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ILO-en-strap
Governing Body
GB.267/11
267th Session
Geneva, November 1996		  

ELEVENTH ITEM ON THE AGENDA

Report of the Committee on Sectoral and
Technical Meetings and Related Issues

1. The Committee on Sectoral and Technical Meetings and Related Issues met on 15 November 1996 for the first time since its constitution by the Governing Body at its 266th (June 1996) Session.

2. A representative of the Director-General (Mr. Morozov, Director of the Sectoral Activities Department) welcomed the members of the Committee and informed them that the Office had issued a working paper entitled ILO industrial committees and sectoral activities: An institutional history. This document was available in English and might be of particular interest to the Committee. A Worker member (Mr. Blondel) welcomed the publication, but regretted that it had not been issued in French and Spanish, and urged the Office to take measures to ensure its translation into those languages.

Election of the Chairman and Vice-Chairmen

3. On a proposal by the representative of the Government of Slovakia, coordinator for the Central and Eastern European region, seconded by the representatives of the Governments of Germany and the Russian Federation, Mr. Héthy (Hungary) was unanimously elected Chairman.

4. Mr. Thüsing and Mr. Blondel were unanimously elected as Employer Vice-Chairman and Worker Vice-Chairman, respectively.

I. Programme of sectoral meetings, 1998-99

5. The Committee had before it a paper(1) containing 25 proposals for meetings, from which the Committee was invited to choose 12 sectors and topics for the programme of sectoral meetings for 1998-99.

6. Mr. Thüsing (Employer Vice-Chairman) agreed that the nine meetings proposed in paragraph 2 of the paper should be given a certain degree of priority because they had been previously agreed by the Committee. Nevertheless, developments since the Committee had chosen the topics could lead his group to consider that, in some cases, other topics could be more appropriate. He indicated his group's preferred choice as follows: best practices in work flexibility schemes and their impact on the quality of working life (chemical industries sector); shop-opening hours: new forms of work organization and their impact on the employment and conditions of work of retail workers; lifelong learning in the twenty-first century: changing roles of educational personnel; technology and employment in the food and drink industries; safety and health in the fishing industry; the impact of flexible labour market arrangements based on legislation or collective agreements in the machinery, electrical and electronics industries; social and labour issues in small-scale mines; employment and industrial relations issues in oil refining; the human resources dimension of structural and regulatory changes and globalization in postal and telecommunications services; public sector reform in the context of structural adjustment and transition; the social and labour consequences of technological developments and the growth of the informal sector in road transport; and privatization of public utilities: managing transition. A number of these proposals reflected past decisions; others were based on the Office proposals but had been modified to ensure more focused topics. As regards the meeting on the fishing industry, the Employers believed that although the maritime sector had been covered in the biennium with the holding of a meeting for the port industry, the fishing sector had not been represented in those instances and problems of the sector should be discussed directly with representatives of the fishing industry.

7. Mr. Blondel indicated that one of the principles agreed to in March 1995 by the Committee had not been sufficiently underlined in the Office paper. The Committee had agreed at the time that the 22 sectors chosen should be treated equitably and, to this end, meetings should follow a 22-sector cycle. Ten sectors had already been covered since the new system of meetings came into force in January 1996, and the 12 sectors selected for the biennium 1998-99 should be those that had not been retained in the programme of sectoral meetings for the 1996-97 biennium. The Workers' proposals for meetings were based on the express preferences and choices of the international trade secretariats responsible for the different sectors considered. The Workers had also sought to include, to the greatest extent possible, topics selected by the Committee at past sessions but which, for different reasons, had not been incorporated in the Office's work programme. The Workers' preferences were the following: voluntary initiatives affecting training and education on safety, health and environment (chemical industries sector); human resource implications of globalization and restructuring in commerce; safety and health of meat, poultry and fish-processing workers; terms of employment and working conditions in health sector reforms; the impact of flexible labour market arrangements in the machinery, electrical and electronic industries; social and labour issues in small-scale mines; safety and health management systems in offshore petroleum operations; the human resources dimension of structural and regulatory changes and globalization in postal and telecommunications services; human resources development in the public service in the context of structural adjustment and transition; the social and labour consequences of technological developments, deregulation, privatization and the growth of the informal sector in transport; the implications of changes in work organization and labour flexibility for employment, remuneration schemes, working conditions and labour-management relations (transport equipment manufacture sector); and managing the privatization and restructuring of public utilities. As a twelfth proposal, the Workers had chosen the public service sector, but with a topic different from that proposed by the Office.

