Moving Forward to the Ratification of ILO
Convention No. 177 on Home Work

by Phan Wanabriboon, Homenet Thailand

Homenet Thailand co-sponsored(with Friedrich Ebert Stiftung-FES) the National Workshop on ILO Convention 177 at Amari Atrium Bangkok, 23-24 February. Representatives from government, employers, trade unions and homebased workers’ network participated in the workshop.

Homeworkers are found at the bottom end of the subcontracting production chain. Most of them are women whose working conditions are characterized by ‘social insecurity’ - economic insecurity in income and wages, lack of welfare benefits, no access to skills and vocational training services, no right to organize labor or employee organizations to have bargaining power, high occupational health and safety risks, no assurance of fair and suitable wage, and lack of statistics of workers in this sector. Homeworkers comprise many millions globally, but statistics reflect their numbers to be lower than the actual. As such, workers in this sector are described as the ‘gray’ zone of labor in the economic system since they compose a group of ‘invisible’ people.

Homeworkers in Thailand are not different from other homeworkers all over the world. The National Statistics Office survey in 2002 found that there are 549,803 homeworkers in Thailand, but based on the Ministry of Labor’s estimate, their number should be twice higher - about 953,673. Yet, only 235 groups or 3,692 people registered with the Department of Employment for loan eligibility on Homeworkers Fund.

The Home Work Convention No. 177 was approved by the ILO on 20 June 1996 in response to the changing employment system in the world as characterized by lack of social security among workers. The Convention aims to protect millions of homeworkers in terms of their right to organize, non-discrimination in employment and occupation, attention to occupational safety and health, ability to access and receive capacity development training in various aspects, and obtaining other entitlements to be of equal status with workers in other occupations defined as ‘employee’.

To date, four countries have ratified this convention, namely, Finland (1998), Iceland (1999), Albania (2002), and the Netherlands (2002).

• Thailand’s progress in the ratification of the Home Work Convention No. 177

After the ILO’s approval of Convention No. 177 in 1996, Thailand worked on the following process:

• Thai representatives presented the contents of Convention No. 177 to influential people such as the Council of Ministers in 2003 and the House of Representatives and the Upper House in 2004. Representatives had also given substantial proposals on some aspects of Convention No. 177 such as comment 184 on homework for integration in the Labor Protection Law B.E. 2541 (Article 22) and pointed out the limitations of homeworkers’ protection under the framework of the Labor Protection Law. Five years after, the government issued the Ministerial Regulations on the protection of homeworkers which took effect in 2004.
• Preparations to ratify Convention No. 177 are being undertaken by the Thai government through an improvement in the law via the issuance of a specific law to extend protection to every informal sector group in the country.

• Different opinions on the ratification process

Kumchorn Nakchun said that before ratification, the government must be certain that the existing law in the country is compatible with the Convention. Otherwise, the law in the country should be improved or changed first.

Dungdeon Kumchai (Informal Sector Network leader) said that the ratification of Convention No. 177 is a must because the existing law on the protection of the homeworkers has no enforcement in practice and no protection against unemployment risk.

Vilaiwan Saetia, a woman worker leader, expressed that the government should ratify this convention because it will be beneficial to homeworkers in all aspects. She added that the government must be made aware of the utmost importance of protecting these groups of workers.

Siriwan Romchatthong, from the employer council, maintained that the ratification of this convention is important for homeworkers; next to having a good livelihood and work discipline. They work to take care of themselves with the wage received and organize a group to build negotiating power. She said that the government must look after these workers.

Charit Mesith, a lawyer and human rights activist, said that the ratification of this ILO Convention will elevate the standard of the Thai law to international level.

Dr. Voravidh Chareonloet, an academician, said that Thailand must ratify this convention because it pays attention to the protection of rights and freedom to organize for negotiation among informal workers and this is an important fundamental right.

Tim Mayer, from ILO, said that any ratification manifests the intention of a country to follow international labor standards.

In conclusion, the ratification of Convention No. 177 aims to protect the people who are at the lowest level of the production chain - the ‘homeworkers’- so that the minimum standard that they receive does not differ from other groups of workers, and they are protected from exploitative employment patterns.

• HomeNet Thailand plans a campaign for the Thai government to ratify the Home Work Convention No. 177

1. Organize educational activities that will provide knowledge and understanding of related labor laws and the substance of the Convention No. 177 for leaders of homeworkers’ networks, informal sector groups, and labor organizations such as trade unions to collaborate in lobbying the government.
2. Establish a working committee to be composed of representatives from every sector/group to launch a campaign on the ratification of Convention No. 177.
3. Organize platforms, particularly for alliance groups; e.g., platform for academics, platform for trade unions and national platform in collaboration with the Ministry of Labor.
4. Coordinate with government offices and other alliance groups; e.g., lawyers’ council, National Human Rights Commission on Labor, National Economic and Social Advisory Council and the Ministry of Labor, to build and strengthen cooperation in the process of changing/improving the law on the protection of homeworkers and the informal sector.
5. Build a network that can work together, to be comprised of labor organization networks, various labor NGOs, and women organizations at national, regional and international levels.