International Labour Organizations Nature, Roles and Goals - Research Paper Example

Introduction The International Labour Organization (ILO) is an organization devoted to providing opportunities for people to obtain decent and prolific work in conditions characterised by freedom, equity, security and human dignity. The organization’s main objectives are to enhance rights in the workplace, promote decent employment opportunities, facilitate social protection and improve dialogue in handling work-related issues. It promotes social justice and internationally distinguished labour and human rights and also continues to follow its founding mission that labour peace is fundamental to success. In the present day, the ILO helps in advancing the creation of decent jobs and favourable working conditions that enable people, both working and in business, to have a stake in lifelong peace, progress and prosperity (ILO, 2010).In recognizing the endeavours of the ILO, this paper seeks to outline, its nature, roles and goals. The paper also discusses the organisation’s success in promoting conventions across a wide range of political issues. The paper begins by an overview of the roles and goals of ILO and then addresses the success realized by the ILO through its Conventions in many areas of the political arena. Key to the discussion is the tripartite nature of the ILO, which brings together workers’ organizations, employers’ organizations and governments in deliberations regarding employment and employment relations. The paper thus discusses the effectiveness of ILO’s various Conventions in relation to workers, employers and governments. Nature, role and goals of the ILO The ILO is an organization that is tripartite in nature, bringing together employers, workers and governments to set standards create policies and develop programmes. The tripartite nature of the organization makes it a unique organization because under it, workers’ and employers’ organizations have an equal voice with governments in all deliberations. This means not only governments but also employers and workers’ representatives are involved in ILO decisions. The significance of this is that the International Labour Conventions and Recommendations as well as conclusions on the supervision of international labour standards or policy orientations are prepared, deliberated and adopted on a tripartite basis. The ILO also sets minimum standards for crucial labour rights in various facets such as collective bargaining, freedom of association, elimination of forced labour, the right to organize, equality of treatment and opportunity, and a variety of other regulations that address conditions across the full scope of work-related issues (Hoffmeister, Wouters, and Ruys, 2006). The ILO promotes tripartism within member States by enhancing social dialogue to help craft and implement national policies. The organisation is cognisant of the fact that achieving fair terms of employment, favourable working conditions and development of the masses cannot be realised without the active involvement of employers, workers and governments, coupled by a broad-based effort by all of them. Thus is order to promote this approach, one of the fundamental objectives of the ILO is to fortify social dialogue among the tripartite constituents. It assists governments, workers’ and employers’ organizations to establish concrete relations, adopt labour laws to meet the changing social and economic needs and improve labour administration. The tripartite nature of the ILO encourages representatives of workers and employers to participate along with governments in social and economic policy formulation. It applies to all the decision-making organs such as the International Labour Conference (ILC), the Governing Body (GB) and other technical and sector meetings. The ILC meets once a year in June to deliberate its plans and achievements. As a plenary organ the ILC is the highest authority and negotiate and implements international recommendations, Conventions and other instruments. It also deals with the supervision of standards that are set and making decisions on ILO policies and priorities. A national delegation at the ILC comprises representatives of employers, workers and governments (Trebilcock, 1996). The executive Governing Body and its committees convene twice a year in a full session in March and November and also hold a short one-day session in June of each year to, among other things, discuss sessions of the ILC, ensure the ILC decisions are followed to implementation, and oversee the overall implementation of the various operations of the ILO (Hoffmeister, Wouters, and Ruys, 2006). Another organ of the ILO is the International Labour Office that serves as the secretariat of the ILO. It is the focal point of the activities undertaken by the ILO, and also undertakes the scrutiny of the Governing Body under the leadership of the Director-General (ILO, 2003). The ILO achieves its mandate by working on tasks grouped under four strategic objectives as (1) to promote and understand standards and essential principles and rights to work, (2) to create greater opportunities both men and women to obtain decent employment and income, (3) to enhance the coverage and effectiveness of social protection for all, and (4) to promote tripartism and social dialogue (ILO, 2010). These objectives are discussed in detail next. Promoting and understanding standards and essential