Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2022, published 111st ILC session (2023)

Tripartite Consultation (International Labour Standards) Convention, 1976 (No. 144) - Malta (Ratification: 2019)

Articles 2 and 5 of the Convention. Effective tripartite consultation. The Committee welcomes the Government’s first report on the application of the Convention. It notes the Government’s indication that the most representative organizations of employers and workers in Malta for the purpose of the Convention are: the General Workers’ Union (GWU); the Confederation of Malta Trade Unions (CMTU); the Malta Employers’ Association (MEA); and the Malta Chamber of Commerce, Enterprise and Industry. The Government refers to the tripartite Employment Relations Board (ERB) as the de facto consultation mechanism for all matters related to employment law, industrial relations and ILO matters. Since the Convention was ratified by Malta in 2019, the ERB has held consultations with respect to the matters on the agenda of the 108th Session of the International Labour Conference, including on the draft of the Violence and Harassment Convention (No. 190) and the Centenary Declaration on the Future of Work. Stakeholders were also asked for their comments on government responses to article 22 reports. On 6th April 2021, the ERB was also consulted with respect to the possible ratification of the Domestic Work Convention, 2011 (No. 189) and on the submission of the Violence and Harassment Recommendation, 2019 (No. 201) and the Employment and Decent Work for Peace and Resilience Recommendation, 2017 (No. 205) to Malta’s competent authority (the House of Representatives). The Government adds that ERB meetings are held monthly and that items are placed on the agenda for consultation as the need arises. The Committee notes, however, that the Government does not provide information on tripartite consultations held with regard to other matters concerning international labour standards under Article 5(1), such as questionnaires on Conference agenda items (Article 5(1)(a)); the re-examination at appropriate intervals of unratified Conventions and of Recommendations to which effect has not yet been given (Article 5(1)(c)); and the possible denunciation of ratified Conventions (Article 5(1)(e)). The Committee requests the Government to provide updated detailed information on the content and outcome of tripartite consultations held on all matters concerning international labour standards covered by Article 5(1)(a) through (e) of the Convention, including tripartite consultations held with respect to the possible ratification of Convention No. 189.