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

Hours of Work and Rest Periods (Road Transport) Convention, 1979 (No. 153) - Venezuela (Bolivarian Republic of) (Ratification: 1983)

Article 1, paragraph 1, of the Convention. Legislation applicable to international transport. In its previous reports, the Government had pointed out that the legislative texts applying the provisions of the Convention were the Organic Labour Act of 10 June 1997 (LOT) and the Transit and Land Transport Act of 26 November 2001. The Committee notes that these texts only apply to transport within the national territory. Consequently, the Committee requests the Government to indicate the legislation which regulates the hours of work and rest periods for international transport drivers. Furthermore, the Committee notes that the abovementioned Act of 2001 repeals the Land Transport Act of 26 August 1996. It understands is lead to believe that the regulations issued under the Land Transport Act of 1998 are still in force. The Committee requests the Government to specify if this is the case.

Article 5. Length of working time and period of rest. In its previous comment, the Committee had noted the Government’s indication that most collective agreements, concluded pursuant to section 328 of the LOT – which provides that the provisions concerning the work day in the land transport sector are to be established by collective agreement or a joint resolution adopted by the Ministries of Labour and Transport – refer to the general provisions on working time under the LOT (section 189 et seq.). The Committee also notes that section 323, paragraph 1, of the regulations issued under the Land Transport Act provides for the possibility of adapting the provisions on driving time and breaks, as well as on the second (relief driver) to the various means of transport, either public or private, of persons or goods – by means of a resolution adopted by the Ministry of Communications and Transport after consultations with the organizations of the transport sector concerned. The Committee requests the Government to submit a copy of any collective agreement concluded in the transport sector under section 328 of the LOT, as well as resolutions adopted by the Ministry of Transport and Communications containing specific provisions on, particularly, the total maximum driving time, including overtime, the daily period of rest, the calculation of average hours of work and the rest period, temporary exemptions authorized and means of supervision (for example, individual control book, etc.).

Part IV of the report form. Practical application. The Committee requests the Government to submit general indications on the way in which the Convention is applied, by giving, for example, information on the number of workers covered by the legislation, extracts from the reports of the inspection services indicating the number and nature of violations recorded and the penalties imposed, etc.