ILO Conventions 111 and 100 in Central America and Mexico: An Assessment of the Jurisprudence of the ILO Committee of Experts

The International Labor Organization (ILO) monitors compliance with Conventions through two mechanisms: the Committee on Freedom of Association (CFA) and the Committee of Experts on the Application of Conventions and Recommendations (CEACR). While there is a significant amount of attention and literature dedicated to the work of the CFA, there is less attention devoted to the work of the CEACR. There is also inadequate attention to the ILO’s promotion and monitoring of ILO Conventions 100 (equal pay for work of equal value for women and men) and 111 (prohibition of discrimination in work and occupation based on sex and other grounds). These Conventions form the third pillar of the 1998 Declaration on Fundamental Rights at Work. This paper hopes to rectify this gap in the literature by examining the jurisprudence of the CEACR relating to ILO Conventions 100 and 111 in Mexico,Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras. It finds that ILO Committee of Experts comments had an impact on the development and improvement in labor laws in the countries examined but that sole causation could not be ascribed. Legal changes frequently took decades to occur and resulted from a combination of efforts by national and international social movements as well as reports and comments issued by the ILO and other regional and international bodies.