Observation (CEACR) - adopted 1998, published 87th ILC session (1999)

Employment Service Convention, 1948 (No. 88) - New Zealand (Ratification: 1949)

The Committee notes the Government's report and the comments of the New Zealand Council of Trade Unions (NZCTU) and the New Zealand Employers' Federation (NZEF) communicated by the Government.

The NZCTU expresses its concern at the Government's non-observance of Articles 4 and 5 of the Convention, which provide for the cooperation of representatives of employers and workers in the operation and organization of the employment services, as well as in the development of the general policy, which must be secured by means of advisory committees. The NZCTU states that no such advisory committees are in existence and that the Government, within its overall philosophy that trade unions have no special role in the industrial relations or employment policy, has no intention of developing such an advisory framework. In its response, the Government points out that the employment service has, for some considerable time, been operated by a central government department under a minister who is accountable to Parliament, and that employers' and workers' organizations contribute to the development of appropriate legislation which is submitted to the competent parliamentary select committee. Moreover, the Government considers that the strategy to regionalize employment services, described in its report, is dependent on the contribution of all concerned at regional level and, in particular, the contribution of employers and workers.

The Committee is bound to emphasize that the informal or ad hoc consultations of employers' and workers' organizations mentioned by the Government would be insufficient to give effect to the provisions of Articles 4 and 5, which require the appointment of advisory committees to the public employment services. The Committee expresses its concern at this lack of appropriate arrangements for consultation, which would seem to demonstrate a suppression of tripartite dialogue in matters of employment policies. The Committee also refers to the comments of a similar nature it has made for a number of years concerning the application of Convention No. 122. The Committee trusts that the Government will adopt the necessary measures in the near future to give full effect to these essential provisions of the Convention.

The Committee notes that the NZEF considers that there would be merit in considering the extent to which this Convention still serves a useful purpose, particularly given the increasing role of fee-paying employment agencies in the provision of employment information. In this respect, the Committee recalls that the Convention does not prevent the development of private employment agencies. The Committee draws the Government's attention to the provisions of the Private Employment Agencies Convention, 1997 (No. 181), and the Private Employment Agencies Recommendation, 1997 (No. 188), in respect of cooperation between the public employment service and private employment agencies.