Guide for Secretariats of National Tripartite Consultation Bodies

International
Labour
Office
Guide for Secretariats of
GUIDE
National Tripartite Consultation Bodies
in English-speaking African Countries
NORMAND LÉCUYER
EDITED BY RAINER PRITZER
International
Labour Office (ILO)
IFP/DIALOGUE
4, route des Morillons
CH-1211 Geneva 22
Switzerland
Tel.: (+ 41 22) 799 70 35
Fax : (+ 41 22) 799 87 49
E-mail: ifpdialogue@ilo.org
I F P / D I A L O G U E
Web site: http://www.ilo.org/ifpdial
AFRICAN
INFOCUS PROGRAMME
REGIONAL
ON SOCIAL DIALOGUE
LABOUR
LABOUR LAW
ADMINISTRATION
AND LABOUR ADMINISTRATION
CENTRE
SOCIAL DIALOGUE SECTOR
ARLAC - HARARE
ILO - GENEVA

---

Guide
for Secretariats of
National Tripartite Consultation Bodies
in English-speaking African Countries
InFocus Programme
African Regional Labour
on Social Dialogue, Labour Law
Administration Centre
and Labour Administration
ARLAC
Harare
IFP/DIALOGUE SOCIAL
DIALOGUE SECTOR
ILO

---

TABLE OF CONTENTS
FOREWORD............................................................................................v
INTRODUCTION...................................................................................1
Chapter 1
Governments And Consultation........................................3
1.1
General remarks.......................................................................................3
1.2
Definitions ................................................................................................5
1.3
Aims of the consultation process .........................................................6
1.4
Roles of governments (labour administrations) .................................7
1.5
Consultation mechanisms and operational links
(with the labour administration system).............................................10
Chapter 2
The Consultation Body ....................................................11
2.1
Terms of reference ..............................................................................11
2.2
Elements of the regulatory frameworks (governing
the creation of a consultation body) ..................................................11
Chapter 3
The Secretariat Of A Consultation Body ........................15
3.1
Responsibilities ......................................................................................15
3.2
Organization and functioning .............................................................16
3.3
Activities (meetings of the consultation body).................................22
Useful Addresses.....................................................................................27
Annexes ..................................................................................................31
1
The place of the consultation body in a labour
administration system ..........................................................................33
2
The place of the secretariat of a tripartite consultation
body in a labour administration system ............................................35
3
Creation of a tripartite consultation body.........................................37
4
Role of a secretariat of the tripartite body .......................................41
5
Functions of the secretariat.................................................................43
6
Information on matters for consultation...........................................45
iii

---

7
Schedule of the body’s activities .........................................................47
8
Preparing the body’s sessions ..............................................................49
9
Agenda of the secretariat .....................................................................51
10
Description of the secretary’s duties .................................................53
11
Appointment of the head of a secretariat of a tripartite body......55
12
Other job descriptions .........................................................................57
13
Specific budget line for the Board .....................................................59
14
The projected budget of the … Board..............................................61
15
Expenditure management principles .................................................63
16
Budget follow-up sheet.........................................................................65
17
Balance sheet .........................................................................................67
18
Filing and information management ..................................................69
19
The annual report of the … Board ....................................................73
20
List of people involved.........................................................................75
21
Logistics ..................................................................................................77
22
Agenda of a meeting.............................................................................79
23
Invitation letter to the Board’s meeting .............................................81
24
Working documents sent to members prior to a meeting...............83
25
Facilities...................................................................................................85
26
Rules of procedure................................................................................87
27
Record of proceedings .........................................................................91
28
Resolutions and Recommendations ..................................................93
29
Filing of documents after a session ..................................................95
30
Press communiqué ................................................................................97
31
Post-session follow-up plan .................................................................99
iv

