Observation (CEACR) - adopted 2017, published 107th ILC session (2018)

Labour Clauses (Public Contracts) Convention, 1949 (No. 94) - Suriname (Ratification: 1976)

Other comments on C094

Observation

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Article 2 of the Convention. Insertion of labour clauses in public contracts. Further to its previous comments regarding the absence of legislation implementing the Convention, the Committee notes the Government’s reference to the standards for the procurement of works (AWS, 1996) and the standards for the administrative execution of works (UWS, 1996). The Government reports that, in July 2017, referring to the Committee’s comments, the Minister of Labour recommended to the Vice-President of Suriname and the Minister of Public Works, Transport and Communication that an article be included in the UWS and/or the AWS stating that the national labour legislation will be applicable to all public contracts and calling for a clause to be included in all public contracts regarding the applicability of the national labour legislation in the execution of such contracts. Moreover, the Committee notes the Government’s statement with regard to the Public Capital Expenditure Management Programme financed by the Inter-American Development Bank that no legislative proposal has yet been submitted to the National Assembly to unify and consolidate in law the principles and key regulations developed in the framework of the Programme. The Committee wishes to draw the Government’s attention once again to the main purpose of the Convention, which is to ensure the insertion in public contracts of labour clauses of a very specific content. In its 2008 General Survey on labour clauses in public contracts, paragraph 45, the Committee noted that “… the essential purpose of the Convention is to ensure that workers employed under public contracts shall enjoy the same conditions as other workers whose conditions of employment are fixed not only by national legislation but also by collective agreements or arbitration awards, and that in many cases the provisions in the national legislation respecting wages, hours of work and other conditions of employment provide merely for minimum standards which may be exceeded by collective agreements. The Committee therefore feels that the mere fact of the national legislation being applicable to all workers does not release the States which have ratified the Convention from the obligation to take the necessary steps to ensure that public contracts contain the labour clauses specified in Article 2 of the Convention.” Through the insertion of appropriate labour clauses in public contracts, workers employed on such contracts enjoy wages and other working conditions that are at least as satisfactory as those normally established for the type of work concerned, whether they are established by collective agreement or otherwise, in the locality where the work is being done (2008 General Survey, paragraph 40). The idea behind the Convention is that public authorities contracting for the execution of public works or the supply of goods and services should concern themselves with the working conditions under which these operations are carried out, due to the fact that government contracts are typically award to the lowest bidder and contractors may be tempted, in light of the competition involved, to economize on labour costs (2008 General Survey, paragraph 2). In paragraph 308 of its 2008 General Survey, the Committee notes that that in the light of the greater impact of globalization on an increasing number of member States and the related heightening of competitive pressures, the objectives of the Convention are even more valid today than they were 60 years ago and strengthen the ILO’s call for fair globalization. The Committee therefore urges the Government to take steps without delay to bring its law and regulations into full conformity with the Convention. The Committee also requests the Government to provide information on the progress achieved in this regard.