Labour Human Rights in Portugal: Challenges to Their Effectiveness

Abstract

This article discusses the relationship between Portugal and the International Labour Organization (ILO), considering the extent to which the ILO’s system of international labour standards is recognised at the national level in the context of labour law and labour relations, and observes the ILO’s special procedures (complaints and representations) in the field of international labour human rights. The use of the ILO’s system of complaints and representations by national social actors is relevant for the configuration of the Portuguese labour relations system, considering that the changes and tensions emerging from labour relations gain expression and voice within these mechanisms. In order to assess the effectiveness of national laws and regulations, we analyse the effects of ILO’s special control mechanisms on the state, law and labour relations system. Indeed, the use of the ILO’s complaints and representations system seems to reveal the ineffectiveness of labour human rights in Portugal. The ILO’s special procedures are analysed according to three functions: a political function as a result of the mediation state/labour civil society; an instrumental/procedural function referring to the regulation of conflicts; and a symbolic function related to the setting/expression of social expectations. The soft law characteristics associated with this mechanism as well as its results are also considered.