Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2017, published 107th ILC session (2018)

Dock Work Convention, 1973 (No. 137) - Uruguay (Ratification: 1980)

Articles 2, 5 and 6 of the Convention. Legislative developments. The Committee notes with interest the Government’s efforts to make progress in the implementation of the Convention. The Government indicates in its report that the Ministry of Labour and Social Security has held tripartite meetings between the National Ports Administration (ANP), the Single Union of Port and Allied Workers (SUPRA) and the employer representation of the Shipping Centre (CENNAVE), in which various provisions of a new standard were adopted which would regulate working conditions in ports and is in the final stages of discussion. The Commission also notes the adoption of Legislative Decree No. 248/015, of 14 September 2015, which establishes the requirement to guarantee at least 13 days of paid work per month to temporary workers employed by container handling enterprises (Article 2). The social partners also met in the Wage Council of Group 13 “Transport and Storage”, subgroup 10 “Supplementary and auxiliary maritime activities, shipping agencies and port operators and terminals. Maritime warehouses”, “port operators and terminals” Chapter, concluded an agreement on 18 December 2013. Under this agreement, a premium of 23 per cent for night work was established from 1 July 2013 and a continuity allowance for port work (in the case of rain, working at heights and dirty work) of 8 per cent of the hourly wage from 1 July 2015, understood as the remuneration received as the basic wage, additional emoluments, public holidays and breaks. In a second meeting, the Wage Council signed an agreement on 16 December 2016 which maintained the benefits of the previous agreement and introduced the right to a food supplement for dockworkers (Article 5). The Committee recalls that the Government indicated in its previous report that both the Occupational Safety and Health (Dock Work) Convention, 1979 (No. 152), and the Code of practice on security in ports, 2004, were being used as a basis for a manual on occupational safety and health in ports (Article 6). Regarding the training of dockworkers, the Government refers to the adoption of Executive Resolution No. 411/3739, on 5 August 2014, which makes it compulsory for all new dockworkers to complete the training course “Introduction to Port Work”, developed by the Occupational Safety and Health Management Unit in collaboration with the Human Resources Division (Article 6). The Committee requests the Government to provide information on the progress made in the adoption of new rules to regulate working conditions in ports and a national policy to provide permanent or regular employment for dockworkers, and to provide a copy once they have been adopted (Article 2). The Committee also requests the Government to provide information on the preparation of the manual on occupational safety and health in ports, and to provide a copy when it is available. The Committee also requests the Government to continue providing information on cooperation between workers’ and employers’ organizations and on the progress made in a tripartite context to improve efficiency in dock work.