INTERNATIONAL LABOUR ORGANISATION (International Labour Organisation; abbreviation: I.L.O.). - It is a tripartite institution in which governments, employers and workers, directly represented, carry out, on the international plane, action directed to the protection and improvement of working conditions, in order to promote the international stability of economic and social conditions.
A part of the peace treaties of the first post-war period (the 13th part of those of Versailles, St-Germain and Trianon, the 12th of those of Neuilly and Sèvres) is devoted to the I.L.O., and inserted in it (cf. art. 427 of the Treaty of Versailles) is the so-called "International Labour Charter", containing certain general principles governing the social policy of the League of Nations, within which, with a certain autonomy, the Organisation was included (the principle that labour should not be regarded merely as a commodity or article of commerce; the right of association for all purposes not contrary to law, both for wage-earners and for employers; payment of workers with a wage assuring them a convenient standard of life, suited to the environment and the time; adoption of the 8-hour day and the 48-hour week, to be achieved wherever it has not yet been obtained; adoption of a weekly rest of 24 hours as a minimum, including Sunday, wherever possible; abolition of child labour and the obligation to impose on the work of young persons of both sexes the limitations necessary to allow them to continue their education and ensure their physical development; the principle of equal pay without distinction of sex, for work of equal value; assurance in the rules issued in each country concerning conditions of work of equitable economic treatment for all workers legally resident in that country; organisation by each State of an inspection service, including women, to ensure the application of the laws and regulations on the protection of workers).
The I.L.O. survived the collapse of the League of Nations, continued to function during the Second World War and then became linked with the new United Nations Organisation (U.N.). Among the organs of the latter there is an Economic and Social Council with particular competence as regards the realisation of the purposes of the U.N. relating to international collaboration in economic and social matters (among which the promotion of a higher standard of living, full employment of labour and the conditions of economic and social progress and development). The I.L.O. is recognised as a specialized agency of the U.N.; their relations are governed by a special agreement (1946). It has a characteristic of its own among inter-state institutions, in that in its organs are the representatives of workers and employers alongside those of governments, in the proportion of two for the latter and one for each of the others. The headquarters is in Geneva, except during the war period (between 1940 and 1948), when it had to be moved to Montreal. During the same period, at the Conference of 1944, what was later called the "Declaration of Philadelphia" was resolved, a kind of updating of the international Labour Charter. On the basis of it, the I.L.O. has the duty to promote, in all the Nations of the world, measures suited to ensuring in particular: full employment and a wage sufficient for the needs of life; the extension of social security systems and of medical care; the protection of maternity and childhood; sufficient food, decent housing and leisure in free hours; equal opportunities for all to have a better education and a better vocational training; indispensable measures of hygiene and safety in the workplaces; the effective recognition of collective bargaining and of cooperation between employers and workers for the improvement of the organization of production; the possibility for all of an equitable participation in the fruits of progress in matters of wages and earnings, etc.
There are three essential organs: the International Labour Conference, the highest deliberative organ, which generally meets once a year; the Governing Council, the directing organ, which meets four times in the same period; the International Office, the executive and administrative organ and permanent secretariat (and a seat also in Rome, besides in other cities of various countries).
The Conference brings together the national delegations of the member States, which have reached the number of 61. Italy has been part of it since its origin (1919), except in the last times of fascism, owing to a withdrawal determined by political motives following the Ethiopian war, returning then to be part of it in 1945. The principal task of the Conference consists in elaborating norms of universal in scope, making them the subject of international conventions (plurilateral, open) or of recommendations to governments (for adoption in individual domestic laws). The constitution of the I.L.O. requires that member States submit to the competent national authorities, for proposal of ratification, the conventions adopted by the Conference. A convention enters into force when it has been ratified by a specified number of States. With ratification the State undertakes to modify or supplement its own legislation so as to make it conform to the provisions of the convention itself; it further undertakes to submit to the I.L.O. a report on the measures taken in that regard. Measures are also provided for to guarantee that ratified conventions are effectively put into force. Recommendations are not subject to the ratification procedure, but member States are nevertheless obliged to give practical effect to the provisions adopted therein.
The Governing Body is composed of 32 members: 8 representatives of workers, 8 of employers, 16 of governments, of which 8 with permanent representation of as many countries of major industrial importance (among them Italy) and 8 elected from among the other States. It fixes the agenda of the Conference; directs and supervises the services of the Organization, and deliberates its annual budget.
The Office comprises the whole of the technical services; it is charged with studies and research and with the drafting and printing of numerous publications, ensures the secretariat services, prepares the documentation relating to the subjects placed under discussion, and provides the means intended to ensure the application of the conventions.
As of 1 Aug. 1949, 98 conventions and 90 recommendations had been adopted; the former had gathered 1022 ratifications. Under the auspices of the I.L.O. a great number of missions have been sent to countries and regions that needed the work of experts. For some time now, this task of technical assistance to member States has been developed. A particular effort is directed at promoting and guiding all the countries toward a more efficient use of their own manpower resources, and this entails the organization of employment placement, vocational training and emigration for purposes of work. At the same time the I.L.O. has developed its regional activities, holding conferences and preparatory meetings in Europe, Latin America, Asia and the Near and Middle East. Among the conventions adopted one may note, for example, those on the 8-hour day and the 48-hour week, freedom of association, the protection of wages, paid holidays, insurance against sickness and old age, the prohibition of forced labour, of night work by women, etc. Numerous are those on specific sectors of economic activity; a whole series is directed, for example, at the improvement of the conditions of seafarers.
After 1945, industry committees were established with the aim of contributing to the solution of economic or social problems of particular industries (e.g., coal, iron and steel, petroleum, etc.). To facilitate the work of the Organization in different sectors, special committees were established (such as those for accident prevention, for industrial hygiene, the work of women, salaried employees, social security, etc.).
Bibliography9 works
Ferruccio Pergolesi