Observation (CEACR) - adopted 1990, published 77th ILC session (1990)

Abolition of Forced Labour Convention, 1957 (No. 105) - Trinidad and Tobago (Ratification: 1963)

Article 1(c) and (d) of the Convention. 1. In previous comments, the Committee noted that the provisions of section 157(1)(a), (b) and (e) of the Shipping Act, 1987 provide for penalties of imprisonment (involving, under rules 255 and 269(3) of the Prisons Rules, compulsory labour) for disobeying lawful commands and are substantially identical to provisions of the Merchant Shipping Act, 1894, which have been the source of comment by the Committee for many years. While subsection (2) of section 157 of the Shipping Act, 1987 excludes the application of subsection (1) to a lawful strike after the ship has been secured in good safety to the satisfaction of the master and the port authority at a port in Trinidad and Tobago, subsection (1) may still be applied to strikes outside Trinidad and Tobago as well as to breaches of labour discipline which do not endanger the safety of the ship or the life or limb of persons (endangering life or ship is the subject of a specific provision in section 156, which has no bearing on the Convention). Similarly, section 158 of the Shipping Act, 1987 follows section 221 of the 1894 Act in punishing desertion and absence without leave with penalties of imprisonment involving compulsory labour. Finally, section 162 of the 1987 Act still provides for the apprehending and forcible conveyance of deserters on board ship upon the request of the master of the ship, regarding both seamen deserting in Trinidad and Tobago a ship registered abroad and, by way of reciprocity, seamen deserting in a foreign State from a ship registered in Trinidad and Tobago.

The Committee notes the indication in the Government's report that its observations have been noted and are receiving active consideration. The Committee asks the Government to specify in its next report what type of consideration the matter is receiving, particularly, what bodies are giving consideration and within what context. The Committee hopes that the necessary measures will soon be taken to bring sections 157(1)(a), (b) and (e), 158 and 162 of the Shipping Act, 1987 into conformity with the Convention, and that the Government will indicate the action taken. In addition, the Committee asks the Government to provide information, including statistical data concerning the practical application of sections 157(1)(a), (b) and (e), 158, and 162 of the Shipping Act, 1987.

2. For several years the Committee has commented upon section 8(1) of the Trade Disputes and Protection of Property Ordinance, under which penalties involving compulsory labour may be imposed for breach of contract by persons employed in certain public services where the probable consequences would be to deprive the inhabitants, wholly or to a great extent, of such services. The Committee observed that certain of the services mentioned in section 8(1) of the Ordinance (electricity, water, health, sanitary or medical services) are strictly essential because their interruption could endanger the life, personal safety or health of the whole or part of the population, while in others (namely, railway, tramway, ship or other transport services) only a few posts essential to security might fall under the same category. In its latest report the Government indicates that no penalties involving compulsory labour have been imposed in the country for the purposes enumerated.

The Committee takes due note of this indication. It hopes that accordingly, the necessary action will soon be taken to bring law as well as practice into conformity with the Convention on this point, by ensuring that no penalties involving compulsory labour may be imposed for breaches of contract which are not likely to endanger the life, personal safety or health of the whole or part of the population, and that the Government will indicate the measures taken to this end.

Article 1(d). 3. The Committee has noted in previous comments that under section 69(1)(d) and (2) of the Industrial Relations Act, 1972, teachers in the public service are prohibited from taking part in a strike, subject to penalties of imprisonment involving the obligation to work. The Government indicates in its latest report that the work of the Committee which has been appointed under the chairmanship of the Permanent Secretary to the Prime Minister and Head of the Civil Service to undertake a review of all the Service Acts and their relevant regulations is still continuing and it is hoped that the exercise will be concluded in the not too distant future. The Committee hopes that the Government will soon be able to report that the necessary measures have been taken to bring section 69(1)(d) and (2) of the Industrial Relations Act into conformity with the Convention.