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

Night Work (Women) Convention (Revised), 1948 (No. 89) - Guatemala (Ratification: 1952)

Article 3 of the Convention. Prohibition of night work for women. The Committee recalls its previous comment in which it observed that the Convention had for all practical purposes ceased to apply and that the Government should consider the ratification of the Night Work Convention, 1990, (No. 171), which offered protection to all night workers irrespective of gender in all branches and occupations. In its reply, the Government indicates that a study was previously undertaken by services of the Ministry of Labour and Social Security, which recommended the ratification of Convention No. 171 but until now there have been no technical studies to follow up on such recommendation. It adds that the Ministry’s Department for the Promotion of the Woman Worker has suggested the establishment of a technical committee in order to undertake an in-depth analysis of the social and economic dimensions of night work and present its results to all interested organizations and public authorities. The Committee notes, in particular, that in a letter dated 26 May 2008, the Director of the Department for the Promotion of the Woman Worker recommended the denunciation of Convention No. 89 and the ratification of Convention No. 171, bearing in mind that night work was a reality in the country and that Convention No. 89 had long ceased to be implemented. It also notes that in another communication, dated 24 September 2007, the Director of the International Labour Affairs Unit, the General Labour Inspector, the Director General of Labour and the Coordinator of the Technical Council and Legal Affairs, called for the denunciation of Convention No. 89 and cautioned that failing such action the Government was bound to reintroduce the prohibition on women’s night work in order to comply with its international obligations.

The Committee feels once more obliged to refer to paragraph 93 of its General Survey of 2001 on the night work of women in industry in which it expressed the view that any contradiction between the legal obligations arising out of the ratification of an international labour Convention and existing domestic legislation should be properly removed in the interest of preserving a coherent body of international labour standards and giving full meaning to the Organization’s supervisory organs. For all useful purposes, therefore, the Committee recalls that Convention No. 89 may be denounced every ten years and will again be open to denunciation for a period of one year as from 27 February 2011. The Committee again invites the Government to give favourable consideration to the ratification of Convention No. 171 and to keep the Office informed of any decision taken with respect to Convention No. 89. It also requests the Government to provide documented information on any concrete measures or plan of action that might be undertaken following the recommendations of the Department for the Promotion of the Woman Worker and the results obtained.