principles and rights to work Under Article 19(1) of the ILO Constitution, different options for setting labour standards are available. ILO may adopt legally binding Conventions, and such Conventions need to be ratified by ILO member States (this is covered under Article 19(5) (d) of the ILO Constitution). The ILC can also adopt recommendations based on the set standards, which are then conveyed to all member States for deliberation with an aim to effect being passed to the States through a national legislation or otherwise, as stipulated in Article 19(6) of the ILO Constitution (Hoffmeister, Wouters, and Ruys, 2006). The Constitution provides for different systems of supervision. Thus, ratified Conventions and recommendations are supervised through a regular reposting system (Plant, 1994). In 1998, the ILO ratified its Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work. This was a re-affirmation of the ILO’s commitment to core labour of rights and a reflection of the political impact of labour and social movements that had for a long time decried the ruinous effect of free trade and globalization on conditions of work and labour rights. The significance of the ILO Declaration seems to have an even greater impact as it includes in its scope both those countries that have declined steadfastly to assent to the ILO Conventions, hence referred to as outliers, as well as the signatory countries. Therefore, the Declaration’s a significant step forward in establishing a global framework of labour rights and minimum working conditions (Reed & Yates, 2004). There is also a follow up to the Declaration to ensure that the set standards are adhered to. As provided for in the Annex to the ILO Declaration, the follow-up is “of a strictly promotional nature” (OECD, 2004, p. 48), and it is distinct from the ILO’s supervisory systems. The aim of the Annex is to encourage the efforts of the ILO members to promote the fundamental principles and rights at work, partly by identifying areas where ILO technical support and advice may deem useful to member States to help them implement the fundamental principles and rights. The follow-up offers a mechanism for collection of information on requirements, assessment of the effectiveness of ILO technical cooperation and assessment of future priorities (OECD, 2004). Creating greater opportunities for people to obtain decent employment and income According to the Taylor and Francis Group (2004), ILO aims to monitor, examine and report on the situation and trends in employment throughout the world, and evaluates the impacts on employment and social justice of economic trade, investment and related phenomena. To facilitate this, it has a programme on crisis response and reconstruction that addresses the impact on employment of armed conflicts, social movements or political transitions, natural disasters, and financial and economic disruptions. In the year 2003 for instance, ILO established that approximately 185.9 million workers worldwide (that is about 6.2% of the global labour force) were unemployed (Taylor and Francis Group, 2004), The aim is therefore to reduce unemployment as much as possible and ensure that those people in employment have decent lifestyles or work in conducive environments. ILO has a programme on sector skills knowledge and enjoyability. The programme supports governments drafting policies for improved investment in training and learning for improved employability, social inclusion and productivity. It focuses on promoting access to training and providing decent work for particular groups, such as youths, workers in the informal economy, and the disabled. The programme also protects the rights of the elderly. The jobs creation enterprise is aimed at helping governments, employers, worker and other related groups in fostering a successful business environment, for instance through the identification and implementation of appropriate policies, legal frameworks, and management strategies. ILO also strives to promote access to business training and development services and the promotion of local development programmes (ILO, 2003; International Labour Office, 2006a). There are also social financial programmes that address the impact of the current global financial and economic trends on creation of employment. For instance, in February 2002, ILO created the world Commission on the social dimension of globalisation to evaluate means of utilizing economic globalization to spur economic growth and reduce poverty. Further, in March 2003 ILO adopted the Global Employment Agenda, an all-inclusive framework for managing changes to employment derived from the developing global economy, by way of investing in knowledge and skills, maintaining a vibrant labour market and ensuring adequate social safety nets (Taylor and Francis Group, 2004; International Labour Office, 2006). Enhancing the coverage and effectiveness of social protection for all Through ILO’s 1944 Declaration of Philadelphia and a number of global labour standards, the organization recognizes the need for access to adequate social protection as a fundamental right of all workers. The Philadelphia Declaration recalls that the ILO must strike a fair balance between economic and social considerations in all of its activities (Servais, 2009). Thus, ILO’s focal point is on ensuring that countries are able to extend social protection to all groups in society and that they improve the work conditions