Employers’ organizations in Latin America discuss their role in strengthening democracy
LIMA (ILO News) – Employers’ representatives from 15 Latin American countries gathered in Lima on 21 and 22 October to reflect on the challenges facing democracy in the region and the role of employers’ organizations in strengthening it. Discussions also highlighted the importance of democracy for genuine tripartite social dialogue, grounded in the independence of employers’ organizations.
The Regional Forum on the Role of Employers’ Organizations in Latin America in Promoting and Defending Democracy was organized by the International Labour Organization’s (ILO) Bureau for Employers’ Activities (ACT/EMP). The event brought together business leaders to exchange experiences and examine the links between democracy, an enabling environment for sustainable enterprises and the independence of employers’ organizations.
Freedom of association, independent organizations, collective bargaining and tripartite consultation are all part of the same institutional framework.
Ana Virginia Moreira Gomes, ILO Regional Director for Latin America and the Caribbean
“Freedom of association, independent organizations, collective bargaining and tripartite consultation are all part of the same institutional framework. And that framework requires institutions capable of guaranteeing rules, freedoms and genuine spaces for dialogue,” said Ana Virgínia Moreira Gomes, ILO Regional Director for Latin America and the Caribbean.
Strong institutions and independent organizations
Discussions focused on the relationship between the quality of democratic institutions and practices and the conditions that enable employers’ organizations to operate independently and legitimately represent the interests of their members.
Democracy is also an institutional infrastructure. It means rules and predictability, separation and balance of powers. It means having access to trusted, impartial institutions.
Maria Paz Anzorreguy, Director of the ILO Bureau for Employers’ Activities
“Democracy is also an institutional infrastructure. It means rules and predictability, separation and balance of powers. It means having access to trusted, impartial institutions,” said Maria Paz Anzorreguy, Director of the ILO Bureau for Employers’ Activities.
© OIT / Rafael Nova
The working paper prepared for the Forum, Democracy and an Enabling Environment for Sustainable Enterprises and Employers’ Organizations, argues that democracy is the political system that provides the most favourable institutional conditions for business activity. It does so by ensuring predictable rules that apply equally to all, underpinned by the rule of law and independent institutions that enforce them fairly, within a framework that protects fundamental rights and freedoms, including freedom of enterprise, freedom of association, freedom of expression and freedom of the press.
From the ILO’s perspective, the independence of employers’ organizations is closely linked to freedom of association and the effective functioning of social dialogue. In her opening remarks, Moreira Gomes emphasized that the autonomy of employers’ organizations, their ability to freely elect their leaders, represent the legitimate interests of their members and maintain an independent voice vis-à-vis political authorities are essential conditions for the effective exercise of freedom of association.
Regional dialogue and exchange
The Forum’s agenda was informed by the working paper. The first day featured discussions among leaders of employers’ organizations from across the region on the relationship between democracy and an enabling environment for enterprises, as well as the challenges of safeguarding the independence of employers’ organizations. The programme also included an exchange of national experiences in promoting democracy in different contexts.
On the second day, participants took part in working sessions to identify common regional challenges and strategic lines of action through which employers’ organizations could contribute to promoting and defending democracy.
The opening session also featured Jorge Alberto Zapata Ríos, President of the National Confederation of Private Business Institutions of Peru (CONFIEP), and Luis Rodrigo Morales-Velez, Director of Policy and ILO Coordination at the International Organisation of Employers (IOE). In addition, International IDEA delivered a keynote address on the current state of democracy worldwide and in Latin America.
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