8. The representatives of a number of governments (Austria, China, Germany, India, Russian Federation, United Kingdom and United States) agreed that the 22-sector cycle should be adhered to.

9. A representative of the Government of the United Kingdom concurred with the proposal to include in the 1998-99 programme most of the topics that had been previously selected. His Government also favoured certain topics or sectors: lifelong learning in the twenty-first century -- changing roles of educational personnel; safety and health in the fishing industry; and meetings for the chemical industries, commerce, health and transport sectors. The fishing industry had not received sufficient attention in the recent past.

10. A representative of the Government of India considered that in addition to the nine topics selected previously, the three additional topics should be: terms of employment and working conditions in health sector reforms; all forms of work arrangements in coal mines; and the social and labour consequences of technological developments, deregulation, privatization and the growth of the informal sector in transport.

11. A representative of the Government of Austria agreed with the Employers' proposals, except that the meeting proposed for the transport sector should concern instead the health sector.

12. A representative of the Government of the United States favoured in particular the inclusion of the following topics: lifelong learning in the twenty-first century -- changing roles of educational personnel; safety and health in the fishing industry; and social and labour issues in small-scale mines.

13. A representative of the Government of China indicated her Government's priorities as follows: best practices in work flexibility schemes and their impact on the quality of working life (chemical industries sector); human resource implications of globalization and restructuring in commerce; lifelong learning in the twenty-first century -- changing roles of educational personnel; safety and health of meat, poultry and fish-processing workers; terms of employment and working conditions in health sector reforms; 29th Session of the Joint Maritime Commission; the impact of flexible labour market arrangements in the machinery, electrical and electronic industries; social and labour issues in small-scale mines; safety and health management systems in offshore petroleum operations; the human resources dimension of structural and regulatory changes and globalization in postal and telecommunications services; human resource development in the public service in the context of structural adjustment and transition; managing the privatization and restructuring of public utilities.

14. A representative of the Government of the Russian Federation indicated that his Government gave priority to the nine topics previously retained together with a meeting for the following sectors: public service, transport equipment manufacture and utilities.

15. A representative of the Government of Germany indicated that the two topics proposed for the education sector were equally worthwhile.

16. Following informal consultations between the Employer and Worker members, Mr. Blondel announced that agreement had been reached on the following programme of meetings:

17. Mr. Thüsing stressed that further details of the meetings, including their output and composition, would be discussed in March.

18. The Committee on Sectoral and Technical Meetings and Related Issues recommends to the Governing Body that the 12 sectoral meetings mentioned in paragraph 16 above be included in the 1998-99 Programme and Budget proposals for major programme 100 (Sectoral activities).

II. Evaluation of practical experience with the
new sectoral meetings format

19. The Committee had before it a paper(2) prepared by the Office on the evaluation of practical experience with the new sectoral meetings' format, and which related to the four meetings held between March and September 1996.

20. A representative of the Director-General (Mr. Morozov) provided complementary information to the Committee on a fifth meeting -- the Tripartite Meeting on the Globalization of the Footwear, Textiles and Clothing Industries -- which had been held between the date of issue of the paper before them and the Committee's present sitting. At that Meeting, the level of Government participation had been higher than for the other Meetings, with only one absence. It was the first time that the resolutions declared receivable could not all be considered within the time-limit set by the Officers of the Meeting in accordance with the procedures set out in the new Standing Orders. Otherwise, the experience of the fifth meeting had generally been in line with the four meetings covered by the paper.

