A/HRC/34/57 governments to IMF between 1998 and 2005 contained commitments to be flexible with labour market regulation.9 15. Early cases can be tracked to the 1950s, such as when IMF required Argentina to control wage increases. Adjustment measures implemented during the 1980s in the context of the Mexican debt crisis entailed a considerable reduction in both the number of public employees and their salaries, among others. The relevant reforms ranged from minor modifications to comprehensive reform packages with far-reaching amendments to both collective and individual labour laws. For example, during the 1990s, Côte d’Ivoire undertook reforms in the context of an IMF/World Bank-supported economic adjustment programme, which included the deregulation of the rules concerning temporary employment, dismissal and overtime, and involved the decentralization of the collective bargaining system. Similarly, the structural adjustment programme carried out in Argentina during the 1990s entailed individual labour law reforms, involving, for instance, extending the duration of the probation period and collective labour law reforms, which granted firmlevel agreements priority over sectoral agreements. 16. In recent years, austerity-driven labour law reforms have remained a widespread trend. No fewer than 89 countries implemented such reforms between 2010 and 2015 and more than half (49) of them were implemented in developing countries. In addition, 130 countries had reportedly implemented or were contemplating cuts in or caps on publicsector salaries, more than two thirds (96) of which were developing countries.10 Table 1: Austerity-related labour law reforms between 2010 and 201511 Others Highincome East Asia countries and Pacific Eastern Europe/ Central Asia Latin America/ Caribbean Middle East/ North Africa South Asia Sub-Saharan Africa Number of austerity-related labour law reforms 40 9 12 11 6 3 8 Number of cuts in or caps on public sector wages 34 18 17 14 8 7 32 17. In the context of the eurozone crisis, labour law reforms have been particularly farreaching. Crisis-stricken eurozone countries have notably adopted legislation to reduce the economic costs of laying off workers. This was done through measures such as cutting severance pay, shortening notification periods, lowering the protection against unfair dismissal and easing the rules on collective redundancies, among others (see table 2 below). 18. Labour law deregulation has also been promoted in the context of international financial assistance by IMF to Morocco and Tunisia. These cases are interesting as IMF and the World Bank had changed their discourse towards social inclusion and protection of the poor and had become more cautious vis-à-vis their earlier austerity-driven approach. However, in the case of Tunisia, the policies promoted by the international financial 9 10 11 6 Mark S. Anner and Teri L. Caraway, “International institutions and workers’ rights: between labor standards and flexibility”, Studies in Comparative International Development, vol. 45, No. 2 (2010), pp. 151, 163-164. Isabel Ortiz and others, “The decade of adjustment: a review of austerity trends 2010-2020 in 187 countries”, Extension of Social Security Working Paper, No. 53 (ILO, Columbia University and The South Centre, 2015), pp. 12-13. The analysis therein draws on 616 IMF Article IV reports. Table based on Isabel Ortiz and others (note 10 above), pp. 12-13.