1. On the basis of the recommendations of the Subcommittee on Multinational Enterprises,(2) theGoverning Body decided that there should be a sixth full-scale report on the Declaration covering the years 1992, 1993, 1994 and 1995.(3)
2. This document summarizes the replies of governments and employers' and workers' organizations to this sixth survey. As in the case of documents prepared for the five previous surveys,(4) this summary is intended to facilitate the work of (a) the Governing Body Subcommittee on Multinational Enterprises which is called upon to examine these reports and (b) the Working Group, constituted by its Officers, which has been entrusted with the task of analysing them before they are submitted to the Subcommittee.(5)
3. At its 205th (February-March 1978) Session, the Governing Body invited governments to report periodically on the effect given to the Declaration after full consultation with the national employers' and workers' organizations.(6) The action taken by the Governing Body was confirmed and reinforced in a resolution adopted at the 65th Session of the International Labour Conference in June 1979.(7)
4. Consequently, the first such reports, for the years 1978 and 1979, were examined in September 1980 by an ad hoc committee of the Governing Body. The Committee recommended, in particular, a second round of government reports covering the years 1980, 1981 and 1982, the creation of a standing Governing Body Committee on Multinational Enterprises entrusted with the follow-up, a procedure for the examination of disputes concerning the application of the Tripartite Declaration (also referred to as the interpretation procedure) and a series of studies which the Office would undertake in areas specifically relevant to it. The Governing Body endorsed the above proposals at its 214th (November 1980) Session.(8)
5. The second government reports on the Declaration were examined by the Committee on Multinational Enterprises and its report was approved by the Governing Body during its 224th (November 1983) Session.(9) In 1984, the Governing Body, on the recommendation of the Committee,(10) decided that the third round of government reports should cover 1983, 1984 and 1985 and that the next full-scale report (fourth survey) on the Declaration should be undertaken for 1986, 1987 and 1988.
6. At its meeting in February 1985 the Committee proposed that the Governing Body establish aworking group composed of the Committee's Officers to analyse government reports on the Declaration prior to their examination by the Committee itself. Furthermore, the Committee, at the same session and in a private meeting, undertook the first interpretation of the Declaration (paragraph 26), following a request for such interpretation by a trade union organization subsequent to a collective dismissal.(11) The Committee's interpretation was endorsed by the Governing Body at its 229th Session.(12)
7. The Governing Body at its 231st (November 1985) Session endorsed a recommendation of the Committee calling on the Office to give priority to the updating of the list of Conventions and Recommendations to be referred to in the Declaration, and to prepare and submit to the Committee, a paper on measures to avoid undesirable overlap and conflict with activities of other intergovernmental organizations in the area of multinationals.(13)
8. At its 232nd (March 1986) Session, the Governing Body approved the revised procedure for the examination of disputes concerning the application of the Declaration, as agreed by the Committee on the basis of proposals made by its Officers who had earlier been entrusted with the task of elaborating more precise criteria for determining the receivability of requests for interpretation.(14)
9. Subsequent to the Governing Body's approval of the recommendation for the establishment of working group (paragraph 6 above), the Officers met for the first time in November 1986 in connection with the Committee's examination of the third government reports on the effect given to the Declaration during the years 1983, 1984 and 1985.(15)
10. In November 1987, the Committee considered and approved an addendum which updated the list of international labour Conventions (22) and Recommendations (23) referred to in the Tripartite Declaration.
