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A preliminary draft bill to implement the EU young workers Directive is under discussion in Portugal in mid-1998. However, transposition of the Directive will not resolve some important issues relating to child labour, notably when performed at home.
In mid-1998, Portugal's social partners are studying a preliminary draft bill on the transposition of the EU Council Directive 94/33/EC of 22 June 1994 on the protection of young people at work. A commitment to implement the Directive was one of the provisions of the 1996-9 tripartite Strategic Concertation Pact (Acordo de Concertação Estratégica, ACE). The deadline for transposition of the Directive was in June 1996. The Directive seeks to prohibit the employment of children (those aged under 15), except in certain circumstances, and to regulate the employment and working conditions of other young people aged under 18.
Some of the social partners have begun to take positions on the transposition bill. The General Confederation of Portuguese Workers (Confederação Geral dos Trabalhadores Portugueses, CGTP), in particular, states that there is a need for: a clear definition of the concept of "light work" (which children may perform in certain circumstances); the regulation of night work; and the scheduling of working hours based on the normal physical, psychological, and educational development of young workers.
On the employers' side, the Confederation of Portuguese Commerce (Confederação do Comércio e Serviços de Portugal, CCP) states that the draft bill does not introduce major changes to existing legislation or to the content of the Directive, except for providing an additional reduction in working hours, and two days off a week.
This transposition of the Directive is part of the broader issue of child labour, which has been the subject of intense political debate in Portugal in recent years. Currently, a statistical study is being carried that points to a probable decrease in the number of enterprises employing child labour. The organisations most involved in this issue are: the social partners; the Committee to Combat Child Labour (Comissão de Combate ao trabalho Infantil- soon to be replaced under the Plan for the Elimination of Exploitation of Child Labour (Plano para a Eliminação da Exploração do Trabalho Infantil); the National Federation for Action on Child Labour (Confederação Nacional de Acção sobre o Trabalho Infantil, CNASTI); the Institute for Aid to Children (Instituto de Apoio à Criança, IAC); and the public labour administration, mostly though the Institute for the Improvement and Inspection of Working Conditions (Instituto do Desenvolvimento e Inspecção das Condições de Trabalho, IDICT).
According to the Labour Inspectorate-General (IGT), public awareness of the problem has increased and both citizens and non-governmental organisations have been openly condemning cases of child labour violations.
The two trade union confederations - the General Workers' Union (União Geral de Trabalhadores, UGT) and CGTP - gave the issue special attention in May 1998. UGT highlighted the problem of child labour in the 1 May celebrations, claiming that only when a decent minimum wage is guaranteed, will family survival be ensured. It considers child labour to be illegal labour and asks for heavier fines and more intervention on the part of the IGT.
The CGTP also states that the causes of child labour are structural and are tied to low family incomes, deficiencies in the educational system, and the culture and values of people. It supports making exploitation of child labour a criminal offence and increasing penalties for it. When possible, inspection efforts should be stepped up and penalties should include prohibiting offenders from participating in public tenders or receiving assistance from the state.
In parliament, the Socialist Youth is presenting a draft law addressing this issue, that would make exploitation of child labour a crime. Child labour is already considered a crime in some cases where workers are under 16 years of age - the penal code considers prohibited or forced labour as a form of abuse.
The Committee to Combat Child Labour finds the idea of making child labour a criminal offence very simplistic. Although control and inspection could be improved, it believes that what is really important is to create conditions that make it possible for adults to work.
Child labour is no longer very widespread in enterprises and will become scarcer with the strengthening of labour sanctions. However, it continues to exist, notably in homeworking. This occurs particularly in the areas of finishing work in the textiles and shoemaking industries.
Clandestine work is difficult to detect when it is done at home. It is associated with dropping out of school and poor scholastic performance and a corresponding mentality that work is necessary or even beneficial when there is a lack of other opportunities for training and employment.
The debate on child labour will continue after the legislation transposing the young workers Directive is passed, although it is predicted that the extent of this phenomenon will fall within companies.
The best ways of intervening on child homeworking are being studied, with the discussion turning towards the idea of a establishing a better connection between ending school and beginning work and the need to bring out into the open the socio-economic problems which make this type of work possible. It is also necessary to examine the effectiveness of existing laws on this subject. (Maria Luisa Cristovam, UAL)