---

FOREWORD
Many ILO member States have tripartite consultation bodies which provide employers’ and
workers’ organizations with an official forum where they can play an active part along with
government authorities in the formulation and implementation of national labour policy. These
bodies are often supported by a secretariat. The secretariat, which is normally attached to the
government structure, enables the social partners and the government to keep in touch on a
permanent basis. It facilitates formal contacts, encourages informal contacts amongst all of the
parties and acts as the focal point for all relevant information. At the request of the authority
responsible for the tripartite body, it organizes, convenes and prepares the meetings.
This manual aims to fulfil several objectives: firstly to serve as a working tool for those
responsible for the day-to-day running of the secretariats of tripartite consultation bodies and
secondly, it may also serve as a reference and offer some ideas for creating and developing such
administrative mechanisms. Thirdly, a guide of this nature could also encourage ILO member States
to re-launch the activities of their tripartite consultation structures that may have been shelved.
This document is the outcome of a discussion process involving the ILO’s InFocus
Programme for Social Dialogue, Labour Law and Labour Administration (IFP/DIALOGUE),
the African Regional Labour Administration Centre (ARLAC) and heads of the secretariats of
tripartite consultation bodies (hereinafter called “Boards”) in some English-speaking African
countries. It is an attempt to respond to the specific needs of this region, which was chosen in the
light of the social dialogue assistance that has been conducted there in recent years by the ILO.
This tool can be adapted as necessary for use in a given country, but also in other regions to
support the work of secretariats of consultation bodies.
It is not limited to secretariats of tripartite consultation bodies at the national level, but can
equally be of use to other secretariats in a similar context.
IFP/DIALOGUE has published this manual for English-speaking African countries, a
similar manual for French-speaking African countries has already been published, and a Spanish
version designated for Latin American countries will follow. The English version was prepared by
Mr. Rainer Pritzer, Labour Administration Specialist in IFP/DIALOGUE. Special thanks go to
Mr. Normand Lécuyer, whose previous work on the subject has been of enormous value. Thanks
also go to Ms Bertha Mwai (Kenya), Ms Sissy Seemule (Botswana), Mr. Daniel Fok-Kan
(Mauritius), Mr. Steven Bakasvirewa (Uganda), Mr. Philip Dexter (South Africa) and
Mr. Sammy Nyambari, Director of the ARLAC Centre.
Patricia O’Donovan
Director
InFocus Programme for
Social Dialogue, Labour Law
and Labour Administration
v

---

INTRODUCTION
Regardless of a country’s stage of development, its government bears considerable
responsibilities for social policy, especially in the field of labour administration. Among others, its
activities must guarantee the fundamental rights of all those in the world of work first and
foremost, meet their needs and further develop the country.
The labour administration embodies the main components of “good governance”, namely
participation, credibility and transparency. It gives concrete expression to these principles by
creating, among other things, consultation bodies that involve employers, workers and/or their
most representative organizations in the governmental decision-making process. The existence
of a tripartite consultation body and an efficient secretariat is a concrete manifestation of
acceptance of the fundamental ILO principles and international labour standards such as
freedom of association and the right to organize and bargain collectively.
This way of functioning, tripartism, that is specific to the labour administration, enables
labour administrations to better identify the needs of the users of its services and/or the needs of
its customers. Tripartism enhances their persuasive capacity as well as their ability to influence
economic and social policies of governments in general, and labour policy in particular, thanks to
its constructive consensus or partnership-based approach. This constitutes a significant
comparative advantage that labour administrations must use in promoting social policies
designed to impact government policies as a whole.
The present manual specifically addresses the permanent structures that underpin these
consultation bodies and meets their logistical needs – namely the secretariats usually put in place
when consultation bodies are set up. These secretariats are generally situated within an
administrative unit of a ministry responsible for labour administration; they may also be an
autonomous authority although this is rarely so in English-speaking African countries. The fact
that they are permanent units is in itself an indication of the importance given to the consultation
process and to its sustainability.
The manual starts by reviewing the role of governments and ministries responsible for
labour administration in promoting social justice and democracy in their country, principally
through consultation (social dialogue), and above all by creating administrative machinery that
guarantees effective and regular relations among the parties to the dialogue. It then discusses the
regulatory aspects to be borne in mind in creating a consultation body. Lastly, it focuses on the
main skills required by those working in a secretariat of a tripartite consultation body, its
organization, operation and activities. For this purpose, many concrete examples of
aide-mémoires and management procedures are annexed hereto. The annexes are the outcome of
discussions with practitioners from the African continent and ILO colleagues, and represent a
collection of good practices in the management of secretariats. The examples may be amended by
the user according to individual needs or preferences. They should be customized to fit the
individual country’s situation. The user is free to choose what s/he deems useful for his/her work
and disregard what is irrelevant in a given context.
1

---

This Guide is published in a concise book format that can easily be consulted by a large
number of users, and also as a ring-binder for use on a daily basis. The latter version allows the
user to add specific documents in its relevant context, such as customized versions of the
invitation letter, check list, agenda, budget sheet, etc., in order to streamline and facilitate routine
work.
“Good administration is not a luxury,
It is a sine qua non for development”
(The State in a changing world,
World Bank Report, 1997)
2

---

CHAPTER 1
GOVERNMENTS AND
CONSULTATION
1.1 General remarks
“Universal and lasting peace can be established only
if it is based upon social justice”
(Preamble, ILO Constitution)
Since its inception (Treaty of Versailles, 1919), the International Labour Organization
(ILO) has been a unique discussion forum where governments, employers and workers share
experiences and concepts from the world of work in order to advance social justice. It has made
tripartism and social dialogue the very cornerstones of its activities.
In 1944, at its 26th Session, the International Labour Conference (ILC) reaffirmed the
fundamental principles on which the Organization was based and, in particular, that:
(a) the war against want requires to be carried on with unrelenting vigour within each nation, and by
continuous and concerted international effort in which the representatives of workers and employers,
enjoying equal status with those of governments, join with them in free discussion and democratic
decision with a view to the promotion of the common welfare.”1
The ILC adopted at its 86th Session (in 1998) the ILO Declaration on Fundamental
Principles and Rights at Work and its Follow-up which
“recalls:
(a) that in freely joining the ILO, all Members have endorsed the principles and rights set out in its
Constitution and in the Declaration of Philadelphia, and have undertaken to work towards
attaining the overall objectives of the Organization to the best of their resources and fully in line with
their specific circumstances;
(b) that these principles and rights have been expressed and developed in the form of specific rights and
obligations in Conventions recognized as fundamental both inside and outside the
Organization.”2
1
ILO: Constitution, Declaration concerning the aims and purposes of the International Labour Organization, Philadelphia, 1944,
Annex, Article I(d).
2
ILO: Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work and its Follow-up, International Labour Conference, 86th
Session, Geneva, 1998, paras. 1(a) and (b).
3