and safety of their people. The key premise of ILO’s programme sector is that basic security for all is essential for productive work and human dignity in the future global economy (ILO, 1995; Taylor and Francis Group, 2004). The realization of basic security is deemed to encompass the attainment of basic humanitarian needs, which include universal access to health services and a decent level of education. The programme also aims to address a number of concerns, such as what constitutes socioeconomic security and insecurity in member countries; identifying the sources of such insecurity; and the economic, labour and social policies that could improve socio-economic security while promoting sustainable economic growth (International Labour Office, 2001). In view of this, the programme focuses on the several dimensions that include work-based security, security in the labour market (this revolves around provisions of adequate employment opportunities); employment security (which focuses on areas such as protection against dismissal); occupational security( that is the opportunity to develop a career); work security (safeguarding against accidents, stress at work and illnesses); skill reproduction security; representation security (that is the right to collective representation in the labour market – through membership to trade unions and employers’ associations); and income security (International Labour Office, 1993). There is a big challenge with social protection in that while at the present time social protection needs to have intensified in many countries, the mechanisms of addressing it seem to have fallen short of meeting their objectives. For instance, in many developing countries, many people engaged in gainful employment are denied access even to basic social protection and live on a day-to-day basis on the edge of misery (International Labour Office, 2001). The appropriate response to the underlying challenges thus lies in focusing on remedying the weaknesses realized in the pursuit of facilitating social protection and distinguishing them from the concept of social security. Promoting tripartism and social dialogue This area was recognized as one of the four objectives in order to concentrate and reinforce ILO’s support for strengthening the process of tripartism, the role of the activities of the tripartite constituents (that is employers, governments and workers’ organizations), and in particular, their ability to engage in and promote the use of social dialogue (Taylor and Francis Group, 2004). The ILO defines social dialogue as including all forms of consultation, intercession, and exchange of ideas between, or amongst the delegates of governments, workers and employers on matters of common interest. The operation of social dialogue varies between countries and between regions, however effective social dialogue depends on four basic tenets. First is respect for the fundamental rights of freedom of association and collective bargaining. Second is creation of strong, independent employers’ and workers’ organizations having the technical capacity and knowledge required to participate in social dialogue. The third point is the political will and commitment to engage in social dialogue on the part of all the parties to the tripartite, and fourth is the appropriate institutional support (ILO, 2010). As mentioned above, ILO recognizes that that the implementation of labour laws and ensuring their successful enforcement, collective bargaining and other forms of co-operation are significant means of promoting social justice. It therefore aims to assist governments and workers’ and employers’ organizations to develop sound labour relations, to adapt labour laws to suffice the needs of the changing economic and social trends, and to improve labour administration (Taylor and Francis Group, 2004). ILO identifies tripartism and social dialogue as integral elements of decent and productive work for all women and men, and comprises essential elements for attaining this in conditions of equity, freedom, security and human dignity. One of the commitments of ILO to achieve this is reflected in the declaration pertaining to tripartism and social dialogue, which was ratified at the 90th Session of the ILC in 2002. This resolution called upon governments of member States to ensure that the necessary preconditions exist for social dialogue; including respect for the fundamental principle and the right to collective bargaining and freedom of association, respect for the role of the social partners in achieving employment goals and improving social protection, and a sound industrial relations environment. ILO recognizes exchange of concepts as the most fundamental part of social dialogue. Closely related to this is a phenomenon referred to as policy concertation, which implies the co-determination of public policy by governments, trade union confederations and employers’ organizations. ILO thus employs tripartite policy concertation or social concertation, which is regarded as the climax of social dialogue, in which workers’ and employers’ delegates and governments have come up with a reflex for partaking in a concerted and multifaceted manner to deal with all fundamental national social policy and economic issues by consultation. Nevertheless, this can be achieved only if governments fully recognize the legitimacy and positive functions of social partners’ participation in the making of national