NEDLAC CLOSE TO REACHING AGREEMENT ON A SOCIAL CLAUSE

25 April 1996

The social partners in Nedlac's Trade and Industry Chamber have debated extensively the issue of linking labour standards to South Africa's trade relations with other countries, and are now close to reaching agreement on this.At the Nedlac Executive Council meeting today, it was agreed that a small, senior-level meeting will take place within the next day or two to finalise the matter.

In the course of their deliberations in the chamber, the social partners concluded that a multifaceted strategy is required to promote human rights and workers' rights in an international context. In this spirit, they have expressed their unequivocal commitment to upholding, defending and promoting such rights both inside and outside South Africa.

The social partners agree that, in addition to South Africa ratifying and observing the seven core International Labour Organisation (ILO) conventions, which embody universally recognised labour standards, it will actively encourage its trading partners to do the same, thereby contributing towards building international consensus on an approach to labour standards. At the bilateral level, government has agreed to propose to its partners a memorandum of understanding, committing the contracting parties to ratifying and observing the core conventions, and to collaborating at the multilateral level to achieve the same.

The social partners agree that South Africa should use the Unctad conference, to be held in Johannesburg next week, to advance the cause of universal respect for labour standards. In addition to the above processes, the social partners have committed themselves to developing a comprehensive tripartite strategy to promote labour standards at the bilateral, multilateral and regional levels. Such a strategy will, among others, consider proposals by organised labour on the role of market access as a mechanism to promote compliance with basic labour standards, and the inclusion of representatives of labour, business and non-governmental organisations on the governing structures of the World Trade Organisation.