---

These eight fundamental Conventions are:
(a)
Forced Labour Convention, 1930 (No. 29);
(b)
Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise Convention, 1948
(No. 87);
(c)
Right to Organise and to Bargain Collectively Convention, 1949 (No. 98);
(d)
Equal Remuneration Convention, 1951 (No. 100);
(e)
Abolition of Forced Labour Convention, 1957 (No. 105);
(f)
Discrimination (Employment and Occupation) Convention, 1958 (No. 111);
(g)
Minimum Age Convention, 1973 (No. 138);
(h)
Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention, 1999 (No. 182).
Prior to the ILO Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work (1998), the ILO
Governing Body had already decided in 1993 that – apart from the eight above-mentioned
fundamental Conventions – another four Conventions were to be considered as Priority
Conventions.3 These four Conventions concern matters of essential importance to labour
institutions and labour policy. One of the four Priority Conventions is the Convention on Tripartite
Consultation (International Labour Standards), 1976 (No. 144). The present document refers to this
Convention in more detail later on. Among all other ILO Conventions and Recommendations,
most standards emphasize the importance that must be given to tripartism and the social dialogue.
Most recently, the role of tripartite social dialogue was particularly highlighted when the
International Labour Conference adopted the resolution concerning tripartism and social
dialogue during its 90th Session in 2002:
“Aware that social dialogue and tripartism have proved to be valuable and democratic
means to address social concerns, build consensus, help elaborate international labour
standards and examine a wide range of labour issues on which the social partners play a
direct, legitimate and irreplaceable role,
Recalling the numerous challenges and opportunities facing the world of work in the
framework of ongoing globalisation and the importance of strengthening the
collaboration between the social partners and governments in order to achieve appropriate
solutions at national, regional and international levels,
Stressing that social dialogue and tripartism are modern and dynamic processes that
have unique capacity and great potential to contribute to progress in many difficult and
challenging situations and issues, including those related to globalisation, regional
integration and transition”4
3
ILO: doc. GB. 258/6/19, 258th Session, Geneva, March 1993, Annex I, re-confirmed by the Governing Body in 2001,
see doc. GB. 280.LILS/WP/PRS/1/2, Geneva, March 2001, p. 2.
4
ILO: Resolution concerning tripartism and social dialogue, International Labour Conference, 90th Session, Geneva, 2002,
Preamble.
4

---

The International Labour Conference:
“1. Invites the governments to ensure that the necessary preconditions exist for social
dialogue, …and invites governments and workers’ and employers’ organizations to
promote and enhance tripartism and social dialogue, especially in sectors where
tripartism and social dialogue are absent or hardly exist.”5
1.2 Definitions
In many political documents we read about social dialogue, consultation and collaboration at
the national level. But what do these fundamental concepts of “good governance” actually refer to?
1.2.1 Social dialogue
Social dialogue is defined by the ILO:
“…to include all types of negotiation, consultation or simply the exchange of
information between, or among, representatives of governments, employers and workers,
on issues of common interest relating to economic and social policy”.6
1.2.2 Consultation
National consultation is considered by most governments as a crucial stage in their
decision-making process. It is
“…the opportunity given to employers and workers alike to meet to discuss formally –
but often also informally – according to an established procedure, issues of common
concern, to exchange information and to explore possible means of solving the problems
confronting them, so as to lead to opinions and advice (intended for government bodies)
rather than to decision-making”.7
Consultation may be formally stipulated in texts and may be a prerequisite for the legitimacy
of the resulting decisions. It may also arise from a general operating method related to the
principles of good governance and may be systematically used to encourage participation by the
social partners in the design and implementation of labour policies.
5
ILO: Resolution concerning tripartism and social dialogue, International Labour Conference, 90th Session, Geneva, 2002, Art. 1.
6
ILO: Programme and budget proposals for 2000-01, Approval of the detailed budget and further development of strategic
budgeting, Doc. GB 276/PFA/9, 276th Session, Geneva, November 1999, para. 114.
7
ILO: Consultation and Cooperation bodies in the Labour Administration, Geneva, 1997, Labour Administration Branch
document (ADMITRA), No. 52, p. 5.
5

---