Observation (CEACR) - adopted 2010, published 100th ILC session (2011)

Tripartite Consultation (International Labour Standards) Convention, 1976 (No. 144) - Peru (Ratification: 2004)

Tripartite consultations required by the Convention. The Committee notes the Government’s report for the period ending in September 2010 and the comments added by four trade union organizations (Single Confederation of Workers of Peru (CUT), General Confederation of Workers of Peru (CGTP), Autonomous Confederation of Workers of Peru and Confederation of Workers of Peru (CTP)). The Government provides information on action taken in May 2008 by the National Labour Council in relation to the tripartite examination of the instruments adopted by the Conference for submission to the Congress of the Republic (Article 5(1)(b) of the Convention). Furthermore, the Government supplies information on the procedure for the drawing up of reports: (1) the comments of the Committee of Experts are sent to the most representative workers’ and employers’ organizations for their information and to enable them to issue an opinion in this regard; (2) the comments from the organizations are taken into account when drawing up the first draft of the report; (3) after the first draft report has been drawn up, this is sent again to the most representative workers’ and employers’ organizations so that they can issue their final comments in this respect; (4) the comments are taken into account for preparing the final version of the report, and (5) the final version of the report is sent to the most representative workers’ and employers’ organizations as well as to the ILO. The four trade union organizations participating in the National Labour Council claim that the consultation processes are insufficient and do not help to ensure compliance with the Convention, and they refer to the provisions of the Tripartite Consultation (Activities of the International Labour Organisation) Recommendation, 1976 (No. 152). In particular, the four trade union organizations state that requests from the Legal Affairs Office of the Ministry of Labour for commenting on the draft reports do not tally with the schedule for the presentation of reports, with variable deadlines given (in some cases, three days). Nor is there adequate access to the texts of the reports presented by the Government to the ILO. According to the four trade union organizations, there is no training programme either.

The Committee understands the concerns expressed by the four trade union organizations. Under the terms of Article 5(1)(d) of the Convention, consultations must be held on questions arising out of reports to be made to the ILO in connection with the application of ratified Conventions. In such cases, consultations must deal with the content of replies to the comments made by the supervisory bodies. Before adopting a decision, the Government should consult the representative employers’ and workers’ organizations with regard to the problems encountered and the measures to be taken to solve them. This is essential when both employers’ organizations and trade union organizations may hold different positions from that of the Government. As regards the results of the consultations, even though these are not binding on the Government, the latter is still obliged to ensure effective tripartite consultations, in conformity with Article 2(1) of the Convention. In the 2000 General Survey on tripartite consultation, the Committee emphasized that, in order to be “effective”, consultations must take place before final decisions are taken, irrespective of the nature or form of the procedures adopted. The important factor here is that the persons consulted should be able to put forward their opinions before the Government takes its final decision. The effectiveness of consultations thus presupposes in practice that employers’ and workers’ representatives have all the necessary information far enough in advance to formulate their own opinions (paragraph 31 of the 2000 General Survey). The Committee requests the Government to provide information in its next report on the consultations held on each of the matters referred to in Article 5(1) of the Convention. In particular, in order to ensure that the views of the representative organizations are taken into account, the Committee requests the Government to consider the possibility with the social partners of establishing a schedule for the drawing up of reports (Article 5(1)(d)). The Committee also hopes that suitable agreements will be reached for the financing of any necessary training of participants in the consultation procedures (Article 4(2)).