The Commonwealth and the ILO: rights and freedoms
Draft Charter for the Commonwealth
Letter to the Foreign Secretary
13 March 2012
As part of the strategic review of the Commonwealth carried out last year, the Eminent Persons Group proposed a series of reforms. One was the idea of a Charter for the Commonwealth, bringing together every Commonwealth agreement about people's rights and freedoms.
As part of a consultation on the Charter, the TUC has submitted the following views to the Foreign Secretary, William Hague.
The draft of the Charter is at http://charterconsultation.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/DraftCharteroftheCommonwealth.pdf
Dear William
Draft Charter for the Commonwealth
Although the TUC has taken part in the Royal Commonwealth Society consultation on the draft Charter for the Commonwealth, I thought I should also let you know the TUC's views directly.
The Commonwealth Trade Union Group (CTUG), of which the TUC is a leading member, expressed support for the principle of a Charter in its May 2011 submission to the Eminent Persons Group and at the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Perth in October 2011, as a way of bringing together the various declarations and principles set out by the Commonwealth over the years in a simple form which could be used to benchmark performance and, where necessary, lead to enforcement action.
The draft included in the Eminent Persons Group is a start, but needs further work. It also needs more open discussion and consultation among the peoples of the Commonwealth rather than remaining an inter-governmental text. We were particularly concerned that the report of the Eminent Persons Group was not made public before consideration at CHOGM, and we remain concerned about the failure of most Commonwealth governments to consult adequately since (many of our national trade union confederations report either no public consultation at all, or a 'silent' consultation which civil society were not aware of until too late to respond).
In general, the Draft Charter confuses rights, freedoms, requirements and aspirations, and greater clarity - or at least better organisation - would be welcome. It is difficult, in particular, to see how Commonwealth governments could be held accountable in any meaningful way to a text this long and this diverse
We are, nevertheless, pleased to see references to equality of income as well as gender, to rights to work. But we feel that the references to work highlight the lack of reference to the core conventions of the International Labour Organisation (ILO), such as freedom of association and freedom from child or forced labour. And we feel equality needs to be more generally expressed to outlaw discrimination based on disability and sexuality.
We would also like to see references to freedom of association more generally, as well as freedoms of assembly, religion and speech; as well as more clarity about how decisions should be taken in the Commonwealth, eg through free and fair elections, consultation and social dialogue, peaceful debate and discussion and so on. It is good that certain principles of free ad far elections are mentioned, but surprising that the overall concept of free and fair elections - one of the areas where the Commonwealth has actually distinguished itself positively - are absent!
The TUC would be very happy to provide further views and assist with any further development of the Charter. We look forward to welcoming its eventual adoption, and helping to turn it from a text into a living reality.
Yours sincerely
BRENDAN BARBER
General Secretary
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