Demande directe (CEACR) - adoptée 2003, publiée 92ème session CIT (2004)

Convention (n° 89) sur le travail de nuit (femmes) (révisée), 1948 - Bahreïn (Ratification: 1981)

The Committee notes the Government’s report. It notes, in particular, that the Government is in the process of extensively revising the Labour Law for the private sector of 1976 taking into account the provisions of this and other relevant international labour Conventions and also new developments intervened in recent years. The Government further indicates that the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs has undertaken consultations to this effect with the social partners. The Committee takes this opportunity to draw the Government’s attention to paragraphs 191 to 202 of its General Survey of 2001 on the night work of women in industry, in which it referred to the continued relevance of the instruments on women’s night work and observed that the present trend is no doubt to move away from a blanket ban on women’s night work and to give the social partners at the national level the responsibility for determining the extent of possible variations in the duration of the night period or exemptions from the prohibition of night work. In this respect, the Committee concluded that Convention No. 89, as revised by the 1990 Protocol, retains its relevance for some countries as a means of protecting those women who need protection from the harmful effects and risks of night work in certain industries, while acknowledging the need for flexible and consensual solutions to specific problems and for consistency with modern thinking and principles on maternity protection. The Committee also considered that, in addition to encouraging the ratification of the new Night Work Convention, 1990 (No. 171), greater efforts should be made by the Office to help those member States which are still bound by the provisions of Convention No. 89, and which are not yet ready to ratify Convention No. 171, to realize the advantages of modernizing their legislation in line with the provisions of the Protocol. Recalling, therefore, that the Protocol of 1990 to Convention No. 89 was designed for those States that wish to offer the possibility of night employment to women workers but feel that some institutional protection should remain in place to avoid exploitative practices and a sudden worsening of the social conditions of women workers, the Committee invites the Government to give proper consideration to its provisions in the context of the current revision of the Labour Law for the private sector and to examine favourably the possibility of its ratification. It also requests the Government to keep it informed of all progress made or any decisions taken in this regard.