11. In February 1988, the Committee, sitting in private, undertook its second interpretation of the Declaration on the basis of a request submitted by a government and involving the abrupt closure of a branch of a multinational enterprise and the resulting collective dismissal of its workers (paragraphs 1-7). At the same session the Governing Body endorsed this interpretation made by the Committee.(16)
12. In November 1989, the Working Group, as constituted by the Officers of the Committee, met for the second time and in connection with the 244th Session of the Governing Body to analyse government reports on the effect given to the Declaration in 1986, 1987 and 1988. The Group's report and analysis were examined by the Committee and endorsed by the Governing Body, at its 245th (February-March 1990) Session. At that session the Governing Body decided, inter alia, that the fifth full-scale survey on the Declaration should cover the years 1989, 1990 and 1991 and that the summaries should be examined by the Committee in November 1992. 13. At its 248th (November 1990) Session the Governing Body approved the draft questionnaire for the fifth survey and decided that in addition to being forwarded to governments, it should also be sent direct to the employers' and workers' organizations.(17)
14. The fifth reports on the effect given to the Tripartite Declaration in 1989, 1990 and 1991 were examined by the Committee and its report approved by the Governing Body during the 254th (November 1992) Session. At its 258th (November 1993) Session the Governing Body approved the draft questionnaire for the sixth survey and its dispatch to governments as well as to employers' and workers' organizations.(18)
15. On the basis of the recommendation of the Governing Body Working Party on Improvements in the Functioning of the Governing Body, the Committee on Multinational Enterprises was replaced by the Subcommittee on Multinational Enterprises which was established within the framework of the newly created Committee on Legal Issues and International Labour Standards.(19) In consequence, the Governing Body decided, on the basis of the Subcommittee's recommendations, to substitute the word "Committee" with the word "Subcommittee" in paragraphs 3, 4, 7 and 8 of the Procedure for the examination of disputes concerning the application of the Tripartite Declaration of Principles concerning Multinational Enterprises and Social Policy by means of interpretation of its provisions.(20)
16. At its 254th (November 1992), 261st (November 1994) and 264th (November 1995) Sessions, the Subcommittee on Multinational Enterprises considered two requests for interpretation submitted in accordance with the procedure for the examination of disputes concerning the application of the Tripartite Declaration. On the basis of majority decisions, both requests were declared not receivable.(21)
17. At its 264th (November 1995) Session, and in line with paragraphs 7 and 10 above concerning the updating of the list of Conventions and Recommendations referred to in the Declaration, the Governing Body decided that a further six Conventions and six Recommendations should constitute a new Addendum (Addendum II).(22)
18. In the light of the foregoing, the Subcommittee is invited by the Governing Body to examine the sixth report on the effect given to the Tripartite Declaration in 1992, 1993, 1994 and 1995, taking into account the Working Group's analysis contained in GB.268/MNE/1/2.
19. In preparing this document, the Office has taken into account all replies received up to 30 September 1996 -- well beyond the deadline of 29 February 1996. The Subcommittee will be informed of any replies which are received by 31 December 1996. If members of the Subcommittee wish to consult the original reports, observations and annexes used for the preparation of this document, these are, as in previous years, at its disposal.
20. For the current (sixth) survey, the Office received reports from governments and/or employers' and workers' organizations from the following 74 countries:(23) Antigua and Barbuda, Argentina, Australia, Austria, Bahamas, Bangladesh, Barbados, Belgium, Brazil, Cambodia, Canada, Chad, Chile, China, Colombia, Costa Rica, Czech Republic, Dominica, Ecuador, Egypt, Estonia, Ethiopia, Finland, France, Gabon, Germany, Greece, Grenada, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Jordan, Republic of Korea, Kuwait, Luxembourg, Malaysia, Mauritania, Mauritius, Mexico, Myanmar, Namibia, Netherlands, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Nigeria, Norway, Pakistan, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Romania, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sri Lanka, Swaziland, Sweden, Switzerland, Syrian Arab Republic, Thailand, Trinidad and Tobago, Tunisia, Turkey, United Kingdom, United States, Uruguay, Venezuela, Zambia, Zimbabwe.
21. It will be recalled that the Governing Body approved the direct distribution of the questionnaire to employers' and workers' organizations with the aim of encouraging a greater response rate from them.(24) The following employers' and workers' organizations took advantage of this possibility and sent their replies direct to ILO Geneva, through the ILO's field offices or through international employers' or workers' organizations:
Employers' organizations:
(Copy sent to government): Bangladesh Employers' Association; National Association of
Manufacturers (ANDI), Colombia; Confederation of Finnish Industry and Employers; and the
Employers' Confederation of Service Industries, Finland; Japan Federation of Employers'
Associations (NIKKEIREN); Korea Employers' Federation. (No copy sent to government):
Barbados Employers' Federation; Dominica Employers' Federation; Employers' Federation of
Pakistan; Employers' Confederation of Zimbabwe. (No indication as to whether or not copy
sent to government): Antigua Employers' Federation; General Confederation of Employers of
Mauritania (CGEM); Nigeria Employers' Consultative Association (NECA); St. Vincent
Employers' Federation; Tunisian Confederation of Industry, Trade and Handicrafts (UTICA).
