Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 1998, published 87th ILC session (1999)

Discrimination (Employment and Occupation) Convention, 1958 (No. 111) - Venezuela (Bolivarian Republic of) (Ratification: 1971)

The Committee notes the Government's report and attached documentation.

1. Further to its previous comments regarding discrimination on the basis of colour and national extraction, the Committee notes the Government's statements that the Venezuelan Constitution prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, sex, creed or social origin (Preamble, article 61) and that section 26 of the Organic Labour Act of 1997 prohibits discrimination in employment on the basis of age, sex, race, marital status, creed, political opinion or social origin. Nevertheless, the Government's report does not fully reply to the point raised by the Committee. Accordingly, the Committee once again asks the Government to provide information on the methods by which the Government promotes and ensures the application of the principle of non-discrimination in employment and occupation on the basis of colour and national extraction. The Committee further asks the Government to indicate whether it contemplates giving full legal expression to the principle of Article 1 of the Convention by adding the grounds of colour and national extraction to the language of the legislative texts cited above.

2. The Committee notes the statistical data provided by the Government showing the distribution in 1997 of men and women in various sectors of the economy. The figures provided show that women make up 36 per cent of the total workforce. Men outnumber women in every sector of industry, with the exception of the communal, social and personal services sector, where women constitute 55 per cent of the workforce. Men predominate in certain traditionally "masculine" industries, such as construction (96 per cent) and mining (96 per cent), but also in industries such as manufacturing (71 per cent) and transportation/communications (88 per cent). While women outnumber men at the professional/technical levels (57 per cent), they are underrepresented at the higher levels of the public sector (24.5 per cent). The Government is asked to provide information in its next report regarding the practical methods by which the non-discrimination policy of the Convention is being implemented in respect of access to vocational training, access to employment and to particular occupations and terms and conditions of employment, including organizing employment-related vocational and technical training courses, seminars and placement activities to improve the position of women in the labour market and to broaden their occupational opportunities.

3. Further to its previous comments, the Committee again asks the Government to provide information regarding the activities of the Labour Inspectorate in promoting and securing the application of the principle of the Convention, including the number of inspections carried out in relation to discrimination in employment, the number of violations reported, the penalties imposed and copies of any relevant court decisions.