Monitoring International Labor Standards Quality of Information: Summary of a Workshop (2003) / Chapter Skim
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3. Assessing Compliance with Freedom of Association Standards
3. Assessing Compliance with Freedom of Association Standards
Pages 17-29
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From page 17... ...
the right to engage in collective bargaining; and 4. the right to strike.
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From page 18... ...
Giles said that this definition of freedom of association suggests two criteria for evaluating the quality of data and indicators used to assess compliance: 1. The four key components must be covered the right to associate, to organize unions, to engage in collective bargaining, and to strike.
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From page 19... ...
Other indirect measures include the number of complaints the ILO receives about that country, the nation's union density, the existence of multiple unions and union confederations, collective bargaining coverage, and data on strikes. Indirect measures also include data on a government's potential enforcement capacity, such as labor ministry budgets, numbers of workplace inspectors, and caseloads of administrative bodies.
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From page 20... ...
Foreign governments and international agencies, including the ILO, the World Bank, and the CLC Secretariat, also occasionally assess and report on workers' rights to freedom of association. In addition, this group includes numerous country-specific reports by such NGOs as Human Rights Watch, the Asia Monitor Resource Centre in Hong Kong, and the International Centre for Trade Union Rights in London, and by monitoring organizations such as the Fair Labor Association, the Ethical Trading Initiative, and the Clean Clothes Campaign.
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From page 21... ...
the CLC Secretariat; 2. human Rights Watch; ILO committee reports; the ICFTU, Annual Survey of Violations of Trade Union Rights; and 5.
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From page 22... ...
Second, he suggested combining such measures as union density, collective agreement coverage, and strike incidence to create "a composite measure of industrial relations indicators." A third step would involve developing quantitative measures of reprisals against workers who attempt to organize, bargain, or strike. Such measures could begin with records of enforcement bodies, supplemented with in-depth field interviews.
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From page 23... ...
DISCUSSION Former U.S. State Department official Sandra Polaski began her response by saying that the Compa paper provided "an excellent basic checklist of the issues to look at." Because she felt that the author had done a thorough and balanced job of evaluating existing information sources, Polaski did not provide detailed comments on the paper.
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From page 24... ...
. to improve." However, the database should also clearly indicate those countries "where rights are deteriorating sharply." Third, Polaski cautioned against aggregating information on compliance with core labor standards into a single index or ranking for a country, as was done in some of the studies Compa reviewed.
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From page 25... ...
She said that monitoring is "just starting to take place on the ground to a significant extent" ancl will provide an important source of · r · · 1 r ntormatlon in the tuture. Fifth, Polaski strongly suggested that the committee create a quantitative index for each core labor right for each country ancl present the index in the database with a strong caveat against using it in isolation.
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From page 26... ...
This step would take into account any available data that shed light on the actual enjoyment of the right of freedom of association by the citizens of the country, including union density, collective bargaining coverage, and statistics on what happens to workers who attempt to enjoy their rights to freedom of association (in all of its aspects)
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From page 27... ...
Freedom of association, as narrowly defined in ILO standards, rests on the "rock" of broader civil liberties and human rights, he argued. He suggested that the committee examine this broader context, including the question of whether a particular nation is a democracy or not, when measuring compliance with freedom of association standards.
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From page 28... ...
lustice argued that there is no substitute for this "very powerful notion." Interviews, surveys, and other methods of obtaining employee opinions do not give individual workers the same feeling that they are protected and may speak freely about workplace conditions, including possible violations of international labor standards. He said that the very best way to both monitor workplaces and increase compliance with international labor standards was through "a unionized workforce." Commenting on the ICFTU's Annual Survey of Violations of Trade Union Rights, Justice acknowledged that it is not completely systematic, partly because of a lack of resources.
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From page 29... ...
ASSESSING FREEDOM OFASSOCIATION 29 the Center for Reflection, Education and Action disagreed with Giles's suggestion that respected scholars might be the best people to conduct field interviews with workers. She said that workers are more likely to be open and truthful when they can identify with interviewers who look and talk as they do.
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