Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2008, published 98th ILC session (2009)

Labour Clauses (Public Contracts) Convention, 1949 (No. 94) - Bahamas (Ratification: 1976)

Articles 1 and 2 of the Convention. Scope and content of labour clauses. The Committee has been unclear as to the continued application of the rules and regulations giving effect to the requirements of the Convention. In view of the sparse reports and very little information on the practical application of the Convention received in the last 20 years, the Committee has requested the Government to clarify whether the administrative instructions which had been adopted before independence, i.e. Circulars No. 2 of 26 October 1965, No. 1/1966 of 19 January 1966 and No. 1/1967 of 30 November 1967, still remain in force or whether they have been replaced, modified or supplemented by new texts. The Government’s last report does not contain any reply on this point but merely refers to the Public Works Act (Chapter 26) and its corresponding subsidiary legislation, the Public Works Regulations. Noting however that neither of the two instruments provides for the insertion of labour clauses in public contracts, the Committee is obliged once again to ask the Government to provide detailed and comprehensive information on the present situation with regard to the application of the Convention. The Committee would also appreciate receiving general information on the manner in which the Convention is applied in practice, including copies of any standard bidding documents containing labour clauses which may be currently in use.

For all useful purposes, the Committee attaches herewith a copy of a Practical Guide, prepared by the Office principally on the basis of the General Survey of 2008 on Convention No. 94, to help better understand the requirements of the Convention and ultimately improve its application in law.