ILO International Labour organization

What is the ILO?

This is an International Labour Organization which was created in 1919 of the treaty of Versailles which emerged the League of Nations. In 1946 after the demise of the League of Nations, the ILO became the first specialized agency associated the Limited Nations which is a Tripartite agency that brings together Government, Employers  and Workers' with the  view of promoting decent work in the World.

When was the ILO created?

the ILO was founded in the year 1919

What is the mandate of the ILO?

ILO seeks the promotion of Social Justice, Internationally recognized human and labour rights and decent work for all. This implies that the ILO is an agency which fights for human rights and ensures the fair treatment of both Women and Men.

ILO's key direction which is Decent Work: 

Creates greater opportunities for Women and Men to secure decent employment and income.

Promotes and realize International Labour Standards, fundamental principles and rights at work. this means that the ILO makes sure that there are no infringements of rights.

Extend coverage and effectiveness for social protection for all. This means policies and programmes are designed to reduce poverty and vulnerability for all.

Strengthen tripartism and socal dialogue. Implying that, ILO brings together the Government, Employers and Workers to negotiate and reach on a consensus.

What are the means of action of the ILO? 

The ILO's means of achievements are through:

Standard Setting Activities.

Technical Cooperation.

Knowledge Development and Dissemination.

Publication.

What are the main bodies of the ILO?

The main bodies are:

The International Labour Conference

The Governing body which is made up of 28 Government representatives, 14 Employers representatives and 14 Workers representatives.

International Labour Office.

What is ACTRAV?

The Bureau for Workers' Activities is the main link between the International Labour Office and the world of work through its key Stakeholders: the Trade Union Movement.

disseminates policies and programmes of the ILO and its technical units to Trade Unions.

Reflects interest of Trade Unions in programs and actions of the ILO.

Supports Workers' representatives in ILO's decision making bodies.

Educate and train Trade Union Leaders/activists and staff. An obvious example is this Young Women Leadership Training being organized by ACTRAV.

                                        QUIZ II

What is ILS?

They are legal instruments drawn up by the ILO constituents (Government, Employers and Worker) that sets out basic principles and rights at work. Which are made up of Conventions, Recommendations and Protocols.

What subjects do ILS cover?

The ILS ensures better working conditions for all. below are the subjects ILS covers.

Freedom of Association and Collective Bargaining 

Equality of Opportunity and Treatment 

Elimination of Child Labour and Protection of Children and Young Persons

Forced Labour Occupational Safety and Health 

Working Time

Employment Security 

Wages 

Training and skills development 

Labour Administration and Inspection 

 Employment Policy and Promotion

 Social Security 

 Maternity Protection 

Migrant Workers 

Indigenous and Tribal Peoples Specific Categories of Workers

What are the main characteristics of the ILS?

Tripartite - The consensus of Government, Employers and Workers.

Universal - Are set at the world level 

Flexibility - Take into accounts the needs of all member states.

How are ILS created?

First a problem is identified.

Item put on ILC agenda (by GB or ILC with 2/3 majority)

Item is then discussed at the International Labour Conference once or twice

Instrument adopted with a 2/3 majority of delegates present at the International Labour Conference.

How are ILS supervised?

Regular System of Supervision. This is bases on the obligation to report on each of the application ratified Convention (Art. 22 ILO Constitution)

Through Special Systems of Supervision. This involves cases of specific allegations of violation by a Member State.

What are the main supervisory bodies of the ILO?

They are:

Committee of Experts on the Application of Conventions and Recommendations (CEACR) 1926

Conference Committee on the Application of Standards.

