Friends:
I am forwarding this from Chris Mulford, who is in Geneva right now working
to improve breastfeeding within the Maternity Protection Convention of the
ILO.
She needs our URGENT HELP right away communicating with the US Dept. of
Labor to support the revised convention. Please read below for more details
on what's going on in Geneva and what you can do TODAY to help the cause!
Please feel free to forward this to other breastfeeding supporters you may
know.
Thanks!
Doraine Bailey
Lexington, KY, USA
---------------------------------
Letter from Geneva from Chris Mulford Wednesday, June 14, 2000
A CALL FOR ACTION TODAY!
Here is what has been happening at the ILO Conference in Geneva.
The debate of the Maternity Protection Committee is over. The new Maternity
Protection Convention and Recommendation are written. The final step is a
vote by the Employers' Group, the Workers' Group, and government ministers
of labor in plenary session on Thursday, June 15. That vote will decide
whether or not to approve the new instruments and open the Convention for
ratification. There is a lot of controversy, and it is not at all sure that
the new Convention will
get the 2/3 vote needed for approval.
As with any negotiation, the new text contains some gains and some losses
for each party. The details are given below. Overall, our Maternity
Protection Coalition in Geneva feels that we can support the new convention.
What can you do now?
Today—Wednesday June 14—you can send a fax to Irasema Garza, Director of the
Women's Bureau at the US Department of Labor.
The fax number is (202) 219-5529.
Make your fax short and sweet. I am not going to write it for you this
time, but here are some ideas.
One. You might urge the Department of Labor to support the revised
maternity protection convention in tomorrow's plenary vote at the
International Labor Conference.
Two. You might thank the Department of Labor for the support they showed for
breastfeeding women at work during the debate. (They did show some
support!)
Three. You might express your hope that the health and nutrition sectors
will work closely with the Department of Labor, the trade unions, and
employers' groups in the future to determine national policies to support
breastfeeding women at work.
So your fax might go something like this:
I would like to urge the Department of Labor to support the revised
maternity protection convention in tomorrow's plenary vote at the
International Labor Conference.
I want to thank the Department of Labor for the support they showed for
breastfeeding women at work during the ILO debate.
I hope that the health and nutrition sectors will be able to work closely
with the Department of Labor, trade unions, and employers' groups in the
future to determine national policies to support breastfeeding women at
work.
Of course, it will be best if a BIG pile of faxes arrives. So please urge
your friends to send a fax too. And let's limit this effort to just today.
We don't want to be a nuisance. We want to work with these people in the
future!
If you want more details, keep reading. Also, check out the WABA website,
www:waba.org.br/
Thanks for all your help and support.
Chris Mulford, ILCA Representative to the ILO
WABA Women and Work Task Force Co-coordinator
-----------------------------------------
What did the US delegation do?
The US appeared to play a very minor role, seldom speaking in the committee.
I don't think they proposed any amendments. The US voting record, from a
breastfeeding point of view, was mixed, but there were some nice surprises.
PLUS: They abstained in a show of hands on a rather ambiguous Canadian
amendment that would have framed breastfeeding breaks as a
non-discrimination issue, not as a right.
MINUS: They voted for an amendment by the Employers that would have left all
the details of nursing breaks, including remuneration, up to individual
countries. Under those conditions, the US would be able to ratify.
PLUS: They voted yes in a show of hands on whether to move the breastfeeding
facilities provision from the Recommendation to the Convention. But…
MINUS: They abstained when it came to a roll call vote on the same issue.
This was the time that we lost because the vote was tied! So if that
abstention had been a yes, we would have won. In defense of the US
delegates, however, I should point out that several other countries also
changed from "yes" to abstentions for the roll call, several others were
absent for the roll call, and
a few friends of breastfeeding even voted "no." My interpretation of this
was that the delegates could support the provision in the relative anonymity
of a show of hands but were bound by their governments' policy positions
when it came to a recorded vote---which the Employers knew all too well when
they demanded the roll call.
