Observation (CEACR) - adopted 2008, published 98th ILC session (2009)

Minimum Age Convention, 1973 (No. 138) - Guatemala (Ratification: 1990)

Article 2, paragraphs 1 and 4, of the Convention and Part V of the report form. Minimum age for admission to employment or work and application in practice. The Committee had previously noted that, according to the study entitled “Understanding child labour in Guatemala”, carried out in 2000 by the National Statistical Institute, around 507,000 boys and girls aged between 7 and 14 years were engaged in work in Guatemala. The agricultural sector was the branch of economic activity with the most child workers (62 per cent), followed by commerce (16.1 per cent), manufacturing (10.7 per cent), services (6.1 per cent), and construction (3.1 per cent). The Committee noted that the Labour Code and the Act on the Integral Protection of Children and Young Persons of 2003 banned work by children under 14 years of age in any activity, including the informal economy. The Committee also noted the adoption of Government Agreement No. 112-2006 of 7 March 2006 issuing Regulations on the Protection of Children and Young Persons at Work (Regulations on the Protection of Children and Young Persons at Work) which bans work for children under 14 years of age and contains provisions on the protection of children and young people involved in an economic activity. It requested the Government to provide detailed information on the way in which the Convention is applied in practice, by providing in particular statistics on the nature, extent and trends of the employment of children under the specified minimum age.

In its report, the Government points out that the Special Labour Inspectors Unit under the Ministry of Labour and Social Welfare formulated a project, in 2006, with a view to monitoring the application of the provisions contained in the Labour Code and the Act on the Integral Protection of Children and Young Persons of 2003. The Committee also notes that, according to the Government, a public policy for the full protection of children and young persons as well as an Action Plan on Children and Young Persons (2004–15) have been adopted. While noting this information, the Committee observes that the Government’s report does not contain any statistics on the nature, extent and trends of child labour in the country. In this respect, it notes that, according to an ILO–IPEC report of June 2008 entitled “Elimination of child labour in Latin America. Third stage”, a study on the living conditions in Guatemala was carried out in 2006.

Given the statistics mentioned above, the Committee states once again that it is very concerned about the number of children under 14 years of age obliged to work and urges the Government to step up its efforts to improve this situation. In this respect, it requests the Government to provide information on the measures taken, especially in the context of the implementation of the public policy for the full protection of children and young persons and the Action Plan on Children and Young Persons (2004–15), with a view to eliminating child labour. The Committee requests the Government to provide information on the results obtained. Finally, it requests the Government to provide a copy of the study on the living conditions in Guatemala, which was carried out in 2006.

Article 3, paragraph 2. Determination of hazardous types of work. Production and handling of explosive substances and objects. In its previous comments, the Committee noted the indication by the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions, now called the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC), that child workers were engaged in extremely dangerous activities, such as the production of fireworks and in stone quarries. The ITUC pointed out that work in the fireworks industry was particularly dangerous and that children were often seriously injured. The Committee noted that the list of types of hazardous work determined by the Government included the fireworks industry and construction, including activities which entailed working with stone. The Committee took note of the measures taken by the Government to combat child labour in the fireworks industry, especially the adoption of Government Agreement No. 28-2004 of 12 January 2004 issuing regulations on firework production. The Committee noted that section 7(a) of the Government Agreement No. 250-2006 issuing regulations on the application of Convention No. 182 of the International Labour Organization on the worst forms of child labour and immediate action for their elimination (Regulation on the application of Convention No. 182) prohibited work by persons under 18 years of age in the manufacture, layout and handling of explosive substances or objects and the production of explosives or fireworks. It also noted that section 4(b) and (c) of the Regulation applied to employers and parents who used young persons under 18 years of age in any of the prohibited activities; furthermore, section 5 stipulated that such persons should be held responsible and liable to penalties. The Committee requested the Government to provide information on the implementation of the Regulation on the application of Convention No. 182 in practice.

In its report, the Government points out that the Department on Training in Labour Matters, under the Ministry of Labour and Social Welfare, has conducted information and awareness-raising workshops on the hazards of the fireworks industry, especially for children, in more than 69 small enterprises and for the families of workers employed in these enterprises. It also mentions that labour inspectors have carried out 28 visits to factories manufacturing fireworks. Furthermore, the Ministry of Education had introduced a programme of grants entitled “Grants for peace”, to ensure that no person under 18 years of age should be employed in the fireworks sector and in public refuse dumps. According to the Government, 4,320 grants were awarded to students from 21 schools. The Committee takes due note of the efforts made by the Government to end the employment of children under 18 years of age in this dangerous activity. It notes, however, that the Government’s report does not contain any information on the results obtained when it visited the 28 factories manufacturing fireworks. It therefore requests the Government to provide information on the implementation of the Regulation on the application of Convention No. 182 in practice, by giving details on the inspections carried out by the labour inspectors in the factories manufacturing fireworks, submitting extracts from the reports of the inspection services, and specifying the number and nature of violations recorded and the penalties applied.

The Committee is also addressing a direct request to the Government concerning other points.