Observation (CEACR) - adopted 2012, published 102nd ILC session (2013)

Employment Policy Convention, 1964 (No. 122) - Venezuela (Bolivarian Republic of) (Ratification: 1982)

Other comments on C122

Observation

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Implementation of the employment policy in the framework of a coordinated economic and social policy. Participation of the social partners. With reference to the observation made in 2011, the Committee notes the indications provided in the Government’s report. The Committee also notes the observations of the Independent Trade Union Alliance (ASI) on the application of the Convention and the Government’s reply received in November 2012. The Government indicates that programmes and actions are being carried out through Social Missions for the inclusion of sectors excluded from the world of work. The Che Guevara Mission has the fundamental objective of the relation between education and work as a consubstantial element in the transformation process. Socio-political training is intended to strengthen the economic and democratic development model of popular participation based on solidarity, while technical and productive training is aimed at developing knowledge, aptitudes, skills, attitudes and values. The Madres del Barrio Mission is a comprehensive strategy to encourage the integration into the world of work of women in situations of extreme poverty. The aims of the Mission include facilitating social processes of socio-productive inclusion both for beneficiary mothers and for other members of the family. For that purpose, guidance is provided to mothers to help them formulate socio-productive proposals in Madres del Barrio committees. The Knowledge and Labour Mission is a training initiative which combines education and work, through which 1,002,537 individuals were included in various training initiatives as of March 2012. The ASI indicates that it is necessary to maximize the productive potential of the country by taking advantage of the increase in the potential supply of labour. In economic terms, the country is in a situation of stagnation, inflation, deindustrialization, with excessive monitoring and control of private economic activity. Labour policy is implemented separately from economic policy. Employment plans are not integrated into macroeconomic planning. The Committee once again expresses interest in examining information on the impact of the measures adopted in the context of the Economic and Social Development Plan, 2007–13, in relation to the generation of productive, stable and high-quality employment (Article 1 of the Convention). The Committee also asks the Government to provide specific examples of the manner in which the views of employers’ and workers’ organizations and of other persons affected have been taken into account in the formulation, implementation and review of employment policies and programmes (Article 3). The Committee hopes that the information provided in the next report will provide a basis for examining the manner in which persons who have participated in the social missions have obtained productive employment in the labour market.

Situation, level and trends of employment. The Government included in its report data on the employment situation, level and trends. The Committee observes that in July 2012 the total activity rate rose to 64 per cent, the occupation rate was estimated at 92.1 per cent and the formality rate was 58.4 per cent. In July 2012, the estimated formality rate of 58.4 per cent was equivalent to an increase of 1.4 percentage points in relation to the data for July 2011. The ASI emphasizes that within the informal sector categories there was an increase in non-professional self-employed workers. Moreover, the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), in its Economic Survey of Latin America and the Caribbean, 2010–11, observed an increase in the unemployment rate in 2010 in relation to the previous year, with a rise from 7.8 per cent to 8.6 per cent on average, with higher unemployment being recorded in each of the four quarters of the year compared with the same periods in 2009. The average unemployment rate in the first semester of 2011 and 2012 was estimated at 8.8 per cent. According to ECLAC, there was also a slight increase in employment informality, which rose from 44 per cent in 2009 to 44.5 per cent in 2010. The Committee invites the Government to continue providing information on the situation, level and trends of employment, disaggregated by sex. It would also welcome information on the manner in which labour market data were used as a basis for regularly reviewing the employment policy measures adopted as an integral part of a coordinated economic and social policy with a view to achieving the objectives of the Convention (Article 2). The Committee reiterates its interest in examining information indicating the results of the measures adopted to facilitate a progressive transfer of workers from the informal to the formal economy.

Youth employment. The Government refers in its report to a reform of the Employment Benefit Scheme Act, under which it would be a requirement for enterprises to include young people at the rate of 2.5 per cent of their workforce, both for employers in the public sector and for private sector enterprises. The ASI indicates that in August 2011 the National Statistical Institute reported a youth unemployment rate of 16.4 per cent. Nevertheless, the total number of young persons in difficulties in terms of poverty is reported to be 554,000, of whom 157,000 live in households where the income is no higher than the cost of the basic food basket. Young persons work in the commercial and services sectors, and many in retail, which are low productivity sectors with a tendency to generate employment under precarious conditions. The Committee requests the Government to provide detailed information in its next report on youth employment trends, including statistics disaggregated by age and sex. The Committee invites the Government to include an assessment of the active policy measures implemented to minimize the impact of unemployment on young persons and to facilitate their lasting integration into the labour market, particularly in the case of the most underprivileged categories of young persons.

Development of small and medium-sized enterprises. The Government indicates that the National Institute for the Development of Small and Medium-Sized Industry (INAPYMI) has initiated the operation of a Geographical Information System (SIG) with a view to registering the data of small and medium-sized industries and national social property units. The Committee invites the Government to provide information in its next report on the impact of the measures adopted to promote productivity and a conducive climate for employment generation by small and medium-sized enterprises.