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The ILO

Janice R. BellaceSamuel Blank Professor of Legal Studies

The Wharton SchoolUniversity of Pennsylvania

April 4, 2008

The ILO

• The first “UN” agency• Established by the Treaty of Versailles –

chapter XIII in 1919• Recognition at end of WW I that social

justice for workers was a basis for peace• US, UK (British Empire) and Europe the

founding members• Currently 178 member states

Structure of the ILO

• The International Labour Conference• The Governing Body• The Office• The specialist parts

– Committee of Experts 1921– Committee on Freedom of Association

History

• Headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland from the beginning

• Survived the collapse of the League of Nations

• War-time evacuation to Canada• 1944 Declaration of Philadelphia – a

forerunner of the UN Charter

Declaration of Philadelphia• Labour is not a commodity;• Freedom of expression and of association are essential

to sustained progress;• Poverty anywhere constitutes a danger to prosperity

everywhere;• The war against want requires to be carried on with

unrelenting vigour within each nation, and by continuous and concerted international effort in which the representatives of workers and employers, enjoying equal status with those of governments, join with them in free discussion and democratic decision with a view to the promotion of the common welfare.

ILO Mission

The ILO is dedicated to • bringing decent work and livelihoods,• job-related security, and • better living standards

to the people of both poor and rich countries.

The International Labour Organization (ILO) is devoted to reducing poverty , achieving fair globalization and advancing opportunities for women and men to obtain decent and productive work in conditions of freedom, equity, security and human dignity.

Composition of ILO

• Unique membership structure• Each member state has 4 representatives

2 from government1 employers’ representative1 workers’ representative

• Therefore, in voting, it is possible for one member state to come out on both sides of an issue

Composition of the ILO

• Constituent parts reflect the tripartite structure of the Conference

• Committees 3 co-chairs (or at least 2 co-chairs: employers’ and workers’representatives)

• The Conference Committee on the Application of Standards: employer and worker representatives review governments’ compliance

Composition of the ILO

• Committee of Experts composed of neutralpersons who review reports sent by governments on compliance with ratified conventions

• Committee on Freedom of Association is tripartite (neutral chair, employers’ and workers’ members of the panel). CFA considers specific disputes arising under Conventions 87 and 98.

ILO Conventions

188 Conventions

• Ratification is voluntary• Governments obliged to consider

ratification • Pattern of ratification varies considerably

ILO Conventions

188 Conventions fall into 3 categories:

• Protecting basic human rights• Promoting key instrumentalities of social

policy formation• Establishing basic labor standards

The Declaration

• 1998 Declaration of Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work

• Not worker rights but human rights that have particular applicability at work

• Fundamental rights drawn from UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948)

The Declaration

• freedom of association and the effective recognition of the right to collective bargaining;

• the elimination of all forms of forced or compulsory labor;

• the effective abolition of child labor; and• the elimination of discrimination in

respect of employment and occupation

Core Conventions

• C. 87 Freedom of Association and the Right to Organise (1948) --similar to Art. 20 of UN Universal Declaration

• C. 98 Collective Bargaining (1949) –similar to Art 23 of Universal Declaration

Core Conventions

• Convention no. 29, Forced Labour (1930) which calls upon ratifying States to refrain from the use of forced or compulsory labour.

• Convention No. 105, Abolition of Forced Labour (1957) which calls upon ratifying States to take active steps to eliminate compulsory labor

Core Conventions

• Convention no. 138 Minimum Age (1973)

• Convention no. 182 Worst Forms of Child Labour (2000) –activities designed to harm the health, safety or morals of children

Core Conventions

• Convention no. 100 Equal Remuneration (1950) -- for work of “equal value”

• Convention no. 111 Discrimination (1958) prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, sex, political opinion, national extraction or social origin

Core Conventions

Ratification drive since 1998 designed• to highlight the fundamental importance of

these 8 conventions (out of 188)• to persuade governments of the

importance of working to implement these fundamental human rights

• to gain formal tripartite commitment to upholding these principles

Committee of Experts

• Committee of Experts on the Application of Conventions and Recommendations(not Committee on Freedom of Association)

• 20 independent “jurists” from around the world (not representatives of their country)

• Highest supervisory body in the ILO


Committee of Experts expresses its views on a member state’s compliance with a ratified convention in two forms:

• Observations• Direct Requests


Committee of Experts expresses its views on the meaning of a Convention or a topic covered in several conventions in a General Survey.

The Governing Body each year selects the topic for the annual General Survey.

2007 - Procurement


In Observations and Direct Requests, the Committee of Experts aims

1.To point out specific areas of discrepancy between the convention’s requirements and national law and practice

2.To focus only on the most important points3.To maintain a dialogue


In Observations and Direct Requests, the Committee of Experts

1.does not dictate specific changes to national law

2.may note a possible way of resolving non-compliance

3.may offer the “services of the Office”

Services of the Office

Technical Cooperation 1.Staff from 40 field offices focus on needs

of the region 2.Multi-disciplinary teams 3.Training workshops4.Missions5.Commissions of Inquiry

ILO Initiatives

• Decent Work campaign• International Program for the Elimination

of Child Labor (IPEC)

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