Inspection Convention (No. 81) of 1947 79 to which Honduras is a party, requires States to
“maintain a system of labor inspection in industrial workplaces” 80 which “shall apply to all
workplaces in respect of which legal provisions relating to working conditions and the
protection of workers while engaged in their work are enforceable by labor inspectors.” 81 In
addition, States shall “secure the enforcement of the legal provisions relating to working
conditions and the protection of workers while engaged in their work, such as provisions
relating to hours, wages, safety, health and welfare, the employment of children and young
persons, and other connected matters, in so far as such provisions are enforceable by labor
inspectors.” 82
For its part, the ILO Convention on the Worst Forms of Child Labour (No. 182) of
71.
1999, 83 to which Honduras is a party, establishes that States “shall take immediate and
effective measures to secure the prohibition and elimination of the worst forms of child labor
as a matter of urgency” 84 and shall “establish or designate appropriate mechanisms to monitor
the implementation of the provisions giving effect” 85to this Convention. In addition, States
“shall design and implement programs of action to eliminate as a priority the worst forms of
child labor” 86 and shall also “take all necessary measures to ensure the effective
implementation and enforcement of the provisions giving effect to this Convention including
the provision and application of penal sanctions or, as appropriate, other sanctions.” 87 In its
recommendation on the worst forms of child labor, the ILO also stated that in determining
and identifying where these types of child labor exist, consideration should be given to work
carried out under water, and work under particularly difficult conditions such as work for long
hours or during the night. 88
72.
In addition to being widely recognized in the international corpus iuris, 89 the right to
equitable and satisfactory working conditions has also been recognized in the constitutions
and legislation of those countries that have accepted the Inter-American Court’s contentious
79
Ratified by Honduras on May 6, 1983.
80
International Labour Organization. Labour Inspection Convention, 1947 (No. 81), Article 1.
81
ILO Convention No. 81, supra, Article 2(1).
82
ILO Convention No. 81, supra, Article 3(1)(a).
83
Ratified by Honduras on October 25, 2001.
84
International Labour Organization. Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention, 1999 (No. 182) Article 1.
85
ILO Convention No. 182, supra, Article 5.
86
ILO Convention No. 182, supra, Article 6.
87
ILO Convention No. 182, supra, Article 7.
International Labour Organization. Recommendation on the worst forms of child labour, 1999 (No. 190), points
2 and 3.
88
See, also: European Social Charter, Article 2; Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, Article
31, and African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights, Article 15.
89
25