Origin of the International Labour
Organisation (ILO)
The idea of regulating labour at an
international level gradually gained favour throughout the 19th century. The
ILO was created in 1919, as part of the Treaty of Versailles that ended World
War I, to reflect the belief that universal and lasting peace can be
accomplished only if it is based on social justice. Articles 387 to 427 of the
Treaty deal with the organisation of the ILO which comprises a tripartite
conference – the International Labour Conference; a tripartite executive body –
the Governing Body and a permanent secretariat – The International Labour
Office.
The First Session of the ILC, which
brought together delegations from 40 countries, was held in Washington, between
October and November of 1919. During this first Conference, six conventions and
six recommendations on fundamental issues such as hours of work, maternity
protection, night work by women and young people and minimum age for work in
industry were adopted.
The ILO was located in Geneva in the
summer of 1920. Its first Director was Albert Thomas, a Frenchman. Under his
strong impetus, 16 Conventions and 18 Recommendations were adopted in less than
two years.
The International
Labour Organisation today
At present, there are 185 countries who are ILO members. The ILO is the
only United Nations Agency which has a tripartite format that is governments,
employers and workers representatives. This tripartite structure makes the ILO
a unique forum in which the governments and the social partners of its Member
States can freely and openly debate and elaborate labour standards and
policies. The very structure of the ILO, where workers and employers together
have an equal voice with governments, shows social dialogue in action, it
ensures that the views of the social partners are closely reflected in ILO
labour standards, policies and programmes.
The ILO accomplishes its work through
three main bodies:
i) the Governing Body: this is the
executive council of the ILO and meets three times a year in Geneva. It is
composed of 56 titular members (28 Governments, 14 Employers and 14 Workers)
and 66 deputy members ( 28 Governments, 19 Employers and 19 Workers). Ten of
the titular governments seats are permanently held by States of chief
industrial importance ( Brazil, China, France, Germany, India, Italy, Japan,
the Russian Federation, the United Kingdom and the United States). The other
Government members are elected by the Conference every three years. The
Employer and Worker members are elected in their individual capacity. The
Governing Body takes decisions on ILO policy, decides the agenda of the
International Labour Conference and elects the Director- General of the ILO
ii) the International Labour
Conference: this Conference meets once a year in May/June in Geneva, Switzerland. During
the Conference, international labour standards , such as Conventions and
Recommendations are discussed and adopted and this Conference serves also as
forum for discussion on key social and labour questions. It also adopts the
ILO’s budget and elects the Governing Body. Each Member State is
represented by a delegation consisting of two government delegates, an employer
delegate, a worker delegate and their respective advisors. Every delegate has
the same rights and all can express themselves freely and vote as they wish.
Worker and employer delegates may sometimes vote against their government’s
representatives or against each other. This diversity of viewpoints however
does not prevent decisions being adopted by very large majorities or in some
cases even unanimously. During each Conference a number of Heads of State and
prime ministers are invited to address participants.
iii) the International Labour
Office: this is the permanent secretariat of the ILO.
It is the focal point for the ILO’s
overall activities, which it prepares under the scrutiny of the Governing Body
and under the leadership of the Director-General. The Office employs about
2,700 officials from over 150 nations at its headquarters in Geneva and in
around 20 field offices around the world.
International Labour Standards
Since its inception in 1919, the
International Labour Organisation has maintained and developed a system of
international labour standards aimed at promoting opportunities for women and
men to obtain decent and productive work, in conditions of freedom, equity,
security and dignity. These standards are legal instruments drawn up by the
ILO’s constituents, that is governments, employers and workers and are adopted
at the ILO’s annual International Labour Conference. These standards take the
form of either a convention, which is a legally binding international treaty
that may be ratified by member states, or a recommendation which serve as a non
–binding guideline. In many cases, a convention lays down the basic principles
to be implemented by ratifying countries, while a related recommendation
supplements the convention by providing more detailed guidelines on how it
could be applied. A Recommendation can also be autonomous, that is not linked
to a convention.
To date the ILO have adopted 189
Conventions and 202 Recommendations. The Governing Body has identified eight
conventions as “Fundamental”, covering subjects that are considered as
fundamental principles and rights at work. These Conventions are:
• Forced Labour Convention, 1930
(No. 29)
• Freedom of Association and
Protection of the Right to Organise Convention, 1948 (No. 87)
• Right to Organise and Collective
Bargaining Convention, 1948 (No.98)
• Equal Remuneration Convention,
1951 (No. 100)
• Abolition of Forced Labour
Convention (No. 105)
• Discrimination (Employment and
Occupation) Convention, 1958 (No. 111)
• Minimum Age Convention, 1973 (No.
138)
• Worst Forms of Child Labour
Convention, 1999 (No. 182)
Malta and the International Labour Organisation (ILO)
Malta
has been a member of the ILO since 4th January 1965. To date Malta has ratified
61 Conventions out of which 54 are in force. These include the eight
fundamental conventions. Malta is an active member of the ILO. Through its
official delegation made up of Government, employers’ and workers’
representatives, it participates in the annual International Labour Conference
and other regional meetings organised by the ILO from time to time. In
fact, between the 5th and 16th June 2017, the Director of the Department led a
tripartite delegation at the 106th Session of the Conference in Geneva. The Hon
Dr. Aaron Farrugia, Parliamentary Secretary for European Funds and Social
Dialogue also attended and addressed this Conference. The Maltese delegation
included a number of high- ranking officials from Trade Unions and Employers’
Associations. Mr. Josef Bugeja, (GWU) and Mr. Joseph Farrugia (MEA),
respectively the Maltese Workers’ and Employers’ delegates also addressed the
Conference. A Highlight of the event was when H. E. Ms. Marie-Louise Coleiro
Preca, President of the Republic, addressed the World of Work Summit as one of
three High Level Speakers dealing with gender equality in the World of
Work.
This
year, the Maltese Delegation played a particularly crucial role. The DIER was
actively representing the whole of the European Union, on behalf of the Maltese
Presidency of the European Union. This entailed chairing European Union
coordination meetings on every committee on the Agenda of the Conference, reading
statements on behalf of the European Union and European Commission and
participating in drafting committees with representatives of other regions,
workers and employers on the conclusions and recommendations of two of these
committees. Consequently, Malta was able to influence the outcome of this
conference of global impact and that had a participation of more than 5000
delegates.
Items
placed on the Agenda of this year’s Conference included the finalisation of the
revision to Recommendation 71 which deals with Employment and Decent Work for
Peace and Resilience,, a discussion on labour migration and a recurrent
discussion on the fundamental principles and rights at work which called on the
Director General to further promote ILO core labour conventions and the
Committee on the Application of Standards which adopted conclusions on 24
individual cases related to issues arising from the application of labour
standards, At the end of the Conference, the revision to Recommendation 71 was
adopted.