International Labour Organization

International Labour Organization (ILO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations that deals with labour issues pertaining to international labor standards. Its headquarters are in Geneva, Switzerland. Its secretariat — the people who are employed by it throughout the world — is known as the International Labour Office. The organization received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1969.

Membership and organization

Establishment

The ILO was established as an agency of the League of Nations following the Treaty of Versailles, which ended World War I.

VanDaele, (2005) argues that in 1919 a pioneering generation of scholars, social policy experts, and politicians designed an unprecedented international organizational framework for labour politics. The founding fathers of the ILO 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. Prewar 'epistemic communities,' such as the International Association for Labour Legislation (IALL), founded in 1900, and political networks, such as the Socialist Second International, were a decisive factor in the institutionalization of international labor politics. 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 labor law became a useful instrument for putting social reforms into practice. The utopian ideals of the founding fathers – 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

Members include states that were members on 1 November 1945, when the organisation's new constitution came into effect after World War II. In addition, any original member of the United Nations and any state admitted to the U.N. thereafter may join. Other states can be admitted by a two-thirds vote of all delegates, including a two-thirds vote of government delegates, at any ILO General Conference.

Unlike other United Nations specialised agencies, the International Labour Organization has a tripartite governing structure — representing governments, employers and workers.

Governing Body

The Governing Body decides the agenda of the International Labour Conference, adopts the draft programme and budget of the organisation for submission to the conference, elects the director-general, requests information from member states concerning labor matters, appoints commissions of inquiry and supervises the work of the International Labour Office.

This guiding body is composed of 28 government representatives, 14 workers' representatives, and 14 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 terms of office are three years.

International Labour Conference

The ILO organises the International Labour Conference in Geneva every year in June, where conventions and recommendations are crafted and adopted. The conference also makes decisions on the ILO's general policy, work programme and budget.

Each member state is represented at the conference by four people: two government delegates, an employer delegate and a worker delegate. 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.

International Labour Code

One of the principal functions of the ILO is setting international labour standards through the adoption of conventions and recommendations covering a broad spectrum of labour-related subjects and which, together, are sometimes referred to as the International Labour Code. The topics covered include a wide range of issues, from freedom of association to health and safety at work, working conditions in the maritime sector, night work, discrimination, child labour, and forced labour.

US membership

At the time of establishment, the US government was not a member of ILO, as the US Senate rejected the Covenant of the League of Nations, and the US could not join any of its agencies. Following the election of Franklin Delano Roosevelt to the US presidency, the new administration made renewed efforts to join the ILO even without League membership. On 19 June 1934, the US Congress passed a joint resolution authorizing the President to join ILO without joining the League of Nations as a whole. On 22 June 1934, the ILO adopted a resolution inviting the US government to join the organization. On 20 August 1934, the US government responded positively and took its seat at the ILO.

Training and teaching units

The International Training Centre of the International Labour Organization (ITCILO) is based in Turin, Italy. Together with the University of Turin, Faculty of Law, the ITC offers training for ILO officers and secretariat members, as well as offering educational programs. For instance, the ITCILO offers a Master of Laws (LL.M.) program in Management of Development, which aims specialize professionals in the field of cooperation and development.