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International Labour Organisation

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International Labour Organisation 1 International Labour Organisation Introduction The International Labour Organization is an organization in the United Nations System which provides for tripartite—employers, unions, and the government-representation. The International Labour Organization (ILO) was established in 1919 and its headquarter is in Geneva. It is one of the important organs of the United Nations System. The unique tripartite structure of the ILO gives an equal voice to workers, employers and governments to ensure that the views of the social partners are closely reflected in labour standards and in shaping policies and programmes. The main aims of the ILO are to promote rights at work, encourage decent employment opportunities, enhance social protection and strengthen dialogue on work-related issues. Origin of International Labour Organisation The ILO was founded in 1919, in the wake of a destructive war, to pursue a vision based on the premise that universal, lasting peace can be established only if it is based on social justice. The ILO became the first specialized agency of the UN in 1946. The ILO was established as an agency of the League of Nations following World War I, its founders had made great strides in social thought and action before 1919. The core members all knew one another from earlier private professional and ideological networks, in which they exchanged knowledge, experiences, and ideas on social policy. In the post–World War I euphoria, the idea of a "makeable society" was an important catalyst behind the social engineering of the ILO architects. As a new discipline, international labour law became a useful instrument for putting social reforms into practice. The utopian ideals of the founding members—social justice and the right to decent work—were changed by diplomatic and political compromises made at the Paris Peace Conference of 1919, showing the ILO's balance between idealism and pragmatism. Over the course of the First World War, the international labour movement proposed a comprehensive programme of protection for the working classes, conceived as compensation for labour's support during the war. Post-war reconstruction and the protection of labour unions occupied the attention of many nations during and immediately after World War I. In Great Britain, the Whitley Commission, a subcommittee of the Reconstruction Commission, recommended in its July 1918 Final Report that "industrial councils" be established throughout the world. The British Labour Party had issued its own reconstruction programme in the document titled Labour and the New Social Order In February 1918, the third Inter- Allied Labour and Socialist Conference (representing delegates from Great Britain, France, Belgium and Italy) issued its report, advocating an international labour rights body, an end to secret diplomacy, and other goals. And in December 1918, the American Federation of 2 Labor (AFL) issued its own distinctively apolitical report, which called for the achievement of numerous incremental improvements via the collective bargaining process. As the war drew to a close, two competing visions for the post-war world emerged. The first was offered by the International Federation of Trade Unions (IFTU), which called for a meeting in Bern, Switzerland, in July 1919. The Bern meeting would consider both the future of the IFTU and the various proposals which had been made in the previous few years. The IFTU also proposed including delegates from the Central Powers as equals. Samuel Gompers, president of the AFL, was elected Chairman of Paris Peace Commission composed of representatives of nine countries ( Belgium, Cuba, Czechoslovakia, France, Italy, Japan, Poland, the United Kingdom and the United States) in 1 February 1919. The Commission issued its final report on 4 March 1919, and the Peace Conference adopted it without amendment on 11 April. The report became Part XIII of the Treaty of Versailles as an organ of the League of Nations and ILO was established on 28th June 1919. The first annual conference (referred to as the International Labour Conference, or ILC) began on 29 October 1919 at the Pan American Union Building in Washington, D.C and adopted the first six International Labour Conventions, which dealt with hours of work in industry, unemployment, maternity protection, night work for women, minimum age, night work for young persons in industry. The prominent French socialist Albert Thomas became its first Director General. Constitution and Structure of ILO The ILO (established in 1919) is a unique organization in the United Nations System which provides for tripartite-employers, unions, and governments-representation. India a founder member of the ILO. Presently the ILO has 187 member countries. The Cook Island are the are the member of non –United Nations states join in June 2015. At every level in the organization, besides government, two other social partners, namely the workers and employers, are involved. All three groups are represented in all the organs of the ILO and share responsibility in conducting its work. The preamble of the constitution of ILO contains the basic purpose for attainment of which the organisation has been established. The ILO set forth a few fundamental principles at the time of inception. These principles are embodied in the form of Charter of Freedom of Labour which was reaffirmed in Philadelphia Charter in 1944. These Charter are’ (i). Labour is not a Commodity. (ii). Freedom of expression and of association are essential to sustained progress. (iii). Poverty anywhere constitutes danger to prosperity everywhere. (iv). The war against want requires to be carried on with unrelenting vigour within 3 each nation by continuance and concerted international effort in which the representatives of workers and employers, enjoying equal status with those of the governments, join with them in free discussion and democratic decision with a view to the promotion of common welfare. The ILO operates through three main organs, these organs are : 1. The International Labour Conference The ILO organizes the International Labour Conference in Geneva every year in June, where conventions and recommendations are crafted and adopted. It is the organization's policy- making and legislative body, in which every member state is represented. It holds one session a year at ILO headquarters in Geneva. It is known as the "parliament of labour", the conference also makes decisions about the ILO's general policy, work programme and budget. Each member country sends to the International Labour Conference a national delegation consisting of four delegates. Two represent the government, one represents the country's employers, and one represents the country's workers. Alternates and advisers may be sent as well as nongovernment delegates take part on an equal footing with government representatives as a matter of constitutional right. Representatives of employers' and workers' organizations are included in its policy-making, standard-setting, and executive machinery and participate, with full voting rights, in all these aspects of its work. All of them have individual voting rights, and all votes are equal, regardless of the population of the delegate's member state. The employer and worker delegates are normally chosen in agreement with the "most representative" national organizations of employers and workers. Usually, the workers' delegates coordinate their voting, as do the employers' delegates. All delegates have the same rights, and are not required to vote in blocs. 2. The Governing Body The Governing Body is the Executive Council of the ILO, which meets three times a year in the months of March, June, and November.The Governing Body decides the agenda of the International Labour Conference, adopts the draft programme and budget of the organization for submission to the conference, elects the director-general, requests information from member states concerning labour matters, appoints commissions of inquiry and supervises the work of the International Labour Office. This governing body is composed of 56 members, 28 from government representatives, 14 from workers' representatives, and 14 from employers' representatives. Ten of the government seats are held by member states that are nations of "chief industrial importance," as first considered by an "impartial committee." The nations are Brazil, China, France, Germany, India, Italy, Japan, the Russian Federation, the United Kingdom and the United States of America and they do not participate in election. The remaining government members, elected for three years. Under amendments to the ILO constitution adopted by the International Labour Conference in 1986—to become effective when ratified or accepted by two-thirds of the members, including 5 of the 10 permanent members of the Governing Body—the members of the 4 Governing Body will be increased to 112 (56 representing governments, 28 representing employers, and 28 representing workers) and the 10 permanent seats will be eliminated. As of 2002, this amendment had not yet entered into force. Guy Ryder is the 10th present Director General of ILO. ILO Director-General Guy Ryder took office on 1 October 2012. Guy Ryder sees the ILO as absolutely central to the questions of the day: jobs, social protection, the fight against poverty, and equality. For this reason, he wants to reinforce the ILO's place at the centre of international decision-making on issues that affect the world of work. The Director-General wants the ILO to play a role in difficult global situations – such as economic crisis – and on the national agendas of countries undergoing change, especially where the world of work is at stake. To support these goals, Guy Ryder has started a process of internal reform to strengthen the ILO's technical capacity and improve its policy analysis. Period wise and country wise list of former Director Generals are as under’ Table- LIST OF DIRECTOR GENERAL OF ILO SINCE 1919 Period Name Country 1919-1932 Albert Thomas France 1932-1938 Harold Butler U.K. 1939-1941 Johan G. Winant U.S. 1941-1948 Edward Pelan Ireland 1948-1970 David A.
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