Committee on Freedom of Association - 1951

a. Tripartism

Tripartism is a system where governments, employers and employees come together on common ground to find solutions for labor and social policies. As stated in the Workers' Rights in a Global Economy: Recap of Chapter 1 , "A function tripartism requires as a minimum; independent workers and employers organisation that has authority with representation of over a significant part of the workforce and the enterprises, democratic governments that gurantee the right to organise and bargain collectively with providing a conducive environment for genuine substantive dialogue, and a willingness of all sides to accept the demands and very existence of the counterparts as legitimate".

b. Means of action of the ILO

Since its establishment in 1919, ILO works on a tripartite system that encourages the promotion of opportunities for decent and productive work for both women and men, in alightment with freedom, equality, security and human dignity. With this in mind, ILO has means of action which acts as a guideline to achieve end results that benefit all the three parties (governments, workers and employers).

Firstly, there is a standard setting of activities where the elaboration and adoption takes place, with supervision of member states application of International Labor Standards. With this comes Technical Cooperation. Here, promotion of the objectives are established by ILS, whilst undertaking a range of research activities and the publishing of findings through books, manuals and journals etc.

c. ILO Core Conventions

The subjects which are covered by the Core conventions are;

- Feedom of association, collective bargaining and industrial relations

- Elimination of Child Labour 

- Forced Labour

- Anti- discrimination

- Equality of opportunity and treatment

There are differences that arises in regards to their implementation for women and men. For years, gender equality has been a challenge that is progressive but at a slow rate. For example, there are more awareness programmes and training  given to men when compared to women. However, this is changing as women are encouraged to be more active not only at workplaces but also in union movements. 

d. Normlex Database Analysis

Fiji, as named by its government of the day, as democratic is so "far fetched". Out of the 38 conventions rarified by Fiji,  of which 29 are in force, I have identified at least  two (2) ILO conventions that has not been ratified;

1. CO87: Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise Convention,1948 (No.87)

2. CO98: Right to Organise and Collective Bargaining Convention, 1949 (No.98)

 As a unionist, recent events of the massive layoff of Water Authority of Fiji [WAF] employees, saw that CO87 and CO98 was not being honoured by both the Government and Employer. In September 2018, WAF and the representative of workers, National Union of Workers (NUW) came into a lengthy collective bargaining meetings and successfully came into an agreement and signed the Collective Agreement (CA) where provisions could be changed in the year 2021. However, despite this, the employer breached the CA by giving out Individual Contracts. The union, NUW, in turn, informed the employer to refrain from such unlawful practise as there is a CA already in place. In February 2019, Offer Letters were given out to workers with their contract term stated 'As per CA'. In the CA, there is a classification of workers who are either permanent ( worker who has been working with the authority continuously with more than 1 year) and temporary (worked with the authority within 6 months). Despite this, the employer went ahead and laid off workers on the 30th of April 2019, stating that their contract term has expired. On the 1st of May, majority of the workers turned up to work, only to be locked out. This staged a protest by all the workers, but, this was cut short by Fiji Police force who came in and stated that workers were in breach of the Public Order Act (Cap20) of Fiji. Anyone seen to be in breach of this were arrested. This resulted in the unlawful arrest of Mr Felix Anthony (General Secretary)  from a tripartite meeting with the Government representatives, employer and ILO officials, and 29 members of union members and 1 union worker, who were arrested from the Fiji Trade Union Congress private property.

For the past 6 days, police officers has been circulating the Fiji Trade Union Congress office intimidating workers with their presence. This breaches the CO87 Article 3 (2) which states that ' The public authorities shall refrain from any interference which would restrict this right or impede exercise thereof'.

(Ref: Personal Experience and Observation)

I think Fiji has not ratified both the above mentioned Convention as the government leaders in itself needs to be changed. Since the current Fiji government lead the 2006 Fiji Coup, there has been little freedom of association mostly for trade union movements. There is also some laws in place, like the ' Public Order Act' that requires premits for approval of organise and association. Fiji Trades Union Congress has made multiple applications for a Nationwide March only to be rejected by either the Fiji Police or Fiji Road Authority, with one of their latest reason that it is a handful for both the authorities to handle such an event.