Maternity
Protection at the Workplace
Ratifying ILO Convention 183
UNICEF and the
World Health Assembly recommend exclusive breastfeeding
for the first six months of a baby's life, followed by sustained
breastfeeding with complementary foods. This recommendation
has been shown to have many health benefits, including reducing
the incidence and severity of diseases such as acute respiratory
infections and diarrhoea. For mothers, some of the benefits
of breastfeeding include lower rates of anaemia, pre-menopausal
breast cancer and epithelial ovarian cancer, fewer bone
fractures later in life, and longer intervals between births.
For many working
mothers around the world, the period of maternity leave
is inadequate for putting these recommendations into practice
and many women have no maternity protection at all.
In 1919, the
International Labour Office adopted the first Maternity
Protection Convention, 1919 (No 3) which has been (and still
can be) ratified by 33 countries; it was followed, in 1952,
by Maternity Protection, 1952, (No 103) which 37 countries
ratified over the years. The revision of the latter began
in 1999, and, after a two-year process, on 15 June 2000,
Maternity Protection Convention, 2000 (No 183) and Recommendation
191 were adopted by 304 votes (22 were against; 116 abstained).
From this point on, Member States have become the actors,
as it is up to them to choose to ratify, or not, the new
Convention. Indeed, it enters into force precisely (and
only) one year after two countries have ratified it. Upon
ratifying a Convention, Member States pledge to adapt their
national legislation to that of the Convention, and to implement
these new laws.
It is therefore
extremely good news to announce that on 7 February 2002,
Convention 183 will be enforced, as Italy, following the
path of Slovakia (who had ratified it in December 2000),
ratified the Convention at the beginning of February 2001.
Revising Conventions
is a long, slow process, and an exceptional event: it was
therefore of the utmost importance that Convention 183 ensure
the best possible protection for mothers and for infants:
it was necessary to aim for the long-term, and to keep in
mind all levels of society and all forms of work. The new
Convention had to reflect both the present and the future
realities of women in their roles as mothers and as workers.
In order to meet these objectives, in 2000, a campaign to
strengthen Convention 183 was organised by the Maternity
Protection Coalition (or MPC) - a coalition of breastfeeding
advocates concerned with the health and well-being of mothers
and their babies - together with workers' organizations.
Maternity
Protection Convention, 2000 (No 183):
The following
articles highlight the Convention's greatest gains:
Art. 2.1:
"This Convention applies to all employed women, including
those in atypical forms of dependent work": (all
women sharing an employment relationship with an employer,
including oral contracts; therefore, self-employed women
and other independent women are not included, nor, in many
cases, are women working for a family enterprise; "atypical"
refers to part-time work, seasonal work, etc.);
Art. 4.1:
"A woman to whom this Convention applies shall be entitled
to a period of maternity leave of not less than 14 weeks"
(instead of 12 in Convention 103).
Art. 4.4:
"Maternity leave shall include a period of six weeks
compulsory leave after childbirth";
Art. 6.3:
"Where, under national law or practice, cash benefits
paid with respect to leave are based on previous earnings,
the amount of such benefits shall not be less than two-thirds
of the woman's previous earnings";
Art. 8.2:
"A woman is guaranteed the right to return to the
same position or an equivalent position at the same rate
at the end of her maternity leave";
Art. 10.1:
"A woman shall be provided with the right to one or
more daily breaks or a daily reduction of hours of work
to breastfeed her child".
Art. 10.2:
"These breaks or the reduction of daily hours of work
shall be counted as working time and remunerated accordingly".
More than ever
at this time of intense competition in the global marketplace,
IBFAN and its partner organizations are committed to promoting
the highest possible standard of protection for working
women. We are extremely proud that Maternity Protection
Convention, 2000 (No 183) has been adopted and that it will
be entering into force relatively soon. But we must continue
our work with our social partners to ensure that it is ratified
by as many ILO Member States as possible.
What to do
now:
More information
concerning future advocacy and action of the Maternity Protection
Coalition will be posted on this site. However, IBFANers
can, as a group or as individuals, do the following towards
getting their country to ratify:
-
spread the
word about how maternity protection benefits all of
society: women and men, employees, employers, governments;
and distribute documentation on the issue;
-
urge national
Ministries of Health and of Labour to meet together
and to discuss the benefits of good maternity protection;
examine present national legislation and compare it
to Convention 183;
-
meet with
trade unions and devise plans with them to campaign
for ratification within one's country;
-
inform women
and their families of their existing rights; sensitise
the whole community and monitor application of present
legislation; organise information meetings as well as
press campaigns (TV shows, talks on radio, articles
in newspapers...);
-
continue
to inform IBFAN-GIFA about all progress accomplished
(email: info@gifa.org).
Members of
the Maternity Protection Coalition:
-
IBFAN
- International Baby Food Action Network
-
ILCA
- International Lactation Consultant Association
-
LINKAGES
-
WABA - World Alliance for Breastfeeding Action
With technical
support from:
For more information:
-
Visit the
ILO website: www.ilo.org
(click: international labour standards and then choose
desired option: ratifications of last 12 months or texts
of conventions and recommendations and comments);
-
See the International
Confederation of Free Trade Unions lobbying kit, Maternity
Protection 2000: It's for All of Us, on www.icftu.org
;
-
Visit the
Public Service International website, www.world-psi.org/psi.nsf/action;
-
Read July-August
2000 issue of BFHI News, The Baby-Friendly Hospital
Initiative Newsletter, "Maternity Protection
Convention, a victory for breastfeeding advocates"
on www.unicef.org/bfhi/.
-
Visit the
WABA ILO campaign page: www.waba.org.my/ilopage.htm.
-
Sign
up to receive email alerts when new information
is posted on the IBFAN website.
Briefing paper
posted 6 June 2001.
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