Transcript Slide 1

Global Trade Union Alliance to
Combat Forced Labour and
Trafficking
ITUC
Human and Trade Union Rights Department
ICTU Global Solidarity Summer School 28-29 August 2009, Waterford, Ireland
www.ituc-csi.org
Overview of forced labour
The ILO’s minimum estimate of the number of forced labourers is 12.3
million.
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Children are considered to make up between 40-50 per cent of victims.
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It is a global problem affecting all regions and most countries in the
world.
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The minimum number of people in forced labour as a result of
trafficking at any one time is 2.45 million (counted in region of
destination).
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Some 20% of all forced labourers are trafficked, but there are big
regional variations (e.g. in the Middle East and North Africa, trafficking
accounts for more than 75% of forced labour.
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Definition of Forced Labour ILO
C29
all work or service which is exacted from
any person
- under the menace of any penalty and
- for which the said person has not
offered him- or herself voluntarily
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• 173 states have ratified ILO Convention
No.29. Those which have not have all,
except China, ratified the Covenant on Civil
and Political Rights (Article 8 prohibits forced
or compulsory labour).
• This reflects a decline in the use of forced
labour by the State and a consensus that
forced labour is not acceptable.
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Forced labour tends to occur in labour intensive
and/or under-regulated industries, particularly:
•Agriculture and fishing
•Domestic work
•Construction, mining, quarrying and brick kilns
•Manufacturing, processing and packaging
•Prostitution and sexual exploitation
•Market trading and illegal activities (begging)
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• The way in which forced labour is used is constantly
changing. After the abolition of slavery, formal
ownership was no longer needed as forced labour
continued through debt bondage, serfdom,
indentured labour, conscription, etc.
• Forced labour continues to manifest itself in new
forms. Private agents use a variety of coercive
mechanisms to ensure access to a ready supply of
cheap or even free labour.
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Forced labour is usually obtained as a result of
one of the following:
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Debt bondage
Absence of State protection
Restrictions on freedom of movement
Violence, threats and intimidation
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Menace of a penalty and lack of
consent
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UN Definition trafficking in persons
Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in
Persons, especially women and children which supplements
the UN Convention against Transnational Organised Crime
Article 3 - Use of terms - For the purposes of this Protocol:
• (a) “Trafficking in persons” shall mean
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the recruitment, transportation, transfer, harbouring or receipt of persons,
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by means of the threat or use of force or other forms of coercion, of abduction,
of fraud, of deception, of the abuse of power or of a position of vulnerability or
of the giving or receiving of payments or benefits to achieve the consent of a
person having control over another person,
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for the purpose of exploitation.
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A typology of forced labour
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Forced Labour by form
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Regional distribution
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Regional distribution of trafficked
forced labourers
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Gender distribution trafficking
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Profits
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Smuggling of Migrants
• material benefit –usually financial- received for
getting a person into a country illegally
• does not necessarily involve exploitation
• is a consensual relationship between the person to
be transported and the person from whom the
transportation is being purchased
• involves crossing an international border
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Global Trade Union Alliance
• 2007
– ILO-ITUC Cooperation
– Policy and strategy development
• Research
• Consultations
• ITUC General Council 2007
– Global Action plan
• Regional strategies
– Europe: Athens, 21-23 November 2008
• Regional project in partnership with Anti-Slavery International
– Africa: Nairobi, 5-7 July 2008
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Context
• Decent work for all
– Mainstreaming the eradication of forced labour
as the very antithesis of decent work is an
essential component of the campaign for decent
work for all
• Labour migration challenge
– Legal barriers
• (un)documented migrant workers
• informal workers
– Practical barriers
• Foreign languages
• Distrust trade unions
• Temporary/seasonal work
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Why trade unions?
• Mandate:
– Safeguard the rights of all workers
– Improve wages and working conditions
• Structure:
– Privileged access to workers
– International/regional and sectoral structures
• Activities and programmes
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Child labour
Domestic workers
Discrimination
Informal workers
Migrant workers
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Promotion of ratification, advising on and
monitoring of effective implementation of
relevant ILO and other Conventions
– Forced Labour Convention, 1930 (N°29)
– Abolition of Forced Labour Convention, 1957
(N°105)
– Labour Inspection Convention, 1947 (N°81)
– Labour Inspection (Agriculture) Convention, 1969
(N°129)
– Private Employment Agencies Convention, 1997
(N°181)
– Migration for Employment Convention (Revised),
1949 (N°97)
– Migrant Workers (Supplementary Provisions)
Convention, 1975 (N°143)
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Addressing forced labour and trafficking
bipartite and tripartite negotiations
and agreements
• Collective Bargaining
Agreements
• International
Framework
agreements
– ICEM/IMF-Umicore
• Codes of conduct
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Monitoring
• Labour conditions
– Employers
– Employment agencies
– Supply chains
• Through labour inspection systems
– ILO Conventions no. 81 and no. 129 on
Labour Inspection
– Recruitment practices
• Private Employment Agency Convention no. 181
• Use and feed ILO, UNHCHR, WTO
supervisory mechanisms
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Identification, documentation and public
exposure of forced labour issues and cases
• Research, data gathering
– Identify number of victims
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women
Children
Race/caste
Migrant (undocumented)
– Where?
