Study on International Labour Organisation and It s Protection in Contributing Human Rights

Study on International Labour Organisation In Contributing Human Rights

STUDY ON INTERNATIONAL LABOUR ORGANISATION AND IT’S

PROTECTION IN CONTRIBUTING HUMAN RIGHTS

Submitted To: Submitted By:

Dr. Kusum Varun Bhardwaj

204/10

10th Semester

Section - A

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

1. INTRODUCTION

2. POLICY ON HUMAN RIGHTS AND LABOUR CONDITIONS

3. CONVENTION FOR HUMAN RIGHTS BY INTERNATIONAL LABOUR

ORGANISATION

4. FREEDOM OF ASSOCIATION AND PROTECTION OF THE RIGHT TO

ORGANISE CONVENTION

5. FORCED LABOUR ABOLITION CONVENTION

6. EFFECTIVE ABOLITION OF CHILD LABOUR

7. ELIMINATION OF DISCRIMINATION IN RESPECT OF EMPLOYMENT AND

OCCUPATION

8. UN CONVENTION ON THE RIGHTS OF PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES

9. CONCLUSION

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I would like to express my heartfelt gratitude and thank my teacher, Ms. Kusum mam for having

trust in me and giving me a project topic such as this and for having the faith in me to deliver.

My gratitude also goes out to the staff and administration of University Institute of Legal Studies

for the infrastructure in the form of our library that was a source of great help for the completion

of this project.

VARUN BHARDWAJ

INTRODUCTION

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The International Labour Organization (ILO) is the United Nations agency devoted to advancing

opportunities for women and men to obtain decent and productive work in conditions of

freedom, equity, security and human dignity. Its main aims are to promote rights at work,

encourage decent employment opportunities, enhance social protection and strengthen dialogue

in handling work-related issues.

The ILO is the only “tripartite” United Nations agency in that it brings together representatives

of governments, employers and workers to jointly shape policies and programmes.

The ILO is the global body responsible for drawing up and overseeing international labour

standards. Working with its 181 member States, the ILO seeks to ensure that labour standards are

respected in practice as well as principle.

Work is central to people’s well-being. In addition to providing income, work can pave the way

for broader social and economic advancement, strengthening individuals, their families and

communities. Such progress, however, hinges on work that is decent. Decent work sums up the

aspirations of people in their working lives. It involves opportunities for work that is productive

and delivers a fair income, security in the workplace and social protection for families. It entails

equality of opportunity and treatment for all women and men. The ILO works actively with the

UN and other multilateral agencies to develop policies and programmes that support the creation

of decent work opportunities as a central plank of efforts to reduce and eradicate poverty.

It takes responsibility for human rights and labour conditions encompasses:

•Operating sites - In developed countries, performance on most of the issues covered in this

policy will be required by law. Therefore this policy is primarily provided to guide operations in

those emerging markets where concerns are regularly expressed about human rights.

•Supply chain - It is our aspiration that the working conditions throughout our supply chain meet

internationally-accepted standards of human rights and working conditions.

POLICY ON HUMAN RIGHTS AND LABOUR CONDITIONS

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Through July 2011, the ILO has adopted 189 conventions. If these conventions are ratified by

enough governments, they gain the status of treaties. However, ILO conventions are considered

international labor standards regardless of ratifications. When a convention comes into force as a

treaty, it creates a legal obligation for ratifying nations to apply its provisions.

Every year the International Labour Conference's Committee on the Application of Standards

examines a number of alleged breaches of international labour standards. Governments are

required to submit reports detailing their compliance with the obligations of the conventions they

have ratified. Conventions that have not been ratified by member states have the same legal force

as do recommendations.

In 1998, the 86th International Labour Conference adopted the Declaration on Fundamental

Principles and Rights at Work. This declaration contains four fundamental policies:[9]

The right of workers to associate freely and bargain collectively;

The end of forced and compulsory labour;

The end of child labour; and

The end of unfair discrimination among workers.