policies (International Labour Office, 2006b). Success of the ILO in promoting Conventions across a variety of political issues Working on the objectives above, the ILO acts as an international meeting place for the field of work. Its team are experts on work and employment especially on the critical issues that affect economic development and progress. The heart of the mission of the ILO is helping countries build strong institutions that are embodiments of democracy and assisting them to become accountable to the people. ILO policies are formulated as conventions. Before discussing the effectiveness of these Conventions, it is worthwhile to discuss how the Conventions come into being. How Conventions are formulated? It is usually the ILO Governing Body that defines the agenda for the Conference. In this regard, it considers any proposal submitted by a government, an organization that represents workers or employers, or even an organization of international public law (Bhagwati & Hudec, 1996). It is upon the Governing Body to ensure that the preparatory technical and political work is conducted to a high standard. For instance, if on one hand the matter at hand implies knowledge of the national laws in place, the International Labour Office must present before the Governing Body a concise report of existing laws and practices. The Governing Body can also convene a preliminary technical conference, whose composition is an embodiment of the tripartite. Deliberations are driven by a desire for consensus and the purpose of universal applicability; hence, the elaboration of the instrument may be preceded by an informal tripartite meeting (as was the case for the Worst Forms of child labour Convention of 1999, No. 2), or a general discussion, that is, not leading immediately to the drafting of an instrument at the conference. This last alternative was the case for the Promotional Framework for Occupational Safety and Health Convention of 2006, No. 187; and the Maritime Labour Convention of 2006, No. 186 that was the product of five years of preparation encompassing numerous meetings and consultations (Servais, 2009). Success of Conventions ILO Conventions have been successful in many areas in the pursuit of fairness in the labour market and dealing with child labour. Many Conventions have been formulated since the inception of the ILO. This paper addresses the success of some of the conventions in various areas. Conventions regarding labour rights International labour rights have received special attention from many organizations. For instance, many World Trade Organization debates have revolved around the same issue. The ILO has promulgated over 180 Conventions that relate to a wide range of labour rights, and has identified a set of these protections as fundamental human rights. In essence therefore, ILO Conventions are not only about labour rights but also seek to ensure that human rights are respected in the field of employment or any form of work (Francioni, 2001). The key aspects of the protections identified as fundamental human rights include the rights to freedom of association and to form and be members of trade unions, and the prohibitions against prejudice in employment, exploitative child labour, slavery, forced labour and servitude. Save for the Conventions on child labour, the ILO Conventions that support the core principles have been ratified by at least 124 nation states, thus depicting the global relevance of the ILO Conventions. The importance of the Conventions is further emphasized by the fact that the 1998 ILO Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work established the core labour principles as binding on all ILO members, irrespective of whether the member state has ratified the applicable Convention. This means that in joining the ILO all members have endorsed the principles set out in the ILO Constitution and undertook to promote the overall objectives of the organization. Thus, all member States, though they have not adopted the particular Conventions, have a responsibility emanating from the very reality of being members to the ILO, to promote, to respect, and to realize the essential rights that are stipulated by those Conventions (Francioni, 2001). With the 1998 Declaration, the ILO seems to have achieved much success and attracted more focus. The rights stipulated in various Conventions have widespread support and the organization produces a powerful report on one of the rights every year. By doing so, it is able to name and shame the countries that are in breach of the Conventions. Nevertheless, it has the Declaration has also been criticised on grounds that instead of being a floor, that is a basic set of standards from which nations can improve, it is turning into a ceiling, in that it sets the maximum that can be expected from any country. This leaves a question of whether the ILO will be able to add new rights to the Declaration and whether it will be able to deal with persistent offenders, and whether it will encourage countries to deal with the other contents of the Conventions other than the sections on human rights (Davies, 2004). Conventions related to child labour One of the most significant Conventions is Convention 138, which prohibits child labour and was ratified in 1973. The Convention describes such labour as “economic activity performed by a person under the age of 15 that is performed under conditions hazardous to the mental, physical