ILO CALLS FOR ABOLITION OF FORCED, PRISON LABOUR

MANZINI - The International Labour Organisation (ILO) is calling for the abolition of prison labour, among other forms of decent work deficits. This is contained in the ILO’s overview of key decent work deficits. In the overview, the labour organisation says the absence of conditions that constitute decent work, gaps or shortcomings in the conditions and opportunities that make work decent, manifests in various forms, including lack of employment opportunities, including high youth unemployment. The ILO said other forms are: Informality in employment, inadequate earnings and unproductive work with low wages, among others. Furthermore, it listed unsafe work environments, job security, precarious work arrangements, temporary or informal work with few benefits or protections, and insecure income and lack of social safety nets, as other forms.

Rights

“Lack of worker rights, denial of rights of workers to organise, bargain collectively, or access social protection like health benefits and pensions are other forms,” reads part of the overview. Thereafter, it said addressing decent work deficits is a major objective for many labour and social policies as these seek to promote economic and social justice and also improve the quality of lives for all. It added that other forms of decent work deficits include: Indecent working hours and the inability to combine work, family and personal life. “Work that should be abolished includes forced labour, child labour, prison labour and debt bondage,” reads part of the overview. Meanwhile, His Majesty’s Correctional Services (HMCS) Deputy Public Relations Officer (PRO) Assistant Chief Officer Baphelele Kunene, said any labour that takes place through the employment of convicted offenders is non-afflictive. He said such labour or employment schemes provided across all Correctional centres are solely for rehabilitation purposes and that is why they are only treated to sufficient work of a useful nature.

Offender

“This is mainly to keep every offender who is required to work actively employed for a normal working day,” he said. He highlighted that the Correctional Services Act clearly states that such work is meant to increase the ability of the offender to earn an honest living after the offender is released from custody. “To date, we have hundreds of ex-offenders who are able to lead a productive life because of the skills they acquired while attached to these schemes,” Kunene said. He also mentioned that, as things stand, many inmates actually apply for such employment, and the offender’s interests are taken into account within the normal limits of discipline in deciding the type of work to which the offender is allocated. Moreover, he said in order to prepare offenders for the conditions of normal occupational employment, the organisation ensures that the methods of work resemble, as nearly as is reasonable, those of similar work outside the correctional services.

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