The ILO asserts that its members have an obligation to work towards fully respecting these

principles, embodied in relevant ILO Conventions. The ILO Conventions which embody the

fundamental principles have now been ratified by most member states. Rexam is committed to

protecting the human rights of everyone who works for the company and all those who have

dealings with it. As a responsible company, we support the United Nations Universal Declaration

of Human Rights that sets “common standards of achievement for all people and all nations”

Principles underlying this policy This policy on human rights and labour conditions has been

developed with reference to the following documents:

•The United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

•The 8 so-called ‘fundamental’ labour standards of the International Labour Organisation. These

cover freedom of association; the right to organise and bargain collectively; use of forced labour

and equality.

•The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child

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Implementation

Responsibility- Responsibility for the compliance of Rexam PLC with this policy lies ultimately

with the Board. Performance will be reported to the Board by the Group Director of Human

Resources.

Responsibility for the implementation of the policy lies with the Sector HR Directors who are

required to develop procedures relevant to their Sector. They will work with plant directors who

are responsible for the day-to-day implementation of the policy.

Monitoring and compliance

Each Sector will be responsible for ensuring that it has in place the necessary arrangements to

monitor and report compliance against this policy on an annual basis.

Each business unit will be required to report their performance against this policy in its

Management Representation Letter.

Policy principles

Rexam requires that all its operating units seek to abide by the following:

SOCIAL DIALOGUE

Underlying the ILO’s work is the importance of cooperation between governments and

employers’ and workers’ organizations in fostering social and economic progress. Dialogue

between the governments and the two “social partners” promotes consensus-building and

democratic involvement of those with vital stakes in the world of work.

This “social dialogue” can mean negotiation, consultation or simply an exchange of views

between representatives of employers, workers and governments. It may consist of relations

between labour and management, with or without direct government involvement. Social

dialogue is a flexible tool that enables governments and employers’ and workers’ organizations

to manage change and achieve economic and social goals.

The very structure of the ILO, where workers and employers together have an equal voice with

governments in the work of its governing councils, shows social dialogue in action. It ensures

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that the views of the social partners are closely reflected in ILO labour standards, policies and

programmes. Social Dialogue is a flexible tool for achieving economic and social change.

At the same time, the ILO helps governments and employers’ and workers’ organizations

establish sound labour relations, adapt labour laws to changing economic and social

circumstances and improve labour administration. In supporting and reinforcing employers’ and

workers’ organizations, the ILO helps to create the conditions for effective dialogue with

governments and with each other.

GOVERNANCE AND POLICYMAKING

The ILO’s broad policies are set by the International Labour Conference, which meets once a

year and brings together the organization’s constituents. The Conference also adopts new

international labour standards and approves the ILO’s work plan and budget.

Between sessions of the Conference, the ILO is guided by its Governing Body, which is

composed of 28 government members, 14 employer members and 14 worker members. The

ILO’s Secretariat, the International Labour Office, has its headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland

and maintains field offices in more than 40 countries.

In 1999, Juan Somavia of Chile became the ILO’s ninth Director- General. He is the first person

from the Southern Hemisphere to head the organization

Forced Labour

An estimated minimum of at least 12 million people worldwide are victims of forced labour. Of

those, 10 million are exploited by forced labour in the private economy, rather than that imposed

directly by states. The ILO estimates that US$32 billion in annual profits are generated by the

forced labour of trafficked people.

Forced labour takes different forms, including debt bondage, trafficking and other forms of

modern slavery. The most vulnerable victims are women and girls forced into prostitution,

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migrants trapped in debt bondage, and sweatshop or farm workers kept there by clearly illegal

tactics and paid little or nothing.

The ILO has worked since its inception to tackle forced labour and the conditions that give rise

to it and has established a Special Action Programme on Forced Labour to intensify this effort.

Child Labour

Child labour is on the decline globally.There are more than 200 million children working

throughout the world, many full-time. They are deprived of adequate education, good health and

basic freedoms. Of these, 126 million — or one in every 12 children worldwide — are exposed

to hazardous forms of child labour, work that endangers their physical, mental or moral well-

being. The ILO has been a principal engine behind this growing movement. The International

Programme on the Elimination of Child Labour (IPEC), launched in 1992, now encompasses

activities in over 80 countries. As with other aspects of decent work, eliminating child labour is a

development as well as human rights issue. ILO policies and programmes aim to help ensure that

children receive the education and training they need to become productive adults in decent

employment.

