Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2006, published 96th ILC session (2007)

The Committee notes the information provided in the Government’s report, including the adoption of the laws and regulations mentioned therein, and would like to receive further information on the following points.

The Committee notes that, pursuant to the transitional provisions of Act No. 8/1980 of 10 March 1980 issuing general regulations for workers, the Order of the Ministry of Labour and Social Security of 28 December 1994 extended, until 31 December 1995, the application of the Orders of 16 January 1961 on trawler fishing and 26 July 1963 on seine net fishing and other fishing techniques, which previously gave effect to the provisions of the Convention. The Committee understands that, in line with efforts to phase out old heteronomous regulations of a sectoral nature concerning labour relations, these texts have not been in force since 1 January 1996, and that fishers’ articles of agreement are currently governed by Act No. 8/1980 of 10 March 1980 issuing general regulations for workers, as consolidated by Legislative Decree No. 1/1995 of 24 March 1995.

Furthermore, the Committee notes that the Act issuing general regulations for workers contains no provisions to give effect to Articles 4 (departure from the ordinary rules as to jurisdiction over the agreement), 5 (keeping of records of employment and making such records available to fishers) and 8 (information on board as to the conditions of employment) of the Convention. It also notes that, pursuant to section 8, paragraph 1, of the same Act, articles of agreement may be concluded orally. In this regard, the Committee recalls that, under the terms of Article 3 of the Convention, fishers’ articles of agreement shall be concluded in writing; they shall contain all the particulars listed in Article 6; and shall be recorded in the list of crew, as envisaged in Article 7. The Committee requests the Government to confirm that the abovementioned Orders of 1961 and 1963 are no longer in force and to indicate the laws or regulations that currently give effect to the abovementioned provisions of the Convention.

Part V of the report form. The Committee notes the information provided by the labour inspection services concerning fishing sector violations reported during the course of 2005. It also notes the statistical data on the number of articles of agreement registered between 2000 and 2006. The Committee requests the Government to continue providing general information on the manner in which the Convention is applied in the country.