Observation (CEACR) - adopted 2007, published 97th ILC session (2008)

Tripartite Consultation (International Labour Standards) Convention, 1976 (No. 144) - United States of America (Ratification: 1988)

1. Follow-up of the discussion at the 96th Session of the International Labour Conference (June 2007). Subsequent to its 2006 observation, the Committee notes the conclusions of the tripartite discussion that took place in the Conference Committee in June 2007. The Conference Committee trusted that the Government and the social partners would deepen their dialogue on all matters covered by the Convention in order to engage in a review of the manner in which the Convention was applied in practice. The Conference Committee thus hoped that the report for examination by the Committee of Experts would include information on the initiatives taken to give satisfaction to all parties involved in the consultations required by the Convention. To this end, the Government provided a detailed report, on which the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL–CIO) forwarded its comments on 25 September 2007 and the Government responded in a communication received on 15 November 2007.

2. Effective tripartite consultations. The Government reiterated that it was prepared to review the manner in which the Convention was being applied to ensure that all stakeholders, including the AFL–CIO, take appropriate measures to achieve a satisfactory application. The Government indicates that since the period covered by its last report, the Department of Labor held three meetings of the Consultative Group, one of the two subgroups of the Tripartite Advisory Panel on International Labor Standards (TAPILS). A meeting was held on 24 September 2007 to engage in an open and frank discussion of the implementation of the Convention in light of the conclusions of the Committee of Experts and the Conference Committee. In this regard, the AFL–CIO indicates that it is too early to tell whether the meeting signals the beginning of a serious effort to ensure effective consultations, as the Convention requires. The AFL–CIO reiterates that the effectiveness of tripartism should be measured by the ratification of Conventions and refers to Article 5, paragraph 1(b)–(c), of the Convention. The AFL–CIO considers that the Government is not engaging in effective tripartite consultations, if it makes feeble attempts or none at all to move the submission of Conventions to the Senate or periodically re-examine the measures that might be taken towards ratifications of unratified Conventions. In its reply of 15 November 2007, the Government states that the ratification of Conventions is a sovereign and discretionary act. It refers to paragraph 85 of the 2000 General Survey on tripartite consultation in which the Committee of Experts noted that the obligation stemming from article 19 of the Constitution to submit the instruments adopted by the Conference to Parliament does not require governments to propose ratification – or even application – of the instruments under consideration. The Government indicates that this discretion applies even for the case of the ILO’s fundamental Conventions, notwithstanding the obligation of governments to respect, promote and realize the principles that are the subject of those Conventions. The Committee notes that the Government’s report indicates that no instruments were submitted to the competent authorities during the reporting period and that no meetings of TAPILS were held during the reporting period with respect to the re-examination, at appropriate intervals, of unratified Conventions and of Recommendations. The Committee thus reiterates its previous invitation to the Government and social partners to hold effective consultations on the proposals made to Congress when submitting the instruments adopted by the Conference (Article 5, paragraph 1(b), of the Convention). It further invites the stakeholders concerned to hold tripartite consultations for the re-examination of unratified Conventions and Recommendations to which effect has not yet been given, so that it can consider what measures might be taken to promote their implementation and ratification, as appropriate (Article 5, paragraph 1(c), of the Convention). In this regard, the Committee recalls, as did the Conference Committee, that an updated document including the results of tripartite consultations had been submitted to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee in January 2007, with a view to obtaining consent for the ratification of the Discrimination (Employment and Occupation) Convention, 1958 (No. 111). In this respect, the Committee notes with interest that the Department of Labor pledged, at the meeting held on 24 September 2007, to organize a tripartite meeting at which the Departments of State and Justice would discuss the current difficulties with the social partners with regard to the matters of treaty law and procedure potentially affecting not only ratification of Convention No. 111 but other Conventions as well. The Government also announced its intention to resume consultations in TAPILS on the Seafarers’ Identity Documents Convention (Revised), 2003 (No. 185), as soon as the internal governmental review had been completed. The Committee reiterates its interest in being kept informed, through the Government’s next report, on any progress made with regard to the abovementioned Conventions, as well as on the initiatives taken to give satisfaction to all parties involved in the consultations required by the Convention.