic labour.</p>
<h2>Trafficking to Australia</h2>
<p>Accepting the Domestic Workers Convention could lead to the introduction of measures that might prevent people from being trafficked or protect them once they had been trafficked to Australia. </p>
<p>One method used by traffickers is to deceive potential victims about the nature and conditions of the work to be performed. </p>
<p>The Convention requires that where people are recruited in one country for work in another, they must receive a written job offer or contract of employment that is enforceable in the country where the work is performed. </p>
<p>The Convention also requires states to regulate employment agencies, to protect against abusive practices.</p>
<p>In addition, the Convention asks states to take measures to ensure that domestic workers can keep their travel and identity documents in their possession. Confiscation of passports is a frequent method of controlling trafficking victims once they arrive in their destination country. </p>
<h2>Sign up to prevent abuse</h2>
<p>The International Labour Conference also adopted a Recommendation to accompany the Domestic Workers Convention. </p>
<p>Recommendations do not impose binding obligations on states but set out guidance on how Conventions should be implemented in national legal systems. </p>
<p>The Recommendation adopted on 16th June includes suggested measures for protecting migrant domestic workers including legal protection against trafficking.</p>
<p>ILO Conventions, as international treaties, only become binding on states that sign up to them. </p>
<p>For the Domestic Workers Convention to contribute to the fight against people trafficking, Australia and many other states will have to sign the treaty and commit to making it effective in their law and practice. </p>
<p>Ensuring that people recruited to work in Australian homes have clear and understandable employment contracts and do not have their passports confiscated upon arrival could reduce the number of people trafficked for domestic work or at least allow them to escape situations of abuse as quickly as possible.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/2001/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Holly Cullen does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Domestic workers now have greater protection from exploitative employers. The International Labour Organization (ILO) has adopted a convention which regulates working hours and prevents violence in the…Holly Cullen, Winthrop Professor, Faculty of Law, The University of Western AustraliaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.