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INTER-AMERICAN COUNCIL FOR INTEGRAL DEVELOPMENT (CIDI)
MEETING TO FOLLOW-UP ON THE OAS/Ser.K/XII.11
DECISIONS ADOPTED AT THE RESDA-XI/doc.12/00 corr. 1[1]/
XI INTER-AMERICAN CONFERENCE 12 April 2000
OF MINISTERS OF LABOR Original: Spanish
February 24-25, 2000
Washington, D.C.
FINAL REPORT
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Report 1
APPENDICES:
Appendix I Address by Mr. German Molina Valdivieso, Minister of Labor and Social Protection of Chile and Chair Pro Tempore of the XI Inter-American Conference of Ministers of Labor 11
Appendix II Address by the Secretary General of the OAS, Mr. César Gaviria, to the Follow-up Meeting on Decisions from the 11th Inter-American Conference of Ministers of Labor 17
Appendix III Activity Report from Working Group I, “Economic Globalization and its Social and Labor Dimensions 23
Appendix IV Working Group II: Progress Report “Modernization of the State and Labor Administration: Requirements and Challenges” 29
Appendix V Presentation by the Chair Pro Tempore on Progress in the Implementation of the Plan of Action of Viña del Mar 35
Appendix VI Summary of the Report “Labor Standards in Integration Agreements in the Americas” – International Labor Office 43
Appendix VII Statement by Mr. John Sweeney, President of the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO), Representing COSATE 51
Appendix VIII Proposed Labor Policy Areas Suitable for Technical Cooperation Programs 57
Appendix IX Measures taken by the OAS General Secretariat on Employment and Labor Issues 71
Appendix X RESOLUTIONS:
Progress Report of the Working Groups 81
Proposed Labor Policy Areas Suitable for Technical Cooperation 83
The Twelfth Inter-American Conference of Ministers of Labor 85
Multilateral Project on the Labor Markets Information System 87
Promotion of Productive Employment, Micro-Enterprises and Small Business 91
Votes of Thanks 93
Appendix XI List of Participants 95
Appendix XII List of Documents Registered by the General Secretariat up to February 25, 2000 123
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FINAL REPORT
BACKGROUND
The Meeting to Follow-up on the Decisions Adopted at the XI Inter-American Conference of Labor Ministers was held February 24 and 25, 2000, at the headquarters of the Organization of American States in Washington D.C. The meeting took place within the framework of the Inter-American Council for Integral Development (CIDI). It was decided at the XI Inter-American Conference that this Meeting would be held in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, and this decision was subsequently approved at the XVI Special Meeting of the Permanent Executive Committee (CEPCIDI), held on October 29, 1999. CEPCIDI subsequently authorized the change in venue to Washington D.C. at its LVII Regular Meeting held on December 13, 1999.
PARTICIPANTS
The list of participants is attached as Appendix XI to this report.
PROCEEDINGS
The Follow-Up Meeting consisted of an inaugural session, four plenary sessions, and a closing session.
A. Inaugural Session
The inaugural session was held on February 24, 2000, at 10:00 a.m. The speakers included Germán Molina Valdivieso, Chairman Pro Tempore of the Conference, and Dr. Cesar Gaviria, Secretary General of the OAS.
Their speeches appear in Appendices I and II to this report.
B. Plenary Sessions
1. First plenary session
The first plenary session took place on February 24, 2000, at 11:00 a.m. The following decisions were made at that meeting:
a. Decision on the Agenda/Timetable
It was approved unanimously.
b. Decision on Working Procedure
It was decided that the agenda would be discussed in plenary.
c. Election of officers
The Labor Minister of Chile, Germán Molina, in his capacity as Chairman Pro Tempore of the Conference, served as chairman of the meeting. At the proposal of the Chair, and with the agreement of the meeting, the Labor Minister of El Salvador, Jorge Isidoro Nieto Menéndez, was elected to chair the second and third sessions by acclamation.