and moral wellbeing of the child as well as preventing effective school attendance” (McClintock, 2001, p. 900). However, the Convention was not embraced as widely as would be expected, as only 80 out of the 174 member states of the ILO have ratified it. In addition, the United States is one of the nations that have not signed or ratified Convention 138 (McClintock, 2001). Closely related to Convention 138 is Convention 182, which was adopted by ILO in June 1999. This Convention calls for the prohibition and instant action to abolish the worst forms of child labour for those under the age of 18 (McClintock, 2001). The vices mentioned to relate to this child labour include forced labour, slavery, trafficking in children, debt bondage and involvement of children in sex trade and drug trafficking, and exposure of children to hazardous conditions. Both Conventions have been helpful in curbing child labour in the countries that have ratified them. Their significance has been augmented by United Nations on the Rights of the Child of 1989 that also seeks to protect children from exploitative labour (McClintock, 2001). There have been growing concerns that efforts to eliminate the worst forms of child labour are slowing down due to the impact of the global economic meltdown. In view of this, the ILO has put in place measures to re-energize global campaigns to end the practice. It has launched the International Programme on the Elimination of Child Labour (IPEC) to meet this objective. The programme has been successful even as in the Global Report on child labour, the ILO noted that the worldwide number of child labourers had dropped by 3 percent from 222 million to 215 million between 2004 and 2008, which generally represents a slowdown in the speed of global reduction. The renewed effort is aimed at eliminating all forms of child labour by 2016 (ILO, 2010). Conventions regarding gender ILO has been active in ensuring that there is fairness between women and men at work. This has been achieved through a wide range of international labour standards and national legislations that have been adopted to cover a wide range of issues on gender. ILO Conventions have over time changed been modified from protective ones to ones aimed at giving men and women equal opportunities and equal rights. The adoption of the Equal Remuneration Convention of 151 (No 100), the Employment and Occupation Convention of 1958 (No.111) and Convention 156 (touching on workers with families) presented a shift in traditional attitudes relating to the role of women, and recognition of the point that family responsibilities affect not only women but the family and society in general. Since the 60th Session of the ILC held in 1975, the protection of women has been premised on the point that women must be secured from risks inherent in their profession and job on the same grounds and according to the same norms as men (International Labour Office, 2001). Success in other areas One way to evaluate the effectiveness of ILO Conventions on labour regulation is to assess countries’ progress in enforcing their commitments (where applicable) to ILO Convention ILO that covers equal pay and ILO Convention 111 that covers non-discrimination. It is important to note that ratification is one step while implementation and enforcement of the convention commitments matter as well (Davies, 2004). ILO has also been successful in many other areas. For instance, an ILO Tripartite Meeting on youth Employment in 2004 called for closer coordination between government institutions and agencies. As a minimum, the ILO calls for coordination between the ministries of labour and education as well as the ministries of youth in all countries where they exist. On a broader perspective, the Youth Employment Network, which is collaboration between the ILO, the World Bank and the UN, has encouraged countries to develop national plans entailing comprehensive efforts across various ministries, civil society and other partners, and has sought international technical and financial support for their implementation. Inter-ministerial collaboration has realised success in countries such as Japan (International Labour Office, 2008).In the 97th Session of the ILO held in Timor-Leste in 2008, the theme of discussion revolved around skills for improved efficiency employment growth and general development. It was noted that Timor-Leste faces a major development challenge and is ranked among the 10 poorest countries of the world. However, the ILO has organized a project known as Skills Training for Gainful Employment Programme (STAGE) to address this issue. Launched in 2004, the US$6 million programme incorporates efforts by ILO and UNDP with financial support from the European Union to promote a flexible, efficient and sustainable system of skill and enterprise training (ILO, 2010). Another important project is the one dubbed Cooperative Facility for Africa. This is a technical cooperation programme of the ILO, with funding from the Department for international Development. It operates from its Dar-es-Salaam (Tanzania) office and covers nine countries in Southern and Eastern Africa, assisting cooperatives to improve their governance, performance and efficiency in order to reinforce the capacity to access markets, create jobs, provide social protection for people, reduce poverty, generate better income, and empower people in the society (ILO, 2010). ILO also has a Microinsurance