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Tripartite Consultation (International Labour Standards) Convention, 1976 (No. 144) - Kiribati (RATIFICATION: 2019)

Articles 2 and 5 of the Convention. Effective tripartite consultation. The Committee welcomes the information provided by the Government in its first report. The Committee notes the Government’s indication that tripartite consultations are held within the Decent Work Advisory Board (DWAB) established by the Employment and Industrial Relations Code 2015 (EIRC 2015). The Committee also notes that, according to section 43(1) of this Code, the Board’s main tasks include: (e) the ratification, implementation and denunciation of any Conventions and Recommendations of the International Labour organization; (f) the reports to the International Labour Office regarding ratified Conventions; (g) proposals or matters to be discussed at the International Labour Conference of the International Labour Organisation, resolutions or conclusions adopted by the International Labour Conference, or issues addressed by other tripartite regional or international conferences related to or affecting labour, employment, industrial relations, working conditions or wages; (h) the implementation and evaluation of technical cooperation activities of the International Labour Office; and (i) the promotion of a better understanding in the community of the Principles of Decent Work and the activities of the International Labour Organisation. The Government reports that tripartite consultations have been held within the DWAB in 2021 and earlier 2022 to comment and prepare inputs for the C144 report that was due. In relation to submission to the National Assembly, the Committee notes that, since June 2023 (111th session of the ILC), the following instruments are still to be presented to the competent authority: (1) the Safe and Healthy Working Environment (Consequential Amendments) Convention, 2023 (No. 191); (2) the Safe and Healthy Working Environment (Consequential Amendments) Recommendation, 2023 (No. 207); and (3) the Quality Apprenticeships Recommendation, 2023 (No. 208). Noting that section 43(1) of the EIRC 2015 does not expressly give competence to the DWAB to discuss certain issues covered by Article 5 such as those related tosubmission of ILO standards to the national competent authority (Art. 5(1)(b)) or re-examination at appropriate intervals of unratified Conventions and Recommendations (Article 5(1)(c)), the Committee requests the Government to indicate whether and how these items also figure among the competences of the Board and to indicate the relevant provisions of the national legislation in this respect.

Article 4. Administrative and financial support. The Government indicates that the Ministry of Employment and Human Resource (MEHR) provides administrative support to the DWAB by (i) appointing a secretary; (ii) organizing discussions, dialogues on reports and other relevant actions as appropriate; and (iii) organizing training to representatives to enable them to perform their duties. It also informs of the existence a financial support agreement established for the tripartite consultations and the activities that the stakeholders will engage in, for instance, the participation of stakeholders’ representative to the ILO annual International Labour Conference. The Committee requests the Government to: (i) indicate the legal provisions underpinning the Government’s administrative and financial support to the Decent Work Advisory Board and provide information on how they are applied in practice; and (ii) communicate the above-mentioned financial support agreement.

Article 6. Annual report. The Committee notes that section 48 EIRC 2015 specifies that “the Board shall, no later than three months after the end of the financial year, furnish to the Minister and make publicly available, an annual report on the activities of the Board.” The Government also indicates that the MEHR has established a unit that is responsible for the tripartite consultations. The Committee requests the Government to provide a copy of the last DWAB annual report.