ILO Flashcards
history ILO
founded 1919 Treaty of Versailles (context of the League of Nations)
specialized UN agency since 1946
members ILO
185 members
mandate
to coordinate decent, minimum conditions for work across the globe (forum)
believe that the growing economic inequality within and across countries is bad for workers, social stability and international peace and order
principle of tripartism
each member state of the ILO has representatives from:
- government
- employer groups
- employee/labour groups
uniqueness ILO
4
- tripartism
- reconciling organizational authority and state sovereignty
- ILO straddles the line between state power and globalization to a degree impossible to imagine for strictly state-centric organizations
- operates in highly political domains that often fall within the domestic sphere
succes ILO
The ILO is very strong if you look at legal superiority above its members, but weak when it comes to substantive power over labor conditions
ILO structure
International Labor Conference (ILC)
Governing Body
International Labor Office (the Office)
International Labor Conference (ILC)
plenary body
assembly of delegates of tripartite
meets once a year to
- draw new labor standards
- set the organizations budget and finances
- admit new member states
- elections for the governing body in three-years terms
Governing Body
executive committee
56 delegates of tripartite
- 14 labour delegates
- 14 employer delegates
- 28 national delegates (of which 10 permanent seats for states of ‘‘chief industrial importance’’)
meets multiple times a year to:
- monitor existing labour conventions
- determine the ten states of chief industrial importance
International Labor Office (the Office)
secretariat
led by the Director-General
Bureaucratic support to the other two bodies
obligations ILO
general obligations to the Constitution of the ILO
- consider ratification of all conventions and recommendations
- periodically report to the ILO Director-General on domestic labor regulations and practices
- immediate and complete abolition of forced compulsory labor
new labor standards agreed upon by a 2/3 majority have to be ratified by individual governments to become legally binding
- if a state doesn’t ratify, it still has to report to the ILO periodically about its own policies on that subject
ILO compliance
- tripartism -> bigger consensus/agreement -> bigger compliance
- voluntarism: states can chose what they want to ratify
- peer pressure: if countries violate certain conventions, other countries help in shaming
ILO enforcement
complaint structure/process:
1. complaint / ‘‘representation’’ by any part of the tripartism of any ILO member
- investigation by Commission of Inquiry
- result: question to change policies/behavior (monitored by the governing body and general membership)
- ultimate action: sanctions or expulsion if the country doesn’t comply
the ILO is mainly build to avoid noncompliance and contests of political power with their members (as IOs usually can’t win them)
ILO usually opts to continue to negotiate with non-complying governments (e.g. Myanmar) while working to publicize its noncompliance in the hope that other states and actors might add their influence in the direction of compliance
case Myanmar (chapter)
issue: practice of forcing civilians to work as unwilling labour in construction projects and in support of military operations (sometimes as means of individual and collective punishment).
- Myanmar (then the Union of Burma) ratified the Forced Labor Convention (C.29), outlawing forced labour
1996 complaint + investigation found 2 laws that go against the ban on forced labor
commision issued report with several demands
Myanmar didn’t immediately comply, the ILO chose to keep working with/on it -> more issues and negotiations + noncompliance -> now better relationship Myanmar + significant steps to better labor circumstances
!striking case: shows what a big influence soft power/diplomacy has
Case study Qatar (class)
World cup Qatar -> complaints about labor rights:
Kafala system (sponsorship that ties a worker to a certain employer)
complain launched by the International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF) and International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) 2014
decision: Qatar 1 year to fix it -> reforms -> complaints dropped -> continuing criticism that the reforms weren’t enough