21. Mr. Blondel pointed out that it was difficult at the present stage to draw conclusions or make a thorough assessment of the new format for sectoral meetings. His group's views should not be taken as definitive.

22. Mr. Thüsing felt that the new format had proven generally satisfactory and endorsed the Workers' position that a more formal evaluation ought to take place at a later stage.

23. Representatives of a number of governments (Germany, United Kingdom and United States) agreed that an in-depth evaluation of the system could be held only after a larger number of meetings had been organized.

24. A representative of the Government of Austria felt that some inadequacies were apparent in the new format of meetings.

Participation

25. The Workers pointed out that problems of participation existed in the case of the Government group only, while the attendance of Worker and Employer representatives had so far been high. Mr. Blondel mentioned the problems some of the Worker members faced in obtaining visas, especially in the case of last-minute replacements. With regard to the invitation of governments and the recourse to reserve-list countries, the Workers advocated the strict application of paragraph 10 of the General characteristics for sectoral meetings. Finally, Mr. Blondel appealed to governments to designate representatives who had expertise in the topic of the meeting.

26. Mr. Thüsing underlined the great difficulties some governments seemed to have in participating in the meetings, a situation which had serious repercussions on the meetings themselves. In the case of the Joint Meeting on the Impact of Structural Adjustment on Educational Personnel, for example, the balance between private and public employers had not been respected, as four out of 16 governments had not participated. This reinforced the arguments of those who favoured group-selected nominations. He also pointed out that governments should ensure that their representatives had sufficient expertise to contribute usefully to the discussions.

27. A representative of the Government of Austria indicated that, contrary to procedures followed for the former system of industrial committees and meetings, governments were no longer solicited to express their interest in a particular meeting or sector before the Office submitted a paper to the Governing Body on the composition of the meetings. The practice followed most commonly in the past of appointing national tripartite delegations encouraged governments to accept the invitation since they came under pressure from the national social partners to do so.

28. A representative of the Government of Germany noted that the question of government participation warranted attention. The procedures applied in the past seemed to have ensured better participation rates, and it might be useful if the document submitted by the Office on the composition of sectoral meetings were distributed to governments well ahead of the Governing Body session at which they were to be considered. This would allow governments to consult with their experts in the field to ensure their interest and ascertain their presence. Governments should also be strongly encouraged in the invitation letters to reply quickly to the Office's invitation.

29. A representative of the Government of the United States pointed out that the convocation letter addressed by the Office to governments should stress that acceptance or refusal of invitations should be sent to the Office promptly. The great importance attached to sectoral meetings by employers, managers and workers who were active at the industry and shop-floor levels was not always properly reflected in certain Governing Body documents. She encouraged the Office to improve coordination with other intergovernmental organizations in Geneva so as to avoid conflicts with other meetings. Different factors led her to believe that there was perhaps a correlation between the high number of government absentees and the mode of nomination of the employers and workers.

30. A representative of the Government of the United Kingdom felt that the absence of government participants was disturbing, as was the presence at certain meetings of only one representative from a particular region. It might be useful to establish some form of regional coordination to tackle this problem.

Output from the meetings

31. Mr. Thüsing underlined that attention should be paid to the substance of the resolutions submitted rather than their number, which did not affect their value. In smaller meetings, resolutions should perhaps not be chosen as an output. As a general rule, the conclusions prepared by the Office had been too lengthy.

32. A representative of the Government of the United States noted that setting a time-limit for consideration of the resolutions had functioned well in practice; so far, the only meeting which had not been able to consider all the draft resolutions judged receivable had had to consider texts which she felt were too long and numerous.

33. A representative of the Government of the United Kingdom underlined that short, well-focused resolutions had a greater likelihood of being incorporated in the Office's future programme of work.

Role of the Officers

34. Mr. Blondel noted that it was probably best for the time being to maintain the present practice of distribution of duties among the Officers. Although there had been complaints concerning the relatively light workload placed on the chairmen of the meetings, this was a question that should be given careful consideration at a later date.

