Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 1993, published 80th ILC session (1993)

Employment Policy Convention, 1964 (No. 122) - Venezuela (Bolivarian Republic of) (Ratification: 1982)

The Committee refers to its observation and trusts that the Government will include in its next report the information required by the report form for the Convention, and that it will also supply information on the following matters:

1. The "Strategic Hexagon" of the VIIth National Plan (submitted to Congress in January 1990) states that the fundamental basis for improving the quality of life of the population is to create the conditions in which all Venezuelans can have access to stable and well-remunerated jobs. Among the most important problems relating to the labour market, emphasis is placed on the fact that four out of every ten Venezuelans are outside the formal sector of the economy. The Committee trusts that the Government will continue to supply documents containing specific provisions which have as their objective an active policy designed to promote full, productive and freely chosen employment (Part I of the report form). In this context, the Committee would be grateful if the Government would supply information on the impact of the "strategic operations of the social commitment" envisaged in the VIIth National Plan.

2. The Government refers in its report to the economic restructuring policy which has given rise to the processes of reactivating industry, rationalization and the privatization of public enterprises, as well as economic deregulation and an opening up to international markets. The Committee recalls that adjustment policies should maintain a relationship with the promotion of employment and the satisfaction of basic needs (paragraph 37(h) of the Employment Policy (Supplementary Provisions) Recommendation, 1984 (No. 169)). The Committee therefore trusts that the Government will describe the mutual relationships which have been established between employment objectives and other economic and social objectives, in accordance with Article 1, paragraph 3, of the Convention.

3. The Government refers in its report to various statistical tables relating to the situation, level and trends of employment, unemployment and underemployment in the various sectors. The International Labour Office, in a letter in September 1992, indicated to the Government that copies of the statistical tables referred to had not been received. The Committee would be grateful if the Government would make the necessary efforts to include statistical information on the extent to which specific categories of workers are affected (women, young persons, workers affected by restructuring measures, older workers and disabled workers).

4. The Committee notes that, in accordance with resolution No. 3294, of 24 August 1992, the Ministry of Labour acknowledges the importance and need to have available statistical information of a continuous, appropriate and adequate nature, on the employment situation of the country. It considered that "in order to prepare and apply a policy designed to achieve and maintain full employment it is necessary to have available statistics on labour matters. The Committee trusts that the collection and analysis of statistical information will be duly taken into account when deciding upon and reviewing the principal measures of the employment policy within the context of a coordinated economic and social policy (Article 2).

5. Please state whether measures have been adopted under section 25 of the Organic Labour Act and the impact that they have had.

6. Among the special employment generation programmes, the Government refers to the social security scheme etablished for unemployment (Decree No. 599, of November 1989, as amended). In 1990 it allocated 3,182 million Bolivares to social insurance for unemployment, and the amount allocated in 1991 increased to 4,063 million Bolivares. It also refers to programmes of local social investment and promotion and support for the popular economy, which are designed principally for workers in the informal sector. The Committee would be grateful to receive more information on the achievements of the above programmes in relation to productive and freely chosen employment. The Committee recalls that when, in the context of an overall employment policy, Governments adopt measures with a view to satisfying the needs of categories of persons who frequently encounter difficulties in finding lasting employment (women, young persons, disabled workers, older workers, the long-term unemployed and migrant workers who are legally resident), care must be taken to ensure the compatibility of these measures with the provisions of international labour Conventions and Recommendations respecting the employment of these categories of workers and with the conditions of employment established in accordance with national law and practice.

7. Article 3. The Government states that the Executive has constantly promoted dialogue with the representatives of employers and workers through the continual consultations on the creation of new sources of labour. The Committee would be grateful if the Government would supply further information on actual examples and the formal procedures for consultation pursued with the representatives of the persons affected, including representatives of persons who work in the rural sector and in the informal sector, on the matters covered by the Convention.