UNIT 1.
UNIONS AND THE INTERNATIONAL LABOUR ORGANIZATION
1. What is the International Labour Organization (ILO)?
T
he ILO is a specialized agency of the United Nations. It is the only agency with a tripartite structure. The ILO has the power to develop international labor standards, monitor compliance, and to formulate policies and programs to promote decent work and social justice. The ILO was established in 1919, with the signing of the Treaty of Versailles that ended the First World War. The ILO’s creation is rooted in the concern over the miserable and intolerable conditions of the working class caused by industrialization.1 The basic intention of the founders was to create an entity with the power to produce international labor legislation of a protective nature. The Preamble to the ILO Constitution reflects the various ethical, political, social, and economic concerns regarding the inhumane working conditions of the working class and the conviction that universal and
lasting peace can be established only if it is based upon social justice. Part XIII of the Treaty of Versailles contains the ILO Constitution. Article 427 recognizes “that the well-being, physical, moral and intellectual, of industrial wage-earners is of supreme international importance” and that “labour should not be regarded merely as a commodity or article of commerce.” The ILO has been a strategic ally of trade unions. It was the first organization to legally recognize trade union rights, including the right to freedom of association at the international level.2 The international instruments adopted at the International Labour Conference, the principles and decisions of the bodies of the ILO supervisory system, the technical assistance of the International Labour Office, and the political support of the ILO have had substantial influence on the promotion of protective labor legislation3
1. The ILO: what it is, what it does. 2005, pp.3-6. Available here: http://www.ilo.ch/global/about-the-ilo/ WCMS_082364/lang--en/index.htm. 2. Committee of Experts on the Application of Conventions and Recommendations. General Survey on Freedom of Association and Collective Bargaining. 1994, paragraph 5. 3. VILLASMIL PRIETO, Humberto. Una visión “americana” del centenario de la OIT: aproximación a la comprensión de una relación histórica. ILO: 2019. En: https://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/---americas/---ro-lima/--sro-santiago/documents/publication/wcms_736787.pdf
PRACTICAL GUIDE TO TRADE UNION ACTION AT THE ILO
15
