Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 1999, published 88th ILC session (2000)

Forced Labour Convention, 1930 (No. 29) - New Zealand (Ratification: 1938)
Protocol of 2014 to the Forced Labour Convention, 1930 - New Zealand (Ratification: 2019)

The Committee notes that the Government's report has not been received. It hopes that a report will be supplied for examination by the Committee at its next session and that it will contain full information on the following matters raised in its previous comments: The Committee noted the comments made by the New Zealand Council of Trade Unions (NZCTU) appended to the Government's report, as well as the Government's reply to these comments. 1. Article 1, paragraph 1, and Article 2, paragraph 1, of the Convention. The NZCTU reported deep concern about recent and proposed changes to the legislation relating to the introduction of a community wage scheme provided for in the Social Security Amendment Act (No. 5), 1998 and the Social Security (Work Test) Amendment Bill. According to the NZCTU, the effect of this legislation is that, from October 1998, people who receive unemployment benefit, sickness benefit or domestic purposes benefit through the New Zealand's system of social security are required to undertake "organized activities" as a condition of their entitlement to receive benefits; "organized activities" include forced labour accompanied by sanctions and penalties if beneficiaries refuse to work. The Government states in its reply that the NZCTU's comments relate to policies that were not implemented during the reporting period (i.e. the period ending 31 May 1998). The Government denies that the new legislation will violate the Convention; it does not address the details of the NZCTU's allegations but indicates its intention to provide a more detailed response to the concerns raised by the NZCTU in the next reporting period. The Committee requests the Government to supply a copy of the Social Security Amendment Act (No. 5), 1998, as well as the Social Security (Work Test) Amendment Act, as soon as it is adopted, and in the meantime draws the attention of the Government to paragraph 45 of the 1979 General Survey on the abolition of forced labour. Article 2, paragraph 2(c). 2. The Committee notes the information supplied by the Government on the work to which detainees may be directed under section 60(2) of the Criminal Justice Act, as amended in 1997. In order to enable the Committee to ascertain compliance with the provisions of Article 2, paragraph 2(c), the Government is requested to supply with its next report representative samples of Work Project Agreements concluded with sponsors under section 60(2)(a) and (b) of the Criminal Justice Act, as well as information on the legal and organizational status of work party supervisors in relation to the Department of Corrections and the various sponsors. 3. Referring to the general observation on the Convention made in its report to the 87th Session of the ILC (1999), the Committee requests the Government to include in its next report information as to the present position in law and practice as regards:

(i) whether there are prisons administered by private concerns, profit-making or otherwise;

(ii) whether any private prison contractors deploy prisoners to work either inside or outside prison premises, either for the account of the contractor or for that of another enterprise;

(iii) whether private parties are admitted by the prison authorities into prison premises of any kind for the purpose of engaging prisoners in employment;

(iv) whether employment of prisoners outside prison premises, either for a public authority or for a private enterprise, is allowed;

(v) the conditions in which employment under any of the above conditions takes place, in respect of remuneration (indicating the level and comparing it with minimum wage normally applicable to such work), benefits accruing (such as pension rights and workers' compensation), observance of occupational safety and health legislation and other conditions of employment (e.g. through labour inspection), and how those conditions are determined;

(vi) what the source of any remuneration is (whether from public or private funds) and for what purposes it must or may be applied (e.g. for the personal use of the prisoner or if it is subject to compulsory deductions);

(vii) for whose benefit is the product of prisoners' work and any surplus profit deriving from it, after deduction of overheads, and how it is disbursed;

(viii) how the consent of the prisoners concerned is guaranteed, so that t is free from the menace of any penalty, including any loss of privileges or other disadvantages following from a refusal to work.