Discrimination

Hundreds of millions of people suffer from discrimination in the world of work. This not only

violates a most basic human right, but has wider social and economic consequences.

Discrimination stifles opportunities, wasting the human talent needed for economic progress and

accentuating social tensions and inequalities. Combating discrimination is an essential part of

promoting decent work, and success on this front is felt well beyond the workplace. Programmes

to fight forced labour and child labour include helping girls and women trapped in prostitution or

coercive domestic labour. Non-discrimination is a main principle in the ILO’s code of practice

on HIV/AIDS and the world of work. ILO guidelines on labour law include provisions on

discrimination.

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At the same time, gender equality is integrated into all ILO activities. This reflects the persistent

and varied problems faced by women in the labour market. Discrimination stifles opportunities,

wasting human talent needed for economic progress

EMPLOYMENT AND INCOME

There has never been a greater need to put employment at the centre of economic and social

policies. With global unemployment at historically high levels, there has never been a greater

need to put employment at the centre of economic and social policies. Even among those who

work, the extent of poverty underscores the need for a far greater number of productive and

decent jobs. The insufficient pace in creating decent work worldwide points to the need for

greater international coordination of macro-economic policies, as well as active labour market

policies at the national level.

SOCIAL PROTECTION

The ILO is committed to helping countries extend social protection to all groups in society ,most

men and women do not have adequate levels of social protection. They face dangers in the

workplace and poor or non-existent pension and health insurance coverage. Some are not

allowed sufficient rest times and many women lack maternity benefits. International labour

standards and the UN recognize social protection as a basic human right. moreover, well-

designed social security systems improve economic performance, contributing to

competitiveness. The ILO is committed to helping countries extend social protection to all

groups in society and to improving working conditions and safety at work.

Social Security

Only 20 per cent of the world’s population have adequate social security coverage, and more

than half lack any coverage at all. The situation reflects levels of economic development, with

fewer than 10 per cent of workers in least-developed countries covered by social security. In

middle-income countries, coverage ranges from 20 to 60 per cent, while in most industrial

nations, it is close to 100 per cent.

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Social security involves access to health care and income security, particularly in cases of old

age, unemployment, sickness, invalidity, work injury, maternity or loss of a main income earner.

International Migration

Close to half of all migrants and refugees worldwide — or some 86 million adults — are

economically active, employed or otherwise engaged in remunerative activity. And the number

of migrants crossing borders in search of employment and human security is expected to increase

rapidly in the coming decades due to the failure of globalization to provide jobs and economic

opportunities. Strict immigration controls and barriers imposed by major receiving countries

have led to a number of issues of concern, including a high incidence of abuse and exploitation

of migrant workers in host societies.

The ILO sees today’s global challenge as forging the policies and the resources to manage labour

migration better so that it contributes positively to the growth and development of both home and

host societies, as well as to the well being of the migrants themselves.

GLOBALIZATION

Seeking a process of globalization that is inclusive, democratically governed and provides

opportunities and tangible benefits for all countries and people. The World Commission on the

Social Dimension of Globalization was established by the ILO's Governing Body in February

2002 at the initiative of the Director-General in response to the fact that there did not appear to

be a space within the multilateral system that would cover adequately and comprehensively the

social dimension of the various aspects of globalization. The World Commission Report, A Fair

Globalization: Creating Opportunities for All, is the first attempt at structured dialogue among

representatives of constituencies with different interests and opinions on the social dimension of

globalization, aimed at finding common ground on one of the most controversial and divisive

subjects of our time.

Socio-economic rights

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The denial of socio-economic rights is at the core of indigenous peoples’ marginalisation.

Indigenous people are often subjected to gross socio-economic human rights violations.

