So international labour stanards are...
legal instruments drawn up by the ILO's constituents (governments, employers and workers) and setting out basic principles and rights at work.
And from this definition we may ask, well what is the ILO... that would be the International Labour Organisation. Who are the International labour organisation....
the International Labour Organization (ILO) is a United Nations agency dealing with labour issues, particularly international labour standards and decent work for all.
185 of the 193 members of the UN are also members of the ILO, including Australia. The ILO registers complaints against entities that are violating international rules; however, it does not impose sanctions on governments. The ILO organises a conference every year for it's members. The International Labout Conference is where conventions and recommendations are crafted and adopted. This is also known as the parliarment of labour, and is the place where most decisions about the ILO's general policy, work programme and budget are made. These meetings also deliver the world international labour standards!
The ILO adopts certain conventions which each member representative takes back to their countries. If the convention becomes ratified by enough countries, it becomes enforced. All conventions are considered to be international labour standards, those that become ratified just come with legal obligations to the member states.
Some examples of violations of ILO sactioned international labour standards include workplace discrimination, child labour and unsafe labour practises.
The ILO declares the following as benefits of the incorpoation of labour standards:
1) a path to decent work
2) a level plaing field
3) an international legal framework for fair and stable globalisation
4) a means of improving economic performance
5) a safety net in times of economic crisis
6) a strategy for reducing poverty
7) a sum of international experience and knowledge
An example of the ILO and their signifiance can be seen recently in the European Commission's proposal to the EU's Council of Ministers that EU Member States should be authorised to ratify the International Labour Organisation (ILO) new protocol. The protocol was adopted by the 103rd session of the International Labour Conference and countries ratifying the ILO protocol agree to prevent the use of forced labour, in particular in the context of trafficking in human beings, to improve the protection of victims, and to provide access to compensation. It also enhances international cooperation in the fight against forced or compulsory labour.
Hopefully this makes the whole ILO and international labour standards issue a little clearer for everyone!
Hey Amelia,
ReplyDeleteGreat blog! It clearly defined what the purpose of the ILO is, and really described it well to give a better understanding. I found an interesting article discussing the representation of countries in the ILO (or in this case, rather lack of representation):
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/business/india-business/India-demands-more-representation-at-International-Labour-Organization/articleshow/42373085.cms
It's worth mentioning that although theoretically the ILO seeks to incorporate labour standards internationally, it can be difficult given the different industries/economies each country is in... Personally I think it is hard to implement universal standards when there are many different factors that may effect the standards such as the type of work and even poverty.