The meeting then took up the first item on the agenda/schedule: Report of the Coordinators of the Working Groups set up by the XI Conference. The Deputy Minister of Labor and Social Advancement of Peru, Fernando García Granara, made the first presentation, as the representative of the country responsible for coordination of Group I on Globalization of the Economy and its Social and Labor Implications. He gave an extensive, detailed explanation of the tasks assigned to this group, the work performed, and the results achieved. This presentation appears in Appendix III to this report.
Next the Costa Rican Deputy Minister of Labor and Social Security, Bernardo Benavides, presented his report, as the representative of the country in charge of coordinating Group II on Modernization of the State and the Administration of Labor. During his comprehensive statement, he referred to the studies, analysis, and proposals of the Group, and highlighted the preparation and implementation of several horizontal cooperation projects. His statement appears in Appendix IV to this report.
2. Second plenary session
The second plenary session began at 2:30 p.m., when it took up the progress report on implementation of the Plan of Action of Viña del Mar, introduced by the Chair Pro Tempore, the Chilean Labor Minister.
In his report, the Minister pointed to the efforts made by the working groups to evaluate the impact of the so-called Asian crisis in the region, and indicated that the global economy should be examined from the standpoint of its cyclical nature, or in other words consideration should be given to changing circumstances that trigger phenomena which have a universal impact.
In his opinion, the work done by the Chair and the working groups was effective in that it brought out the comparative value of the various policies and the advances achieved by OAS member states in the area of globalization and its social and labor aspects.
He stated that the challenge was to identify innovations to be made to labor institutions, which, in order to be successful, require an adequate balance between the policies for change and the conditions required for these processes to guarantee real progress and protection of the basic labor rights of workers.
With regard to modernization of the state and the labor administration, this will require a new design, the introduction of new policies, an ongoing evaluation, and development of efficient social networks. Participation of labor and management in the context of specific policies would enhance the role of the Labor Administration in the area of regulation and enforcement.
He pointed to the fact that a group of countries had effectively identified the challenges and strengths of labor ministries and established specific areas and spaces for horizontal cooperation. Reference was made to the notable efforts made by ministries of labor in the Americas to modernize their institutions, and especially in Central America and the Caribbean.
He concluded by stressing the importance, relevance, and strong role that labor ministries should play in the globalized economy to enhance international competitiveness and ensure greater social equity. This presentation can be found in Appendix V to this report.
The following speaker, Daniel Martínez, a regional adviser of the ILO, made a summary presentation of the paper entitled “Labor Norms in Integration Agreements in the Americas.”
Mr. Martínez said that the document was prepared at the request of Group Nº 1, set up by the XI Inter-American Conference of Ministers of Labor of the Organization of American States (OAS). Its purpose was to identify the basic labor laws underlying the various integration agreements signed by members of the Organization, which could serve as a basis for including labor concerns in economic integration processes.
The paper discusses the various integration experiences in the Americas, with a view to identifying the labor rules and norms set forth in the different instruments.
The charters and other rules and regulations emanating from the various integration experiences currently under way in the Americas were studied, in addition to the inter-American instruments of the Organization of American States (OAS), which is also pursuing integration efforts in political and cultural spheres more than in economic and commercial areas. The document referred to appears as Appendix VI.
MINISTERIAL DISCUSSIÓN
The ministerial discussion began with the previous presentations. The Peruvian Deputy Minister of Labor and Social Advancement then proposed that the working groups continue their work for the specific purpose of pursuing development of the Viña del Mar Plan and of thereby facilitating inclusion of other relevant labor issues discussed as part of national agendas.
Argentina’s Deputy Minister of Labor, Employment, and Training of Human Resources, Jorge Sappia, referred to the excellent quality of the document presented by the ILO and said that it would be studied by MERCOSUR’s Group 10, which would then present its views on it.
He went on to speak of the need to strengthen and promote labor relations through collective bargaining, since this was an effective way to advance economic and social conditions among the labor force.
He indicated that his government was interested in fostering horizontal cooperation arrangements among countries.
The United States Labor Secretary, Alexis M. Herman, said it was a pleasure to welcome to Washington, D.C. the labor ministers of the Americas and their distinguished delegations, and members of international organizations.