Innovation Facility that seeks to augment the accessibility of quality insurance to the developing world’s low-income population. This aims to guard workers against risk and enhance poverty reduction. The programme was launched in 2008 with the aid of a grant from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (ILO, 2010).Further, ILO has also collaborated with the International Finance Corporation to fund and support a pilot project referred to as Better Work in Lesotho, Jordan and Vietnam. The programmes bring together employers’ and workers’ organizations and of course the governments of the respective countries. It combines enterprise evaluations of conformity with labour standards at the industry level with capacity building and training. The project is expected to benefit more than 800,000 workers in the three countries (ILO, 2010). Conclusion In conclusion, the ILO has largely been successful it its ambition as an international organization that recognizes the need to have equal rights in the work environment and generally good working conditions for all workers. The tripartite nature of the organization makes it all-encompassing as it touches on the interests of workers, employers and governments. The organization’s success is evident right from the four objectives, which are to promote and understand standards and essential principles and rights to work, ensure that both men and women have equal rights in obtaining decent employment and income, provide social protection for all, and promote tripartism and social dialogue. This has been achieved through setting standards, creating policies and developing programmes that touch on a variety of issues. Through the various, Conventions the ILO has been able to help countries build strong institutions that embody democracy by touching on various political issues. ILO has therefore acted as a mediator connecting workers, employers and governments as they deliberate on labour issues, ultimately leading to stronger and more accountable economies. The overall success of the organization is seen in its projects around the world, which aim to eliminate child labour, provide more employment opportunities, reduce labour disparities, and support poverty reduction. Bibliography Bhagwati, J. N. & Hudec, R. E (1996). Fair Trade and Harmonization: Economic Analysis. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press. Davies, A.C. L. (2004).Perspectives on Labour Law. Cambridge, MA: Cambridge University Press. Francioni, F. (2001). Environment, Human Rights and International Trade. Oxford: Hart. Hoffmeister, F. Wouters, J. & Ruys, T. (2006). The United Nations and the European Union: An Ever Stronger Partnership. Cambridge, MA: Cambridge University Press, 2006 ILO (2010). Retrieved 2 July, 2010, from http://www.ilo.org/global/About_the_ILO/lang--en/index.htm , http://www.ilo.org/global/About_the_ILO/Structure/tripartism/lang--en/index.htm, http://www.ilo.org/global/About_the_ILO/Media_and_public_information/Feature_stories/lang--en/WCMS_093735/index.htm, http://www.ilo.org/global/What_we_do/Projects/lang--en/WCMS_096164/index.htm, and http://www.ilo.org/ipec/lang--en/index.htm. International Labour Office (1993). Report of the Director-General. Geneva: International Labour Organization. International Labour Office (2001). Social Security: A New Consensus. (2nd edition). Geneva: International Labour Organization. International Labour Office (2003). Fundamental Rights at Work and International Labour Standards, Volume 1. Geneva: International Labour Organization. International Labour Office (2006a).Tripartite Declaration of Principles concerning Multinational Enterprises and Social Policy (4th edition). Geneva: International Labour Organization. International Labour Office (2006b). Labour and social issues arising from problems of cross-border mobility of international drivers in the road transport sector: report for discussion at the Tripartite Meeting on Labour and Social Issues arising from Problems of Cross-border Mobility of International Drivers in the Road Transport. Geneva: International Labour Organization. International Labour Office (2008). Skills for Improved Productivity, Employment Growth and Development: Fifth Item on the Agenda. Geneva: International Labour Office. International Labour Organisation (1995). ILO Law on Freedom of Association: Standards and Procedures. Geneva: International Labour Organization. International Labour Organisation (2003). Decent Employment through Small Enterprises: A Progress Report on SEED Activities. Geneva: International Labour Organization. McClintock, B. (2001). “Trade as if children mattered.” International Journal of Social Economics, 28(10/11/12): 899-910. OECD (2000). International Trade and Core Labour Standards. London: OECD Publishing. Plant, R. (1994). Labour Standards and Structural Adjustment, Volume 1. Geneva: International Labour Organization. Reed, A. & Yates, C. (2004). “The ILO declaration on fundamental principles and rights at work: the limitations to global labour standards. In M. Irish, The Auto Pact: Investment, Labour, and the WTO. New York: Kluwer Law International. Servais, J. (2009). International Labour Law (2nd edition). Kluwer Law International. Taylor & Francis Group (2004). Europa World Year, Book 1. London: Taylor & Francis. Trebilcock, A. (1996). “Structural adjustment and tripartite consultation.” Journal of Public Sector Management, 9(1): 5-16. Read More