How would the new Convention and recommendation affect breastfeeding?
Here are the gains and losses for breastfeeding. Remember when you look
them over that there were strong forces who tried to drop breastfeeding
breaks entirely from the convention.
For the Convention
Maternity leave:
PLUS: Increased from 12 to 14 weeks---after over eighty years!
Health Protection
PLUS: A new article on health protection includes breastfeeding women as
well as pregnant women. They are not obliged to perform work which is
prejudicial to the health of the mother or of the child or poses a
significant risk to the health of either one.
Job protection
PLUS: A breastfeeding woman cannot be fired on the grounds that she is
breastfeeding, and the burden of proof that breastfeeding was not the reason
for her termination of employment is put on the employer.
MINUS: The protection does not automatically cover the entire period of
lactation. The length of time she is thus protected is left to be determined
at national level.
Non-discrimination
PLUS: Maternity must not be a source of discrimination in employment,
including access to employment.
MINUS: It is up to us at national level to make sure that "maternity" is
defined to include "lactation."
Breastfeeding breaks
PLUS: A woman shall be provided with the right to one or more breastfeeding
breaks daily.
MINUS: The language is ambiguous…"A woman shall be provided with the right…"
Rights are something we HAVE, not something we are given.
MINUS: Convention 3 specified two 30-minute breaks in a working day. Now it
is "one or more" with no length specified.
PLUS: Breastfeeding breaks can be combined and used to reduce the length of
the work day. This provision used to be only in the Recommendation.
PLUS: The breastfeeding breaks are still counted as working time and
remunerated.
MINUS: The period during which nursing breaks are allowed (how long after
birth), the length and frequency of breaks, and the procedures for reducing
the daily hours of work are all left to be decided at national level.
For the Recommendation
Maternity leave:
PLUS: Increased from 16 to 18 weeks
Health Protection
PLUS: States should assess workplaces for risks to breastfeeding mothers and
their children and inform the women when risks are found.
PLUS: Breastfeeding women cannot be obliged to work night work if they have
a medical certificate declaring that such work is incompatible with nursing.
(Women can still do night work if they so choose.)
Breastfeeding breaks
PLUS: A woman can adapt the frequency and length of her nursing breaks if
she has a medical certificate saying it is necessary.
MINUS: Getting a medical certificate can be a hardship in many countries.
Facilities for breastfeeding
PLUS: "Where practicable, provision should be made for the establishment of
facilities for nursing under adequate hygienic conditions at or near the
workplace."
MINUS: "Where practicable" leaves room for negotiation, which can go either
way.
Overall, our Maternity Protection Coalition in Geneva feels that we can
support the new convention.
Here are some significant gains and losses that do not mention breastfeeding
directly, but still affect whether the Convention and Recommendation will
enable women to breastfeed.
PLUS:
The definitions of "woman" and "child" are broader, which will allow more
countries to ratify.
The scope of the convention is broader. Women in more kinds of work,
including many women in the informal sector (like domestic workers) are
covered.
Health protection plays a more prominent part.
A period of 6 weeks compulsory leave after childbirth was retained in the
Convention, but this can be changed at national level if employers, workers
and government all agree. This flexibility will allow more European
countries (and, theoretically, the US, were it not for Senator Jesse Helms)
to ratify.
After maternity leave, a woman can return to the same job or one at a
similar level.
Pregnancy tests as a screening for employment are no longer allowed, except
in very limited cases of women applying to do risky work.
Measures were added to the Recommendation providing for parental leave after
maternity leave, and opening leave, benefits, and job protection to adoptive
parents.
MINUS:
The minimum level of cash benefits during maternity leave was left at 2/3 of
normal pay, although many governments wanted to raise it to 100%.
More details and some of the statements that were made about breastfeeding
can be found at
www:waba.org.br/
________________________________________________________________________
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