During her statement she suggested that the meeting should produce the following three results: the continuation of the work being done jointly within the Organization of American States; the drafting of a document or report on the progress achieved in labor matters, for presentation at the next meeting of the Presidents of the Americas to be held in Canada; and, finally, development of a work plan containing specific projects that could be financed by international cooperation agencies.
Canadian Labor Minister Claudette Bradshaw indicated that she was in favor of continuing the work of this meeting through the work of the various groups.
The Brazilian Minister of Labor and Employment, Francisco Dornelles, congratulated the Chairman Pro Tempore on the preparatory work done for this meeting and highlighted the following four points he considered important: the essential need to modernize labor legislation in their countries; the need to intensify work on employment programs and policies; the need to step up efforts to implement labor certification programs; and the need for this forum to discuss the issue of the informal economy and seek ways to control the growth of this sector.
Guatemalan Deputy Labor Minister Roberto Rodríguez said that two employment programs were being carried out in Guatemala, “Long-Distance Labor Training” and “The Travelling School,” which were clear signs of the priority his country attaches to labor matters. He considered that it was important to adapt national laws to the conventions and agreements of the International Labor Organization, whose Labor Code is a basic statute. He said that other aspects of the labor market should be regulated by specific, more flexible regulatory instruments.
The Minister of Labor and Micro-Enterprises of Bolivia, Luis Vásquez Villamar, maintained that there was a link between productive employment and poverty, since when there is no productive employment, the poverty rate of countries rises.
He would therefore support the conclusions of the Working Groups and be in favor of continuing them. He also proposed that they take up the topic of productive employment. He ended his statement by saying that there were two different types of jobs in Bolivia, those of the formal and the informal sectors, and that among the activities pursued, measures should be directed to supporting the informal sector, and especially to generating productive, quality jobs in that area.
CEATAL President Daniel Funes de Rioja congratulated the labor ministers on having correctly identified the major problems facing the labor market. He believed that the labor market should be divided by types of work, since economies comprise both high technology and low technology enterprises, and the labor problems of the two are not the same. He indicated that the legal system of countries is extremely important and should be taken into account by labor ministers in their analyses. He said that his organization would like to be considered when it came time to formulate projects to be financed by international organizations.
3. Third Plenary Session
This session opened at 10:00 a.m. on Friday, February 25 with statements by AFL-CIO President and COSATE representative John Sweeny from the United States. He referred to the importance of having a dialogue with the labor ministers of the region, since the well-being of workers in the United States is linked to the fate of workers in the Americas. He indicated that world economic growth and investment had not benefited either the majority of the population or workers, and he stated that ILO standards should be linked to free trade treaties. He stated that respect for workers’ rights and practices was important for development and economic growth. He said that his organization was committed to efforts to relieve the debt of developing countries and he proposed that labor unions and Ministries of Labor should form an alliance to support efforts to modernize the ministries and strengthen the collective bargaining process and labor union freedoms. His presentation is transcribed in Appendix VII.
The third plenary session continued with a presentation of the document on proposed areas of labor policy that could be part of technical cooperation programs by the Chair Pro Tempore of the XI Inter-American Conference.
He began by saying that this was the second version of a document containing the observations of Working Groups I and II, along with contributions from the United States Department of Labor. He further stated that the paper took into account the measures proposed in the Viña del Mar Plan of Action, and included a brief summary of the contents of each of the areas dealt with in that document, as follows:
Employment and Labor Institutions; Collective Bargaining; Labor Relations; Occupational Education and Training; Systems for Protection of the Unemployed; Labor Information Systems; Compliance with Labor Regulations; and, Modernization of Labor Justice and Labor-Management Dialogue. The document in question appears in Appendix VIII.
Following the agenda for the meeting, the Director of the ILO Regional Office in Lima, Peru, Dr. Víctor Tockman, spoke next to comment on the document presented by the Chair Pro Tempore.
He reported that the ILO would work to build up the capacity of countries to comply with labor laws and standards. He stated that the ILO would assist efforts to modernize labor policies and to modernize labor ministries. He ended by saying that the ILO would maintain its commitment to the inter-American system of the OAS to support efforts at modernization by providing technical cooperation.