ASEAN calls for review of labor standards

ASEAN calls for review of labor standards

BANGKOK (AFP): Labor ministers of the Association of Southeast
Asian Nations (ASEAN) called yesterday for the review of
international labor standards, rejecting any linkage with trade
issues.

"Any such linkage would seriously undermine the economic
growth of developing countries which in turn would affect the
economy of the developed nations," said a joint communique of the
11th ASEAN Labor Ministers Meeting.

The ministers called on the International Labor Organization
(ILO) to review its standards and their application in member
states, Thai labor minister Prasong Boonpong said at the close of
the two-day meeting.

"Many of the ILO conventions which were formulated decades ago
have become outdated and do not reflect the actual social and
economic conditions of member states," the communique said.

The ILO was asked to provide more assistance to member states
in promoting employment, fighting poverty and eliminating child
labor, rather than penalizing them for failing to live up to the
standards of developed countries.

Prasong objected specifically to the Freedom of Association
principle, under which the Thai government has been pressured to
allow the registration of state enterprise unions, banned after a
coup d'etat in 1991.

The communique listed seven conventions which the ministers
considered ripe for review, also dealing with forced labor, child
labor, discrimination, the right to organize and collective
bargaining.

"Pending the review, the ministers requested the ILO to adopt
a more flexible approach in applying ratified conventions with
due consideration given to the stage of development of each
member state," it said.

Labor standards should be discussed only in the ILO, "and not
in international trade or other non-labor related fora," the
communique said, explicitly rejecting a call by developed
countries for their inclusion under the World Trade Organization.

In regional affairs, progress was noted in implementing
proposals for UN-funded projects to promote self-employment in
the informal sector and improvement in working conditions and the
environment.

But Prasong told reporters afterwards that no timetables or
procedures had yet been established. "We've just begun to talk
about it," he said.

Other nascent ASEAN programs discussed were to address
industrial relations and human resource development planning.

ASEAN consists of Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the
Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

It was the first time that the representative from Vietnam,
which joined the regional grouping last year, had attended a
labor ministers meeting.

Prasong announced in his closing statement that Hanoi would
host the next such meeting in 1998. The communique noted that it
would also host the informal meeting in 1997 that the ministers
hold on alternate years.