Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2013, published 103rd ILC session (2014)

Tripartite Consultation (International Labour Standards) Convention, 1976 (No. 144) - Lesotho (Ratification: 1998)

Tripartite consultations required by the Convention. The Committee notes the Government’s report received in December 2012 which includes minutes of the National Advisory Committee on Labour (NACOLA) meeting held on 8 August 2012. The Committee notes that the Lesotho Labour Council has indicated that the Government does not recognize their right to be consulted as the most representative organization and that the Government gives all the federations an equal status. The Government indicates that it has called a meeting to resolve this issue. The Committee invites the Government to provide information in its next report on any developments regarding the abovementioned issue. It also invites the Government to continue providing information on the content and outcome of the consultation held on each of the matters listed in Article 5(1) of the Convention.

Article 4(2). Financing of training. The Government reports that the requirements of Article 4 have not been implemented. It indicates that an orientation briefing was given to new members of the Wages Advisory Board and that a code of conduct was also developed for its members. It further indicates that the requirements of the Convention will be brought to the attention of the NACOLA in order to obtain advice on the application of Article 4. The Committee invites the Government to provide information on the arrangements made for the financing of the training of participants in the consultative process. In view of the information received, the Committee wishes to draw the Government’s attention to the possibility of seeking technical assistance from the ILO on the matters covered by the Convention.

Article 5(1)(c). Prospects of ratification of Conventions. The Committee notes that ongoing consultations and discussions are held within the NACOLA regarding the ratification of the Employment Policy Convention, 1964 (No. 122), the Labour Inspection (Agriculture) Convention, 1969 (No. 129), and the Collective Bargaining Convention, 1981 (No. 154). The Government indicates that once the Ministry of Public Service provides information on the Committee’s comments related to the application of the Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise Convention, 1948 (No. 87), and the Right to Organise and Collective Bargaining Convention, 1949 (No. 98), the Ministry of Labour and Employment will be engaged in discussions on the possible ratification of Convention No. 154. It further indicates that Convention No. 122 places onerous obligations on the Government that go beyond the Ministry of Labour and Employment, therefore thorough consultations have to take place within other Ministries before the Convention may be ratified. With respect to Convention No. 129, the Government reports that there is hardly any commercial farming in Lesotho and that the capacity of the inspectorate has to be strengthened before any meaningful inspections could take place. Furthermore, the ratification of the Safety and Health in Mines Convention, 1995 (No. 176), has been put on hold in order to give the new Government an opportunity to familiarize itself with the obligations under the Convention. The Committee notes the information provided in minutes of the National Advisory Council on Occupational Safety and Health meeting held on 1 October 2012 concerning the HIV and AIDS Recommendation, 2010 (No. 200), indicating that the principles of the Recommendation could best be incorporated in the Labour Code (HIV and AIDS at the place of work) Guidelines, 2010. The Committee invites the Government to continue providing information on the tripartite consultations held concerning the re-examination of unratified Conventions and Recommendations. In this regard, the Committee recalls that the ILO Governing Body has invited States parties to the Contracts of Employment (Indigenous Workers) Convention, 1939 (No. 64), and the Penal Sanctions (Indigenous Workers) Convention, 1939 (No. 65) – which Lesotho has ratified – to contemplate ratifying the Indigenous and Tribal Peoples Convention, 1989 (No. 169), and denouncing Conventions Nos 64 and 65 at the same time.