Although reliable indicators are not always available, a picture emerges of relative deprivation in

respect of the right to education, access to health care, property and employment. A number of

international law provisions, both globally and regionally, can be identified as guaranteeing the

socio-economic rights of indigenous peoples. In attempting to implement their international

obligations, several African countries have ended up adopting a number of measures, ranging

from constitutional, legislative to administrative, with a view to upholding particularly the socio-

economic rights of indigenous peoples. These rights include the right to food, the right to health,

the right to social security, the right to housing, the right to education, the right to land, and the

right to property including intellectual property. In an example of a positive legal development,

the CAR enacted legislation to prohibit the exploitation for commercial purposes of the oral

traditions of cultural minorities of that country. The inclusion of concern about the Batwa in the

Burundian Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper is a further example on which future developments

could be based

CONVENTION FOR HUMAN RIGHTS BY INTERNATIONAL LABOUR

ORGANISATION

The Governing Body of the International Labour Office has identified eight Conventions as

fundamental to the rights of human beings at work, irrespective of the level of development of

individual member States. These rights are a precondition for all the others in that they provide a

necessary framework from which to strive freely for the improvement of individual and

collective conditions of work.

The ILO Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work, adopted in June 1998,

highlights this set of core labour principles endorsed by the international community.The

Declaration covers four main areas for the establishment of a social “floor” in the world of work:

● freedom of association and the effective recognition of the right to collective bargaining;

● the elimination of all forms of forced or compulsory labour;

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● the effective abolition of child labour ;

● the elimination of discrimination in respect of employment and occupation.

These ILO Conventions have been identified as fundamental, and are at times referred to as the

core labour standards:

● Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise Convention, 1948 (No.

87)

● Right to Organise and Collective Bargaining Convention, 1949 (No. 98)

● Forced Labour Convention, 1930 (No. 29)

● Abolition of Forced Labour Convention, 1957 (No. 105)

● Minimum Age Convention, 1973 (No. 138)

● Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention, 1999 (No. 182)

● Equal Remuneration Convention, 1951 (No. 100)

● Discrimination (Employment and Occupation) Convention, 1958 (No. 111)

With an increasing number of countries having ratified most of these instru- ments, the ILO has

produced this booklet as a central resource that contains the text of these fundamental

Conventions along with the Declaration

Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise Convention

Whereas Freedom of association means that workers and employers can set up, join and run their

own organizations without interference from the State or one another. Along with this right is the

responsibility of people to respect the law of the land. However, the law of the land, in turn, must

respect the principle of freedom of association. These principles cannot be ignored or prohibited

for any sector of activity or group of workers. The right freely to run their own activities means

that workers’ and employers’ organizations can independently determine how they best wish to

promote and defend their occupational interests. This covers both long- term strategies and

action in specific circumstances, including recourse to strike and lock out.They can

independently affiliate with international organizations and cooperate within them in pursuit of

their mutual interests. To realize the principle of freedom of association and the right to col-

lective bargaining in practice requires, among other things:

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●a legal basis which guarantees that these rights are enforced;

●an enabling institutional framework, which can be tripartite or between the employers’ and

workers’ organizations;

●the absence of discrimination against individuals who wish to exercise their rights to have their

voice heard, and;

●acceptance by employers’ and workers’ organizations as partners for solving joint problems

and dealing with mutual challenges.

The General Conference of the International Labour Organisation, Having been convened at

Geneva by the Governing Body of the International Labour Office, and having met in its Thirty-

second Session on 8 June 1949, and Having decided upon the adoption of certain proposals

concerning the application of the principles of the right to organise and to bargain collectively,

which is the fourth item on the agenda of the session, and Having determined that these

proposals shall take the form of an international Convention, adopts this first day of July of the

year one thousand nine hundred and forty-nine the following Convention, which may be cited as

the Right to Organise and Collective Bargaining Convention, 1949.

FORCED LABOUR ABOLITION CONVENTION

Forced labour occurs where work or service is exacted by the State or by individuals who have

the will and power to threaten workers with severe deprivations, such as withholding food or

land or wages, physical violence or sexual abuse, restricting peoples’ movements or locking

them up. For example, a domestic worker is in a forced labour situation where the head of a

household takes away identity papers, forbids the worker to go outside and threatens him or her

with, for instance, beatings or non- payment of salary in case of disobedience.The domestic may

also work for an unbearably low wage, but that is another matter. If he or she were free to leave,

this would not amount to forced labour but to exploitation. The General Conference of the

International Labour Organisation, Having been convened at Geneva by the Governing Body of

the International Labour Office, and having met in its Fourteenth Session on 10 June 1930, and

Having decided upon the adoption of certain proposals with regard to forced or compulsory

labour, which is included in the first item on the agenda of the session.