35. Mr. Thüsing stated that the Officers had played a positive role so far and that they should be encouraged to work in close cooperation with the group secretariats. The clash of responsibilities mentioned in paragraph 15 of the paper was unavoidable unless the number of panel discussions was reduced from three to two.

36. A representative of the Government of the United States was in favour of maintaining the present practice of having the Government Vice-Chairperson of the meeting chair the plenary sittings devoted to the discussion of the report and the working party on conclusions.

Standing Orders

37. The Worker members supported the present practice of officially recording the attendance of observers from ILO member States under a special heading in the list of participants. There should be no changes in the immediate future. This view was endorsed by the Employer members.

38. A representative of the Government of the United States was of the view that the Standing Orders should provide for the participation of ILO member States as observers. This type of participation was usually limited to two or three governments which had a particular interest in the topic under consideration at a meeting or in the sector concerned.

Panel discussions

39. Mr. Thüsing indicated that the introduction of panel discussions had generally been considered positive, but that they had suffered from low attendance because sittings of working parties were held simultaneously. He proposed that the panel discussion scheduled on Wednesday afternoon be replaced by a briefing on ILO activities in the sector under consideration. This would provide the Office with a good opportunity to make its activities known to the sectoral constituents. The panel discussions should be thoroughly prepared ahead of time and should include speakers from the Government group. Statements by panellists should remain within certain time-limits.

40. Mr. Blondel noted that although panel discussions were an important feature of the meetings, the presence of participants was more important in the working parties established to negotiate the conclusions and resolutions.

41. A representative of the Government of Austria felt that panel discussions were a positive innovation, but one that led to the splitting up of the Government delegations between those attending the working parties on resolutions and conclusions and those present at the various panel discussions.

42. A representative of the Government of the United States confirmed that the panel discussions had been well received by participants, a number of whom had expressed disappointment at not being able to attend for scheduling reasons. She endorsed the proposal to reduce the number of panels to two and to organize a briefing on ILO activities; this view was also supported by a representative of the Government of the United Kingdom, who added that exceedingly long presentations hampered discussions in the panels and prevented other participants from joining in the discussion.

The groups

43. Mr. Thüsing stressed the importance of preliminary group meetings which smoothed out difficulties ahead of the meeting. He appealed to Government participants to exercise discipline and warn the Office sufficiently in advance when cancelling their group meetings so as not to waste interpretation resources.

44. A representative of the Government of the United States welcomed the regular Government group meetings, which had provided opportunities to establish a network and create dialogue between the group members. A representative of the Government of the United Kingdom strongly urged governments to intensify their coordination in the course of the meetings both within the group and with the Office so as to save the meetings' resources.

Participants' comments

45. The Employer members, together with a representative of the Government of the United States, pointed to the repeated requests made by participants at sectoral meetings for the organization of regional meetings. Mr. Thüsing proposed that this might be included as part of the follow-up activities on the meetings.

Some lessons learned

46. Mr. Blondel disagreed with the Office proposal to give consideration to having smaller working parties at smaller meetings, with three members from each group, for example. Such a small figure would not allow the groups to adhere to the principle of geographical distribution. This statement was endorsed by a representative of the Government of Austria.

47. Mr. Thüsing proposed that the Office attach a brief note to the letters of invitation, highlighting various points that participants should bear in mind when attending meetings, namely the importance of being concise and succinct in their statements.

48. A representative of the Government of Japan indicated his appreciation of the Office's work, but pointed out that the Office should present fewer points for discussion in the reports it submitted to meetings. These reports should, as far as possible, be prepared by ILO officials and not by outside consultants.

III. Effect to be given to the recommendations
of sectoral meetings

(a) Tripartite Meeting on Social and Labour
Issues concerning Migrant Workers in the
Construction Industry
(Geneva, 4-8 March 1996)

49. The Committee had before it the Note on the Proceedings of the Tripartite Meeting on Social and Labour Issues Concerning Migrant Workers in the Construction Industry, and the Director-General's proposals concerning the effect to be given to the texts adopted by the Meeting.(3)

50. The Worker members drew attention to the conclusions of the Meeting, in particular paragraphs 3, 4 and 20 which dealt with the principles of equal treatment and non-discrimination of migrant workers and their families, and the full respect of their rights as defined by Conventions Nos. 87 and 98. The confiscation of the passports of migrant workers should be banned. The Worker members urged that sufficient resources be allocated to the Programme of Sectoral Activities to ensure the implementation of the Meeting's decisions.

