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Unemployment Indemnity (Shipwreck) Convention, 1920 (No. 8) - Iraq (RATIFICATION: 1966)

1. In reply to the Committee's previous comments, the Government indicates that Articles 2 and 3 of the Convention are covered by section 33 of the new Labour Code of 1987 which provides that a worker who goes to his workplace prepared to work and is prevented from doing so by causes beyond his control shall be considered as having worked and be entitled to his wage. While noting this information, the Committee wishes to draw the Government's attention to the fact that under section 65, subsection 1, of the Labour Code of 1987, the obligation placed on employers to pay workers' wages in the event of work being halted totally or partly owing to exceptional circumstances or a case of force majeure is limited to 30 days, whereas Article 2, paragraph 2, of the Convention lays down a minimum of two months' wages.

The Committee therefore hopes that the Government will take the necessary measures to bring the legislation into conformity with the Convention in this respect.

2. Furthermore, the Committee notes that under section 7 of the Labour Code of 1987, Arab workers employed in Iraq receive the same treatment as Iraqi workers with regard to the rights and obligations provided for in the Code. In this connection, it recalls that the protection laid down in the Convention applies, by virtue of Article 1, paragraph 1, to all persons employed on any vessel engaged in maritime navigation, irrespective of their nationality. The Committee therefore asks the Government in its next report to indicate the measures that have been taken or are envisaged to ensure that the Convention applies to non-Arab foreign seafarers employed on vessels engaged in maritime navigation flying the Iraqi flag, with the exception of warships.