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EFFECTIVE ABOLITION OF CHILD LABOUR

Children enjoy the same human rights accorded to all people. But, lacking the knowledge,

experience or physical development of adults and the power to defend their own interests in an

adult world, children also have distinct rights to protection by virtue of their age. One of these is

protection from economic exploitation and from work that is dangerous to the health and morals

of children or hampers the child’s development.

The principle of the effective abolition of child labour means ensuring that every girl and boy has

the opportunity to develop physically and men- tally to her or his full potential. Its aim is to stop

all work by children that jeopardizes their education and development. This does not mean

stopping all work performed by children. International labour standards allow the dis- tinction to

be made between what constitutes acceptable and unacceptable forms of work for children at

different ages and stages of development. To achieve the effective abolition of child labour,

governments should fix and enforce a minimum age or ages at which children can enter into

different types of work.Within limits, these ages may vary according to national social and

economic circumstances. The General Conference of the International Labour Organisation,

Having been convened at Geneva by the Governing Body of the International Labour Office, and

having met in its Fifty-eighth

Session on 6 June 1973, and Having decided upon the adoption of certain proposals with regard

to minimum age for admission to employment, which is the

fourth item on the agenda of the session, and Noting the terms of the Minimum Age (Industry)

Convention, 1919, the Minimum Age (Sea) Convention, 1920, the Minimum Age (Agriculture)

Convention, 1921, the Minimum Age (Trim- mers and Stokers) Convention, 1921, the Minimum

Age (Non- Industrial Employment) Convention, 1932, the Minimum Age (Sea) Convention

(Revised), 1936, the Minimum Age (Industry) Convention (Revised), 1937, the Minimum Age

(Non-Indus- trial Employment) Convention (Revised), 1937, the Minimum Age (Fishermen)

Convention, 1959, and the Minimum Age

(Underground Work) Convention, 1965, and Considering that the time has come to establish a

general instru-

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ment on the subject, which would gradually replace the existing ones applicable to limited

economic sectors, with a view to achieving the total abolition of child labour

ELIMINATION OF DISCRIMINATION IN RESPECT OF EMPLOYMENT AND

OCCUPATION

Discrimination at work can occur in many different settings, from high-rise office buildings to

rural villages, and in a variety of forms. It can affect men or women on the basis of their sex, or

because their race or skin colour, national extraction or social origin, religion or political

opinions differ from those of others. Often countries decide to ban distinctions or exclusions and

forbid discrimination on other grounds as well, such as disability, HIV status or age.

Discrimination at work denies opportunities to individuals and deprives society of what those

people can and could contribute.

Eliminating discrimination starts with dismantling barriers and ensuring equality in access to

training, education as well as the ability to own and use resources such as land and credit. It

continues with fixing conditions for set- ting up and running enterprises of all types and sizes,

and the policies and practices related to hiring, assignment of tasks, working conditions, pay,

benefits, promotions, lay-offs and termination of employment. Merit and the ability to do a job,

not irrelevant characteristics, should be the guide.

Discrimination in employment or occupation may be direct or indirect. Direct discrimination

exists when laws, rules or practices explicitly cite a particular ground, such as sex, race, etc. to

deny equal opportunities. For instance, if a wife, but not a husband, must obtain the spouse’s

consent to apply for a loan or a passport to participate in an occupation, this would be direct

discrimination on the basis of sex.

Indirect discrimination occurs where rules or practices appear on the surface to be neutral but in

practice lead to exclusions.