• Sector
• Formal/informal
• Region/country/area
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Awareness raising
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aimed at
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trade union members
officials
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Targeted public awareness
campaigns
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Deceptive recruitment practices,
risk of exploitation
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SBSI, Indonesia
Labour rights
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DEOK, Cyprus
UGT, Spain
Produce camapigning and
advocacy materials
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ITF World Cup 2006
ICTU, Ireland
Use (trade unions’) mass media
and existing infrastructure for the
dissemination of information
materials
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Training
• Education campaigns on how to
recognise forced labour and human
trafficking and how to assist victims
• Develop training materials for:
– Staff
• TUC, UK “Slave and forced labour in the twenty-first century” A Fact
File, designed to stimulate and inform debate about the slave trade
and forced labour. It is ideal for trade unionists interested in the issues
that surround slavery and forced labour, and with activities linked to
informative fact sheets can serve as a both an education and
campaign tool.
– Membership
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Networking (bilateral, regional,
global)
• Share research and data
• forced labour section in ITUC web site
– Good practice
– activities
• active mailing list
– Exchange experiences
– Exchange knowledge
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Cooperation
• Partnership agreements
• Exchange of staff between
sending and receiving countries
– Bilateral
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BNS, Romania-ACFTU, China
LBAS, Latvia-LO, Sweden
CNTS, Senegal-CGTM, Mauritania
CTRN, Costa-Rica-CST, Nicaragua
MTUC, Malaysia-ITUC, Indonesia
– Sectoral
• TEHY, Union of Health and Care Services, Finland-UNISON, Public
Services Union, UK
– Regional/international
• ITUC
• GUFs
– UNI
– IUF
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Cooperation
• Cooperation with labour inspection services, other
relevant national, regional or international authorities
or interagency working groups. Participation in interagency commissions against forced labour and
trafficking
– Philippines Overseas Employment Administration has a
tripartite governing board:
• Secretary of Labour and Employment
• TUC Philippines
• Association of Private Recruitment Agencies
• Alliances or coalitions with civil society organisations
having recognised expertise and experience in
relevant areas
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Outreach and direct support
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Organise!
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Informal workers
Unprotected workers (women domestic workers)
Migrant workers
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Recruit foreign staff members
Exchanges staff with unions in sending/receiving countries
Target high risk sectors (GUFs)
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Construction
Textile
Agriculture
Ship breaking and fisheries
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Address specific situations and needs (targeted action)
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GFBTU, Bahrain-BWI, Building and Wood Workers’ Int.
The TUC, UK launched a new Polish website to support the increasing number of Polish workers in
the UK. The website http://www.pracawbrytanii.org - run by the TUC in partnership with Citizens
Advice and Solidarnosc, Poland - explains the rights workers can expect at work, from the minimum
wage and working time to holiday entitlement and sick pay; information about social issues such as
housing and health; and guidance about what living and working in the UK is really like.
Legal assistance
Integrate and represent vulnerable workers
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Political and material support within trade
union organisations
• Design a policy and endorse a
strategy/action plan
• Install
– Officers
– Committees
– Working groups
• Allocate the necessary resources
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Discrimination
• Forced labour is for the most part rooted in
poverty, discrimination and inequality. Any
trade union strategy to fight forced labour
should help eradicate all forms of
discrimination based on:
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race
colour
sex
religion
political opinion
national extraction
social origin
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Internet Resources
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ITUC
– http://www.ituc-csi.org/forcedlabour
– Mini guide
– Newsletter
– Video trailer
– Best practices
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ILO
– http://www.ilo.org/sapfl/lang--en/index.htm
FTUB-Burma (Thailand)
– http://www.ftub.org/
TUC-UK
– http://www.tuc.org.uk/extras/slaveryfactfile.pdf
ICTU-Ireland
– http://www.ictuglobalsolidarity.org/uploads/forced%20labour.pdf
GEFONT-Nepal
– http://www.gefont.org/research/kamaiya/html/preface.htm
UGT-Spain
– http://www.ugt.es/campanas/doccampana.html
ITF-Global
– http://www.itfglobal.org/campaigns/traffickingstate.cfm
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World Forced Labour Map
– http://www.ictur.org/Maps.htm
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