51. Mr. Thüsing thanked the Chairperson of the Meeting, Ms. Dunkak (United States), who had played a positive role in conducting the first meeting to be governed by the new Standing Orders.

52. A representative of the Government of the United States, who had acted as Chairperson of the Meeting, urged members of the Committee to attend sectoral meetings. She had been honoured to chair a meeting devoted to one of the most vulnerable groups of workers. She was pleased to inform the Committee that the Employer Vice-Chairman of the Meeting, who had attended past industrial committee meetings, had been favourably impressed with the new structure. She reiterated her Government's support for the programme of Sectoral activities and their wish to see sufficient resources allocated to the programme.

53. A representative of the Government of Austria reminded the Committee that the problems of migrant workers in construction should not be underestimated. The issues of training and further training for this vulnerable group of workers were of particular importance. Quality of accommodation, family legislation, and the protection of illegal migrant workers constituted obstacles to the ratification of Conventions relating to migrant workers.

54. A representative of the Government of India highlighted the importance of non-discrimination and equal treatment for all workers, including migrant workers in host countries. The ILO should urge member States to adopt and implement policies and measures aimed at ensuring the application of these principles; this was particularly important at a time of increasing globalization and economic liberalization.

55. The Committee on Sectoral and Technical Meetings and Related Issues recommends that the Governing Body:

  1. authorize the Director-General to communicate the Note on the Proceedings:
    1. to governments, requesting them to communicate these texts to the employers' and workers' organizations concerned;
    2. to the international employers' and workers' organizations concerned;
    3. to the international organizations concerned;
  1. request the Director-General to bear in mind, when drawing up proposals for the future programme of work of the Office, the wishes expressed by the Meeting in paragraphs 20 to 23 of the conclusions and in the relevant parts of the resolutions.

(b) Joint Meeting on the Impact of Structural
Adjustment on Educational Personnel
(Geneva, 22-26 April 1996)

56. The Committee had before it the Note on the Proceedings of the Joint Meeting on the Impact of Structural Adjustment on Educational Personnel, and the Director-General's proposals concerning the effect to be given to the texts adopted by the Meeting.(4)

57. Mr. Thüsing reported that the Employer members had been somewhat dissatisfied with the Meeting, owing especially to its composition and the absence of a number of Government participants. For future meetings of this type, the Employers would request that eight private sector Employer representatives be invited to participate instead of four.

58. Mr. Blondel echoed the Employers' regrets about government participation at the Meeting, in particular as regards Africa where, as in all developing regions, structural adjustment problems were of great concern. The Worker members also deplored the fact that many of the Government representatives who attended did not have sufficient expertise in the topic. The Workers' group judged the Meeting to have been most successful and endorsed in particular paragraphs 7 and 12 of the conclusions.

59. The Committee on Sectoral and Technical Meetings and Related Issues recommends that the Governing Body:

  1. authorize the Director-General to communicate the Note on the Proceedings:
    1. to governments, requesting them to communicate these texts to the employers' and workers' organizations concerned;
    2. to the international employers' and workers' organizations concerned;
    3. to the international organizations concerned;
  1. request the Director-General to bear in mind, when drawing up proposals for the future programme of work of the Office, the wishes expressed by the Meeting in paragraphs 16 to 18 of the conclusions and in the relevant parts of the resolutions.