The General Conference of the International Labour Organisation, Having been convened at

Geneva by the Governing Body of the International Labour Office, and having met in its Forty-

second

Session on 4 June 1958, and Having decided upon the adoption of certain proposals with regard

to discrimination in the field of employment and occupation,

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which is the fourth item on the agenda of the session, and Having determined that these

proposals shall take the form of an

international Convention, and Considering that the Declaration of Philadelphia affirms that all

human beings, irrespective of race, creed or sex, have the right to pursue both their material well-

being and their spiritual development in conditions of freedom and dignity, of economic

security and equal opportunity, and

Considering further that discrimination constitutes a violation of rights enunciated by the

Universal Declaration of Human Rights,

adopts this twenty-fifth day of June of the year one thousand nine hundred and fifty-eight the

following Convention, which may be cited as the Discrimination (Employment and Occupation)

Convention

UN Convention on the Rights of People with Disabilities

The Convention is a new international human rights agreement that:

Recognises that we are all equal. Disabled people have the same rights as everyone else

to freedom, respect, equality and dignity.

Brings together all our basic human rights in one place.

Describes what government has agreed to do to make these rights real.

The Convention was created because often our human rights are not respected and we

face many barriers to inclusion in society. The Equality and Human Rights Commission

is working hard to raise awareness of the Convention among disabled people, legal

advisers and public bodies. The Convention describes the steps which governments must

take to make sure disabled people enjoy their human rights to:

equality before the law without discrimination

make their own decisions have their family life respected

freedom from exploitation, violence and abuse

an inclusive education a decent standard of living

support to participate in society and live in the community

accessible physical environments and information

CONCLUSION

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The International Labour Organization (ILO) deals with the whole range of labour issues. It

attaches particular importance to basic economic and social as well as civil and political rights,

as an essential element to improve the conditions of workers. It endeavours to implement these

principles by adopting standards on subjects of concern. These ILO standards take the form of

international labour conventions and recommendations. The regular supervision of ILO

conventions encompasses measures such as required reporting activities of each Member State of

the ILO at regular intervals. These reports are first examined in closed meetings by the

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

composed of 20 independent legal experts which meets every November. The Committee of

Experts comments are made in the form either of observations, which are published in the

Committee’s report on the Application of Conventions and Recommendations, or of requests

dealing with more technical questions, addressed directly to the Governments, which remain

unpublished. The Committee’s report is then considered at the annual session of the International

Labour Conference by a tripartite Conference Committee on the Application of Conventions and

Recommendations. At the level of programmes, ILO's work in several fields is aimed at

contributing to the objective of poverty reduction: promotion of labour based approaches in

infrastructure, cooperative development, micro finance and micro enterprise development, skill

development for the poor. In a number of crisis and post-crisis institutions, the ILO is helping

develop reconstruction programmes focussing on rebuilding livelihoods. Gender promotion is a

cross-cutting theme in all these areas. We also have specific gender-focussed programmes, e.g.,

promotion of more and better jobs for women, and the capacity building programmes on gender,

poverty and employment. The ILO remains committed to the International Development Goal of

reducing poverty by half by 2015, and to working with IFAD and other agencies in achieving

that goal.

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BIBLIOGRAPHY

BOOKS REFERRED

HUMAN RIGHTS HANDBOOK FOR PARLIAMENTARIANS

Evans, A.A. My Life as an International Civil Servant in the International Labour

Organization (Geneva, 1995)

Morse, D. The Origin and Evolution of the ILO and its Role in the World Community

(Ithaca, 1969)

WEBSITES REFERRED

http://www2.ohchr.org/english/law/cerd.htm

http://www.ilo.org/public/english/protection/secsoc/areas/legal/standard.htm

http://www.ilo.org/global/What_we_do/InternationalLabourStandards/Subjects/Socialsecurity/

lang-- en/index.htm

http://www.nesri.org/sites/default/files/Right_to_Social_Security.pdf

http://www.socialsecurityextension.org/

http://www.issa.int/News-Events/News2/Social-justice-social-protection-and-social-security

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http://www.socialsecurityextension.org/

http://www.nesri.org/sites/default/files/Right_to_Social_Security.pdf

http://www.ilo.org/global/What_we_do/InternationalLabourStandards/Subjects/Socialsecurity/lang--%20en/index.htm

http://www.ilo.org/global/What_we_do/InternationalLabourStandards/Subjects/Socialsecurity/lang--%20en/index.htm

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Study on International Labour Organisation and It s Protection in Contributing Human Rights

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