(Employers' replies sent through international employers' organizations): The National
Council of French Employers (CNPF) sent its report through the IOE. There was no
indication of whether a copy was sent to the Government. The General Confederation of
Industry (CONFINDUSTRIA), Italy, sent its report through the IOE, with a copy to the
Government. The Mexican Confederation of Chambers of Industry (CONCAMIN) sent its reply
through the IOE. There was no indication of whether a copy was sent to the Government.
Workers' organizations:
(Copy sent to government): Barbados Workers' Union; General Confederation of Democratic Workers (CGTD), Colombia; Solidarno, Poland; General Union of Workers (UGT), Portugal; General Union of Workers (UGT), Spain. (No copy sent to government): Nigeria Labour Congress. (No indication as to whether or not copy sent to government): Gabonese Confederation of Free Trade Unions (CGSL); Japanese Trade Union Confederation (JTUC-RENGO); Malaysian Trades Union Congress; Free Confederation of Workers of Mauritania (CLTM); American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO).
Replies from international trade secretariats:
The International Federation of Commercial, Clerical, Professional and Technical Employees (FIET).
22. In keeping with past practice, copies of replies from employers' and workers' organizations which were sent direct to the Office, were forwarded to governments for their information and comments. Comments from the Governments of Japan and Malaysia can be found in Annex 2 of this report.
23. Details with respect to consultations held by governments with the most representative employers' and workers' organizations of their respective countries can be found in Part II of this report. The names of all employers' and workers' organizations which were given copies of governments' reports are also specified.
24. The Director-General expresses his gratitude to governments and to employers' and workers' organizations for their cooperation in providing the Office with information, sometimes quite detailed, as well as relevant documents and publications dealing with foreign direct investment and/or the activities of multinational enterprises. He regrets, none the less, that the information has had to be summarized very concisely due to the limitations on the length of this document. However, he would like to assure all those that provided contributions that the information will be used throughout the Office in the preparation of publications and to update information on the labour and social situation in ILO member States.
25. For the convenience of the Subcommittee, as well as the Governing Body, and in line with pastpractice, the summaries of all the reports received from governments, employers' and workers' organizations have been grouped together in alphabetical order.
Endnotes:
4. GB/MNE/1980/D.1; GB.224/MNE/1/1/D.1(1983); GB.234/MNE/1/1(1986); GB.244/MNE/1/2(1989); and TDME/REP 5(Rev.)(1992).
5. GB.229/13/13, para. 5 and GB.229/PV(Rev.), p. VII/2.
6. GB.205/10/2, para. 9 and GB.205/PV(Rev.), p. VI/4.
7. "Resolution concerning follow-up to the World Employment Conference", International Labour Conference, 65th Session, Record of Proceedings (Geneva, International Labour Office, 1979), section on multinational enterprises, pp. XCV-XCVI.
8. GB.214/6/3, para. 85; GB.214/PV(Rev.), p. IV/11.
10. GB.228/19/24, paras. 12 and 14.
12. GB.229/PV(Rev.), p. VII/3.
13. GB.231/18/20, para. 35(b) and (d) and GB.231/PV(Rev.), p. X/7.
17. GB.248/15/26, para. 11 and GB.248/205, para. 84.
18. GB.258/10/21, para. 15(a) and (c).
19. GB.256/13/24, para. 6(b)(i).
20. GB.261/MNE/5/2; GB.261/9/30, paras. 20-22; GB.261/205.
21. GB.254/MNE/4/6; GB.254/MNE/4/6(Rev.); GB.254/14/23; GB.255/MNE/1/1; GB.255/10/12; GB.261/MNE/4/1; GB.261/9/30, paras. 23-50; GB.264/MNE/2; GB.264/13, paras. 16-44.