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APPENDIX I
INTERNATIONAL LABOUR CONVENTIONS RELATING TO NON-METROPOLITAN
TERRITORIES
Description of Conventions adopted at 30th Session of International Labour Conference and Summary of Extent to which they can be applied to Colonial Territories
During the ten years preceding the war four Conventions specially affecting Colonial territories were adopted by the International Labour Organisation, viz., the Forced Labour Convention, 1930, the Recruiting of Indigenous Workers Convention, 1936, the Contracts of Employments (Indigenous Workers) Conven- tion, 1939, and the Penal Sanctions (Indigenous Workers) Convention of the same year. The United Kingdom Government ratified these four Conventions and furnishes the International Labour Office with annual reports showing the steps taken by British Colonial Governments to give effect to them.
2. The 26th and 27th Sessions of the International Labour Conference, held respectively in Philadelphia in 1944 and in Paris in 1945, discussed labour conditions in Colonial territories in connection with proposals put forward by the International Labour Office for the establishment of minimum standards of social policy in dependent territories. These discussions resulted in the adoption at each Conference of certain Recommendations.
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3. The 29th Session of the Conference held at Montreal in 1946 considered what parts of these Recommendations could be suitably transformed into a Convention or Conventions and decided to put before the next Conference the conclusions reached by its Committee on Minimum Standards of Social Policy in Dependent Territories. These conclusions stated the main subjects for three. Conventions, the first concerning social policy, the second the application of certain international labour standards and the third concerning the maximum length of contracts of employment. In each case the conclusions stated the provisions to be taken into account by the International Labour Office in preparing the drafts of these Conventions.
4. The final stage was reached at the 30th Session of the Conference, held in Geneva in 1947, when it was decided that the subject matter of the three proposed Conventions could more conveniently be split up into five Conventions. The following five Conventions were then adopted":-
Convention No. 82, concerning social policy in non-metropolitan
territories.
Convention No. 83, concerning the application of international labour standards to non-metropolitan territories.
Convention No. 84, concerning the right of association and the settlement of labour disputes in non-metropolitan territories.
Convention No. 85, concerning labour inspectorates in non-metropolitan territories.
Convention No. 86, concerning the maximum length of contracts of employment in non-metropolitan territories.
The line taken by the United Kingdom Delegation to the Conference is set out in Cmd. 7437, presented to Parliament in July, 1948, which also contains the texts of the Conventions in question. A brief account of their general provisions follows.
5. The Convention on Social Policy covers a particularly wide field. In the words of Article 4 of the Convention "all possible steps shall be taken by appropriate international, regional, national and territorial measures to promote improvement in such fields as public health, housing, nutrition, education, the welfare of children, the status of women, conditions of employment, the remunera- tion of wage earners and independent producers, the protection of migrant workers, social security, standards of public services and general production. Special provisions refer to the protection of the rights of migrant workers, the inimum encouragement of volledive bargaining for the purpose of establishing minin
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wages and non-discrimination on grounds of race, colour, sex belief tribal associa- tion ofarade union affiliation. The Convention was adopted by 103 votes for to one against.
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6. The Convention on the Application of International Labour Standards provides for the application of certain existing Conventions to non-metropolitan territories for which Member States have responsibility in such matters. Conventions in question form an annex to the Convention. This Instrument represents a new departure in International Labour Organisation practice since the Conventions may, in certain cases, be ones which have not been ratified on behalf of the metropolitan territory concerned; the form of the Convention nevertheless enables consideration to be given by the State Member concerned to the extent to which such Conventions may be applied to the non-metropolitan territories for which that Member is responsible. The Convention was adopted by 95 votes for to 20 votes against.
7. The Convention on the Right of Association and the Settlement of Labour Disputes seeks to protect the rights of employers and employed to associate for lawful purposes, and in particular the right of trade unions to conclude collective agreements with employers' organisations. It also proposes that conciliation machinery for the rapid settlement of industrial disputes should be encouraged. The Convention was adopted by 121 votes for to none against.
8. The provisions of the Convention on Labour Inspectorates relate to the status, duties and rights of such inspectorates. The Convention was adopted by 120 votes for to none against.
9. The Convention on Maximum Length of Contracts provides for the regulation by agreements of the maximum periods of service for single workers and for workers accompanied by their families. It was adopted by 99 votes for to none against.
10. The views of Colonial Governments have been obtained by the Colonial Office on the extent to which the five Conventions may be applied to their territo- ries. Appendix II reflects the replies of Colonial Governments. It shows that, with few exceptions, the three Conventions concerning the Right of Association, Labour Inspectorates and the Maximum Length of Contracts of Employment can be applied without modification to Colonial territories. (The extent to which the Conventions are applicable in the case of the self-governing Constitutional Monarchy of Tonga and in the Anglo-French Condominium of the New Hebrides has not yet been established, and, in consequence, these territories are not covered by the present memorandum.)
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With regard to the Social Policy Convention, the most important of the five Conventions, eighteen territories agree that the Convention can be applied to them without modification. Twenty-three other territories agree to its applica- tion to them subject to the exclusion of one or more of the Articles (14, 15, 16, 17) dealing with the remuneration of workers and related questions, and/or Article 19 concerning the school-leaving age. There are no objections in principle to the terms of these Articles, but they lay down requirements necessitating the introduc- tion of legislation which at this date the Colonial Territories in question would not be able to implement. It is desired to reserve the position in respect of Sarawak, but only until such time as all the necessary legislation can be enacted and all the requisite staff can be provided.
12. The replies on Convention No. 83 on the possibility of applying to non- metropolitan territories certain existing International Labour Conventions disclose a not unsatisfactory position. There are thirteen Conventions in the annex to this Convention, including those concerning the Night Work of Young Persons (Industry), 1919, and the Night Work of Women (Revised), 1934 (both of which Conventions have been recently denounced by His Majesty's Government because of the too inflexible definition of "night" for technical reasons and have been replaced by revised Conventions), and the Marking of Weight (Packages Transported by Vessels) 1929, and the Medical Examination of Young Persons (Industry) 1946: these two last-named Conventions have not been ratified by His Majesty's Government. We propose that for Colonial territories the position should be reserved in respect of these four Conventions included in the annesate Convention No. 83.