The I.L.O. Story.pdf

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extracted text: THE I.L.O. STORY Created in 1919, under the Treaty of Versailles which put an end to the first world war, the International Labour Organization (I.L.O.) is devo ted to the principle of impro ving living and working con ditions throughout the world since the poverty of certain peoples is a threat and an im pediment to the common pros perity * . Originally an associa ted body of the League of Nations, the I.L.O. became a United Nations agency after the end of the second world war; it is, indeed, the only world organization created in the aftermath of the first world war that survived the second conflict and its objec tives are still based on social progress. The sphere of action assign ed the I.L.O. under its Sta tute (Part XIII of the Versail les Treaty) includes control of working periods, the 8hour day and 48-hour week, recruiting of labour, reduction of unemployment, adequate wages, protection of workers against organic and occupa tional diseases, safeguarding of workers against accidents, abolition of child labour and special protection of young persons and women, old age. and disability pensions, equi table treatment of foreign workers, equal pay for equal work, free trade union asso ciation, organization of voca tional training and technical instruction for workers. These objectives were reaffirmed in the ‘Philadelphia Declaration’ of 1944. and included in the Statute. Upon this, the I.L.O. devoted itself to carrying out a vast programme that cover ed full employment and a bet ter standard of living for workers, employment of a worker in that type of job which enables him to produce the best results, possibilities for everyone to receive wa ges that ensure the minimum necessary, the widespread use of safety measures, adequate protection against risk, medi cal assistance, special mea sures for expectant and nur sing mothers in industry, ade quate and comfortable homes 88 Panorama and possibilities of improving and furthering technical skill. To reach such objectives, the I.L.O. follows a threefold path: drafting of internation al laws on labour and assis tance and consultation on so cial questions, documentation and publication of regulations concerning the principal la bour problems. Under the or ganization, workers, employ ers and government expo nents contribute towards de ciding a common policy to be adopted and, at the same time, they supervise activities. It is the participation of emplo yers and workers that distin guishes this organization from any other intergovern mental body. The organs of the I.L.O. are as follows: the «International Labour Conference * , chief authority of the organi zation, whose main task is to establish international labour laws. Each member of the I.L.O. (1) is represented at the annual meetings of the conference by two Govern ment delegates, a representa tive of the workers and a rep resentative of employers; the •Executive * , composed o f twenty Government repre sentatives, ten representatives of the workers and ten rep resentatives of employers; the «International Labour Of fice * (better known as the B.I.T. (Bureau International du Travail), the permanent secretariat. The B.I.T., with its head offices in Geneva, consists of 800 officials re cruited from more than six ty nations. Since 1948, it has been headed by David A. Morse, former U.S. Undersec retary for Labour. The B.I.T. prepares the annual report to the conference and other meetings arranged by the I.L.O. In this way, it guides and coordinates the work of experts from the various member states, provides in formation on the results achieved and gives particu lars of the decisions approv ed, often using its many pub lications as a medium. In order to study and pos sibly solve many specific problems, the I.L.O. has crea ted a certain number of •commissions * and •commit tees * , some permanent, others of a temporary character. Since 1945, ten industrial committees have been ap pointed to examine questions relative to mining, internal transport, iron and steel, me chanical industry, textiles, building, civil engineering and public works, oil and che mical industries, etc. Meet ings of these committees are attended by two representa tives of the workers, two rep resentatives of employers and October 1961 89 two' representatives of the .go vernments of those countries in which the industry under discussion is considered to be at an advanced stage. Labour questions peculiar to one country are examined during regional conferences held by the I.L.O. while various other commissions and committees have been created to examine special aspects of the field of labour (Maritime Commis sion, the Consultative Com mittee on Africa, the Consul tative Committee on Asia, the Permanent Agricultural Com mittee, the Committee of Ex perts for Social Security). International laws adopted by the conference in relation to labour (conventions and recommendations) are inclu ded in an «International La bour Code * . Up to the begin ning of 1960, the International Labour conference had adop ted 114 conventions and 112 recommendations. The regu lations in some of these have been modified so that they meet the changed require ments of the labour world. These conventions may, in a certain sense, be compared to treaties, for the countries that ratify them are pledged to execute the norms they con tain; recommendations, on the other hand, act as a useful guide to the social policy followed by the various member countries. A great deal of time is required for their drafting and represen tatives of all the eighty mem ber nations of the I.L.O. par ticipate in this important ope ration, for it is essential that such regulations or suggest ions express the general opin ion. Since its foundation, the I.L.O. has given a great deal of active assistance to the execution of policy. The or ganization’s operations in this particular field have increas ed considerably since the in troduction of the-United Na tions assistance programme, and they are held to be among the most important of the agency’s undertakings at the present time. Since 1959, the I.L.O. has been a member of the United Nations’ Spe cial Fund for Economic De velopment; the organization has chiefly limited its inter vention to those countries that are considered to be un der-developed, so that these may reach a stage of being able to benefit from the tech nical and structural expe rience of highly industrial nations. During the last ten years, on the request of in dividual governments, the or ganization has sent more than 2,000 experts on various missions and awarded over 300 scholarships. In 1959, six 90 Panorama ty two nations and territories received I.L.O. aid under the technical assistance program me (in the form of vocation al training, rehabilitation of persons disabled through la bour accidents, rational em ployment of manpower). On a regional scale, aid has been coordinated with special agencies in Bangalore (India) for Asia, at Istambul for the Middle and Near East, at Li ma for South America, Me xico City for Mexico, the An tilles and Central America and at Lagos for Africa. Generally speaking, the real value of such programmes lies in their appeal to any coun try desiring to make use of the experience and know ledge of nations with differ ent economic and social de velopment stages .arid of the assistance of civil and cultu ral associations. The I.L.O. has recently un dertaken an educational prog ramme for workers (courses, conferences, furnishing of au diovisual apparatus) and vo cational training schemes (training of technical person nel, management, etc.), prin cipally addressed to those countries .that are now un dergoing strong economic and industrial expansion and, in 1960, decided upon the foun dation of an «International Institute of Social Studies * in Geneva, for the purpose of furthering a better understan ding of labour problems in all nations and finding the most suitable solutions. ♦ * AN AMPHIBIAN CAR FOR EVERYBODY The Industriewerke Company of Karlsruhe is just starting an assembly line for an amphibian car in its Lubeck factory. This amphibian automo bile for civilian, private use will be known as the amphicar. The first 25,000 amphicars are bound for the American market. The amphicar looks like an ordinary car with four wheels and four seats. It is powered by a 1200 ccm four-stroke en gine with four cylinders. On the road it does 75 miles per hour. You can drive it straight into any river or lake, switching the engine over to a cou ple of plastic propellers in the rear. This converts the car into a boat, though in water it does only six to seven miles per hour. Still, here is a car which can be used as a motor-boat, and no longer depends on bridges. October 1961 91
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