Benin/Burkina Faso/Mali: Serious violations of core labour standards

INTERNATIONAL CONFEDERATION OF FREE TRADE UNIONS

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New ICFTU report submitted to the WTO:

Serious violations of core labour standards in Benin, Burkina Faso and
Mali

Brussels 30 June 2004 (ICFTU Online): The ICFTU today published a new
report on core labour standards in Benin, Burkina Faso and Mali,
exposing the problems facing workers and trade unions in these
countries.

The report, launched to coincide with the WTO Trade Policy Review this
week, highlights frequent violations of basic workers' rights such as
the right to organise and the right to collective bargaining. Legal
restrictions exist on the right to strike, and civil servants are
exposed to serious limitations on their right to strike For example,
there are excessive restrictions on the notice period required before
strikes can take place. The majority of the workforce in the 3
countries is employed in the informal economy, mainly in subsistence
agriculture, and none of the governments does enough to ensure respect
for workers concerned.

Women in Benin, Burkina Faso and Mali are generally employed in low-wage
and low-skilled jobs. In all three countries, many women can be found
working in the informal economy, especially in the subsistence-farming
sector. On the subject of discrimination and equal payment, the ICFTU
report highlights substantial wage gaps, for example 30% in the public
sector and 15% in the private sector in Mali. The female literacy rate
is very low in all three countries, lying at 12% in Mali, 9% in Burkina
Faso and 18% in Benin.

Child labour is prevalent in all three countries, and enforcement of
legislation is often limited to the formal wage economy. Most children
work in the informal economy, mainly in agriculture (on family farms and
plantations) and also as vendors and domestic servants. Statistics from
the Ministry of Labour of Burkina Faso estimated that, in the year 2000,
50% of children were employed in some form of activity. School enrolment
is low in the three countries, in particular enrolment of girls, few
children go on to secondary school, and children living in rural areas
often have poor access to education.

Although Benin, Burkina Faso and Mali have ratified the core Conventions
on Forced Labour, the practice does exist. Many women and children are
trafficked for forced prostitution, forced labour on plantations and
domestic work. Moreover, many children are sold to neighbouring
countries (like Togo and Ivory Coast) and forced to work on plantations
or in domestic work under harsh and dangerous conditions while receiving
very low pay, if any at all.

The report also notes the vital importance of cotton exports for the
three West African countries, both in terms of development and poverty
reduction as well as for their social and political stability, and calls
for an elimination of cotton subsidies by the US and the European Union.

In conclusion, the ICFTU calls upon the governments of Benin, Burkina
Faso and Mali to apply the core labour conventions they have ratified
and to bring their legislation into line with ILO Conventions No. 87 and
No. 138. Furthermore, the governments must take effective measures to
increase participation of women in the formal wage economy including in
positions of authority, and to increase the training of women. The ICFTU
underlines the governments' obligation to eliminate child labour, while
at the same time increasing school enrolment and access to education.
The three governments must take measures to abolish forced labour, in
particular, the selling of children to work on plantations and domestic
work, and make notable progress in eliminating the trafficking of women
and children to neighbouring countries.

To read the full report:
http://www.icftu.org/displaydocument.asp?Index=991220266&Language=EN

The ICFTU represents 151 million workers in 233 affiliated organisations
in 152 countries and territories. ICFTU is also a member of Global
Unions: http://www.global-unions.org

For more information, please contact the ICFTU Press Department on +32 2
224 0232 or +32 476 621 018.