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IUF agricultural standards campaign
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Agriculture, the grim
reaper
The IUF welcomed
the decision by the International Labour Conference to support the
adoption of a Convention and Recommendation on safety and health in
agriculture.
The decision
means that voting on the final text of the Convention and Recommendation
will be on the agenda at the organization’s 89th session next year.
"The IUF and
its affiliates prepared long and hard for this positive result", said
IUF general Secretary Ron Oswald.
"The strong support
we received from many governments was particularly helpful in view
of the obstinate resistance of the employers’ group, which from the
outset made clear its determination to oppose all efforts to establish
legally-binding guarantees of agricultural workers’ rights to health
and safety on the job in the form of an international Convention.
The draft Convention
and Recommendation contain clear language on such fundamental issues
as the safe use of machinery, chemicals and animal handling and are
particularly strong on ensuring that full protection is extended to
temporary and seasonal workers and women."
"The positive
outcome of this year’s meeting", cautioned Oswald, "does not of course
mean that we are assured of a vote in favour of the Convention and
Recommendation next year. We anticipate continued resistance from
the employers, whose representatives in Geneva increasingly proclaim
their opposition to any and all sector-specific Conventions. The case
for a Convention backed by a Recommendation on agricultural health
and safety is self-evident, for it is precisely this group of workers
which in much of the world is formally excluded from collective bargaining
legislation and health and social welfare systems and benefits.
"Agricultural
workers must be guaranteed the same rights and levels of protection
as other categories of workers. A strong Convention and Recommendation
in 2001 is our goal, and we will be working in the coming year with
our affiliates, with governments, and with employers who can see beyond
the narrow ideological platform of the current employers’ group to
realize it."
