Observation (CEACR) - adopted 2024, published 113rd ILC session (2025)

Tripartite Consultation (International Labour Standards) Convention, 1976 (No. 144) - Dominican Republic (Ratification: 1999)

Articles 2 and 5 of the Convention. Effective tripartite consultations. The Committee welcomes the reactivation of the Tripartite Round Table on Matters Relating to International Labour Standards further to the approval, on 23 October 2023, of the amendment to the tripartite agreement of 1 July 2016. Article 2(3) of the new tripartite agreement provides that the Round Table will meet at least once every three months and may meet on an ad hoc basis at the formal request of each of the parties. In conformity with section 3(1), the functions of the Round Table include: analysis and discussion of compliance with ratified Conventions, with particular emphasis on fundamental and governance Conventions; reports on ratified Conventions to be sent to the ILO; analysis of the content and potential impact of unratified Conventions; prevention and settlement of any dispute linked to the application of ratified Conventions, with the aim of finding solutions and reaching agreements before referral to the Committee on Freedom of Association; and follow-up to the observations, conclusions and recommendations of the ILO supervisory bodies. The Committee also notes that section 3(3) of the new tripartite agreement provides that the parties thereto will draft and adopt the statute of the Round Table with a view to defining its operation and functioning. Lastly, the Committee notes the Government’s general indication that, within the framework of the Labour Advisory Council, tripartite consultations are undertaken in order to issue statements on current issues and assist the Ministry of Labour in the determination of specific policies and programmes.

The Committee observes, however, that the Government once again does not provide information in its report on tripartite consultations relating to the issues covered by Article 5(1) of the Convention, with regard to: (a) government replies to questionnaires concerning items on the agenda of the International Labour Conference; (b) the submission of instruments to the National Congress; (c) the re-examination at appropriate intervals of unratified Conventions and of Recommendations; (d) the reports on ratified Conventions to be made to the Office under article 22 of the ILO Constitution; and (e) proposals for the denunciation of ratified Conventions. In view of the continuing lack of information on the effective tripartite consultations on international labour standards required by the Convention, the Committee urges the Government to provide detailed and updated information on the frequency, content and outcomes of the tripartite consultations undertaken on each of the items set out in Article 5(1) of the Convention, including those undertaken within the framework of the Tripartite Round Table on Matters Relating to International Labour Standards. In this respect, the Committee reminds the Government that it may request ILO technical assistance. The Committee further requests the Government to send a copy of the statute of the Tripartite Round Table on Matters Relating to International Labour Standards, once adopted.

Article 4. Training. The Committee notes the Government’s indication that the Ministry of Labour conducts training programmes designed to provide employers and workers with training on key aspects of the Convention, as well as personalized guidance and activities to promote the importance of tripartite consultations. The Committee requests the Government to provide specific information on the training received by the representatives of the employers’ and workers’ organizations which participate in tripartite consultations on international labour standards.