(c) Tripartite Meeting on Social and Labour
Problems caused by Structural Adjustments
in the Port Industry
(Geneva, 20-24 May 1996)

60. The Committee had before it the Note on the Proceedings of the Tripartite Meeting on Social and Labour Problems caused by Structural Adjustments in the Port Industry, and the Director-General's proposals concerning the effect to be given to the texts adopted by the Meeting.(5)

61. The Worker members judged this Meeting to have been successful and hoped that the Office would undertake the follow-up activities in response to the requests made. Mr. Blondel indicated his group's special endorsement of paragraphs 2, 7, 12, 13, 17 and 18 of the conclusions adopted; the issue of cooperation between port employers and workers' representatives, raised in paragraph 4 of the conclusions, was an area which presented inadequacies and merited attention.

62. The Employer members had a positive assessment of the Meeting. They drew the Office's attention to requests made by the Employers' group that Office reports in future be more balanced and reflect employers' views. The study requested by the Meeting on Convention No. 137 was of particular importance.

63. The Committee on Sectoral and Technical Meetings and Related Issues recommends that the Governing Body:

  1. authorize the Director-General to communicate the Note on the Proceedings:
    1. to governments, requesting them to communicate these texts to the employers' and workers' organizations concerned;
    2. to the international employers' and workers' organizations concerned;
    3. to the international organizations concerned;
  1. request the Director-General to bear in mind, when drawing up proposals for the future programme of work of the Office, the wishes expressed by the Meeting in paragraphs 20 to 22 of the conclusions and in the resolution.

IV. Other questions

(a) Effect to be given to the resolutions adopted
by the International Labour Conference at
its 84th (Maritime) Session

64. The Committee had before it a paper(6) prepared by the Office on the effect to be given to the resolutions adopted by the International Labour Conference at its 84th (Maritime) Session.

65. A representative of the Director-General (Mr. Morozov) indicated to the Committee that the issues raised in the resolutions adopted by the Conference were relevant for ILO constituents and other international organizations as well as for the Office's ongoing and future maritime programme. This explained why the paper had been submitted to the Committee immediately after the Conference. An information paper had been submitted to the Governing Body on questions arising out of the Maritime Session of the Conference.(7)

66. The Committee on Sectoral and Technical Meetings and Related Issues recommends that the Governing Body request the Director-General:

  1. to bear in mind the request made in the operative paragraph of the resolution on the application of the Seafarers' Hours of Work and the Manning of Ships Convention, 1996, in implementing current and future activities;
  2. to communicate to the Secretary-General of the IMO the text of the resolution concerning IMO/STCW Convention of 1978, as amended, and the application of the Seafarers' Hours of Work and the Manning of Ships Convention, 1966;
  3. to draw attention to operative paragraph 1 when communicating the resolution on the application of revised Convention No. 9 to the fisheries sector to the governments of member States and, through them, to employers' and workers' organizations;
  4. to bear in mind the requests made in paragraph 2 of the resolution on the application of revised Convention No. 9 to the fisheries sector in implementing current and future activities;
  5. to inform the 85th Session of the Conference, as appropriate, of the views contained in the resolution concerning the recruitment and placement of seafarers; and
  6. to bear in mind the request made in the resolution concerning the inspection of seafarers' working and living conditions in implementing current and future activities.

(b) Invitation of non-governmental
international organizations

Symposium on Multimedia Convergence
(Geneva, 27-29 January 1997)

67. The Chairperson informed the Committee that the Office had received a request from the International Federation of Commercial, Clerical, Professional and Technical Employees (FIET) and the World Association of Newspapers (formerly, the International Federation of Newspaper Publishers -- FIEJ) to be represented by observers at the Symposium.

68. The Committee on Sectoral and Technical Meetings and Related Issues recommends that the Governing Body authorize the Director-General to invite the non-governmental international organizations mentioned in paragraph 65 above to be represented by an observer at the Symposium on Multimedia Convergence.

Geneva, 19 November 1996.

Points for decision:

1 GB.267/STM/1.

2 GB.267/STM/2.

3 TMMWCI/1996/13, appended to GB.267/STM/3/1.

4 JMEP/1996/12, attached to GB.267/STM/3/2.

5 TMPI/1996/10, attached to GB.267/STM/3/3.

6 GB.267/STM/4/1.

7 GB.267/4.


Updated by VC. Approved by NdW. Last update: 26 January 2000.

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