Bolivia - 2011

Population: 9,900,000
Capital: Sucre
Child labour is still common practice in Bolivia. Excessive restrictions on the formation of trade unions and on the right to strike strike The most common form of industrial action, a strike is a concerted stoppage of work by employees for a limited period of time. Can assume a wide variety of forms.

See general strike, intermittent strike, rotating strike, sit-down strike, sympathy strike, wildcat strike remain. The authorities are able to interfere unduly in trade union activities.
ILO Core Conventions Ratified:
29 Forced Labour (1930) 87 Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise (1948) 98 Right to Organise and Collective Bargaining (1949) 100 Equal Remuneration for Work of Equal Value (1951) 105 Abolition of Forced Labour (1957) 111 Discrimination in Employment and Occupation (1958) 138 Minimum Age for Employment (1973) 182 Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention (1999)

reported violations - 2011

Murders: none reported
Attempted Murders: none reported
Threats: none reported
Injuries: none reported
Arrests: none reported
Imprisonments: none reported
Dismissals: none reported
Documented violations - actual number of cases may be higher

Background

According to the UNDP, Bolivia made progress during the year in building a more equal society, principally thanks to advances in life expectancy and education, and in reducing extreme poverty. However, serious inequalities remain in terms of income distribution due largely to the high level of informal employment (about 75%) and low incomes for workers. The ILO International Labour Organization A tripartite United Nations (UN) agency established in 1919 to promote working and living conditions. The main international body charged with developing and overseeing international labour standards.

See tripartism, ITUC Guide to international trade union rights also recognised progress at the institutional level, with regard to issues such as migration, forced labour and equal opportunities. Official figures put unemployment at 6.5%. Several groups within the country’s political, trade union and academic circles question these figures and are concerned about the ever rising levels of informal employment.

The most serious industrial disputes concerned salaries and fuel price rises. The Bolivian Labour Centre (COB) held a national strike strike The most common form of industrial action, a strike is a concerted stoppage of work by employees for a limited period of time. Can assume a wide variety of forms.

See general strike, intermittent strike, rotating strike, sit-down strike, sympathy strike, wildcat strike in May to call for better wages, and several protests and demonstrations over the price rises. A new pensions act was approved by Congress but some trade unions, including teachers and health workers, oppose this law. The Mineworkers’ Trade Union Federation of Bolivia (FSTMB) was involved in extensive talks with the government on the new mining law.

ILO Core Conventions Ratified:
29 Forced Labour (1930) 87 Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise (1948) 98 Right to Organise and Collective Bargaining (1949) 100 Equal Remuneration for Work of Equal Value (1951) 105 Abolition of Forced Labour (1957) 111 Discrimination in Employment and Occupation (1958) 138 Minimum Age for Employment (1973) 182 Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention (1999)
Population: 9,900,000
Capital: Sucre

reported violations- 2011

Documented violations - actual number of cases may be higher

Trade union rights in law

The 2009 Constitution improves the protection of trade union rights, however many excessive restrictions remain in the law. While workers enjoy freedom of association freedom of association The right to form and join the trade union of one’s choosing as well as the right of unions to operate freely and carry out their activities without undue interference.

See Guide to the ITUC international trade union rights framework , the General Labour Act, dating back to 1942, requires prior government authorisation to establish a union and permits only one union per enterprise. Industrial unions need the support of at least 50% of the workforce in order to be established, and no union may join an international organisation.

Public servants, with some exceptions, are denied the right to organise and to bargain collectively, which is also the case for some categories of agricultural workers. Furthermore, there are restrictions on union internal affairs, as members of the executive boards must be Bolivian by birth, and labour inspectors can attend union meetings and monitor union activities. A trade union can also be dissolved by administrative means.

While the right to strike strike The most common form of industrial action, a strike is a concerted stoppage of work by employees for a limited period of time. Can assume a wide variety of forms.

See general strike, intermittent strike, rotating strike, sit-down strike, sympathy strike, wildcat strike is guaranteed in the Constitution, all strikes must be supported by three quarters of the workers. Strikes in public services, including banks and public markets, are banned by law, as are general strikes and solidarity strikes. Compulsory arbitration arbitration A means of resolving disputes outside the courts through the involvement of a neutral third party, which can either be a single arbitrator or an arbitration board. In non-binding arbitration, the disputing parties are free to reject the third party’s recommendation, whilst in binding arbitration they are bound by its decision. Compulsory arbitration denotes the process where arbitration is not voluntarily entered into by the parties, but is prescribed by law or decided by the authorities.

See conciliation, mediation may also be imposed to end a strike strike The most common form of industrial action, a strike is a concerted stoppage of work by employees for a limited period of time. Can assume a wide variety of forms.

See general strike, intermittent strike, rotating strike, sit-down strike, sympathy strike, wildcat strike or collective dispute collective dispute See industrial dispute in sectors that are not considered essential by the ILO International Labour Organization A tripartite United Nations (UN) agency established in 1919 to promote working and living conditions. The main international body charged with developing and overseeing international labour standards.

See tripartism, ITUC Guide to international trade union rights . Finally, workers who participate in an unlawful strike strike The most common form of industrial action, a strike is a concerted stoppage of work by employees for a limited period of time. Can assume a wide variety of forms.

See general strike, intermittent strike, rotating strike, sit-down strike, sympathy strike, wildcat strike may be sentenced to prison terms of one to five years, with forced labour as an additional punishment.

Additional information regarding the legislation
ILO Core Conventions Ratified:
29 Forced Labour (1930) 87 Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise (1948) 98 Right to Organise and Collective Bargaining (1949) 100 Equal Remuneration for Work of Equal Value (1951) 105 Abolition of Forced Labour (1957) 111 Discrimination in Employment and Occupation (1958) 138 Minimum Age for Employment (1973) 182 Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention (1999)
Population: 9,900,000
Capital: Sucre

reported violations - 2011

Documented violations - actual number of cases may be higher

In practice

Child labour at Canedo Constructions:

The Bolivian authorities ordered the Canedo Construcciones company to pay a fine of 10,000 Bolivianos (about 1,000 euros) for employing ten minors in the construction of the Palmeto building in the city of Cochabamba. The children, working in different areas of construction, faced precarious employment and social security conditions and long working hours.

According to UNICEF and the National Institute of Statistics (INE) more than 800,000 children between the ages of seven and 13 were employed in 2010 and many worked more than 40 hours a week. The children were employed in the sugar industry, mines, particularly zinc mines, prostitution and other activities.

ILO Core Conventions Ratified:
29 Forced Labour (1930) 87 Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise (1948) 98 Right to Organise and Collective Bargaining (1949) 100 Equal Remuneration for Work of Equal Value (1951) 105 Abolition of Forced Labour (1957) 111 Discrimination in Employment and Occupation (1958) 138 Minimum Age for Employment (1973) 182 Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention (1999)
Population: 9,900,000
Capital: Sucre

reported violations - 2011

Documented violations - actual number of cases may be higher
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