Observation (CEACR) - adoptée 1991, publiée 78ème session CIT (1991)

The Committee notes the comments made on 31 January 1991 by the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU) concerning the application of Convention No. 29. A copy of these comments was transmitted to the Government so that it could make the observations that it considered appropriate.

In its comments, the ICFTU alleges that the system known in the country as voluntary labour is, in practice, forced labour under the terms of the Convention, since refusal to do such labour results in the loss of certain rights, benefits and privileges. It also indicates that the system of voluntary labour is widespread and growing. In its comments, the ICFTU describes this system as follows: the "quotas" for voluntary labour are formally adopted at the workers' assembly of each enterprise, although in practice they are predetermined by the trade unions, which are responsible for organising voluntary labour. Once the quota has been established, managers of enterprises prepare lists of the workers who are to perform it; 120 hours of voluntary labour give entitlement to a certificate while, in contrast, in the event of repeated unjustified absences the worker is described as "counter-revolutionary".

The ICFTU also refers to resolution No. 590 of 1980 of the Ministry of Labour and Social Security, which establishes merits for two categories of voluntary work, namely participation in permanent activities (sugar harvest, housing construction micro-brigades) and in voluntary labour organised by the trade union (section 5(e) and (f)). Annual Assemblies of Merits and Demerits discuss the report of the trade union chapter on the merits achieved by the workers, which include participation in voluntary work, and propose their inclusion in the labour record "expediente laboral" (section 3).

The ICFTU alleges that certain benefits, rights and privileges, such as promotion, transfer, access to new employment, the acquisition of certain consumer goods, housing or participation in university programmes, depend on the merits that have been accumulated and noted in the worker's labour record. It also adds that persons who refuse to perform voluntary labour are subject to harassment and psychological abuse and that data on participation in voluntary labour are included in the "guía del informante" (informer's guide), a document that is used by the state security police.

In its comments, the ICFTU also refers to the employment of conscripts and young persons in development work. It alleges that these persons are obliged to work on a regular and massive basis for economic objectives.

The Committee requests the Government to make its observations on the allegations submitted by the ICFTU.