Director-General of the International Labour Office
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The Forced Labour Convention, the full title of which is the Convention Concerning Forced or Compulsory Labour, 1930 (No.29), is one of eight ILO fundamental conventions[2] of the International Labour Organization. Its object and purpose is to suppress the use of forced labour in all its forms irrespective of the nature of the work or the sector of activity in which it may be performed. The Convention defines forced labour as "all work or service which is exacted from any person under the menace of any penalty and for which the said person has not offered himself voluntarily", with few exceptions like compulsory military service.[3]
The convention was adopted in Geneva 28 June 1930 and came into force on 1 May 1932. By the end of 1932 ten countries had ratified the convention (Japan, Bulgaria, Spain, Norway, Denmark, Australia, Sweden, United Kingdom, Liberia, and Ireland). Austria in 1960, Luxembourg in 1964 and Malta in 1965 were the last Western European countries to ratify the convention. Canada ratified it in 2011 and as of 2022, the United States has not ratified it.[4]
The convention was supplemented by the Abolition of Forced Labour Convention which canceled a number of exceptions to abolition in the 1930 Convention, such as punishment for strikes and as a punishment for holding certain political views.
(e) minor communal services of a kind which, being performed by the members of the community in the direct interest of the said community, can therefore be considered as normal civic obligations incumbent upon the members of the community, provided that the members of the community or their direct representatives shall have the right to be consulted in regard to the need for such services.
In 2014, a protocol was adopted by the International Labour Conference: P29, Protocol of 2014 to the Forced Labour Convention, 1930. The Protocol was adopted with 437 votes in favour, 8 against and 27 abstentions (there are 3 votes per member state: one for the government, one for employees, and one for employers). The Government of Thailand was the only state to vote against adoption,[6][7] though it reversed its position a few days later.[8] The protocol obligates states parties to provide protection and appropriate remedies, including compensation, to victims of forced labour and to sanction the perpetrators of forced labour. It also obligates states parties to develop "a national policy and plan of action for the effective and sustained suppression of forced or compulsory labour".
