In 1998-99, he served as a member of the transition team of the new Director General Juan Somavia. It would be fair to say that he knows the ILO inside out. Now Professor of Economic Security at the University of Bath in the UK, he is well placed to reflect on the organization's potential and failings. (Standing)
Focus of the ILO
The roots of the ILO's current problems began in the 1970s, according to Standing, with the rise of economic philosophies that tended to view any kind of regulation as a 'market distortion'. It was not long before the ILO was seen as a symbol of an antiquated way of thinking. The U.S.A. actually pulled out from 1977 to 1980. This precipitated a crisis and ever since then, particularly after the fall of communism, the ILO has been struggling to redefine itself. (Standing)
The ILO still sets labour standards, of course," says Standing, "but it made a historic mistake in putting its faith in a new Declaration in 1998 establishing core standards to which all its members had to subscribe. Not bad, you might think. The problem was that this tended to marginalize all the other Conventions and it was not legally binding. Meanwhile, the ILO has tried to take on a role of a development agency, providing technical assistance to governments, and it has tried to become a global provider of knowledge and expertise. It has lost its focus, and cannot stretch to all three roles successfully. The roles are all subject to internal pressures. This has resulted in a gradual shift towards vague terms and a reluctance to deal in objective measurement. There's a tacit understanding that these things just lead to trouble." (Standing)
Vague Strategy
Standing says that in 1999, the ILO adopted the vague notion of "social dialogue," a term it borrowed from the OECD. Taking shelter behind vagueness was becoming a general strategy. Another example was the Declaration in 1998, which enshrined "core" labour standards. These are all worthy standards: banning forced labour, gender discrimination, the worst forms of child labour, and calling for an end to restrictions on the freedom of association. However they are matters of common and civil law, rather than part a global strategy or progressive agenda.
Again, it is all part of a drift towards imprecision and soft labour law," says Standing, "as opposed to binding regulation. Over recent decades the ILO has stopped addressing inequality and replaced this with calls for employment equity." (Standing)
Tripartism "Warping"
The tripartite structure is what gives the ILO its legitimacy on the global stage. It does not take much imagination to guess what would happen if these three groups started taking control of the key positions. Rather than a genuine discussion over fact-based policy, presented by competent authorities, we would soon have capture or deadlock. Sadly, this is what happened. Some of the key management positions have been filled by Employer or Worker reps, and this has ushered in a regime of horse-trading. The ILO is at an impasse. Just a time when the world needs effective global rules, the organization has allowed itself to become marginalized. It needs to be rescued, or something else created to fill a void. (Standing)
Role of the ILO
The failure to move from old-style labourism means that the ILO is not in any position to play a major role. Endless empty statements about decent jobs are no substitute for a really progressive strategy. Whisper it... But globalization is dead. Now is the time for real friends of workers across the world to work for a new strategy for equality and freedom. The New Unionism movement must embrace that strategy, for it is as important now as at any time in history that we have strong associations to represent all of us in our work and in our dealings with the state. (Standing)
Coalition Building
Some critics have cited as one of ILO's greatest shortcomings a longstanding resistance to coalition building with constituents outside of its tripartite focus (e.g., with a broader range of NGOs, such as consumer groups, religious institutions, media organizations, etc.). There is some indication that the ILO is improving in this respect as the International Program on the Elimination of Child Labor, which is based within the group, does involve a diversity of organizations representing more viewpoints than those found in the traditional tripartite construct. (Noah)
Observers emphasize improved coalition building with outside groups as essential for the ILO if the organization is going to play an important role within the debates on globalization. These commentators think it may be unrealistic for any single institution to represent the concerns of all workers within today's economies. (Noah)
Inability to Enforce Conventions
Still others emphasize the weakness of the ILO as an organization (e.g., it cannot impose trade sanctions on member States) as a shortcoming in its efforts to protect the rights of all stakeholders equally - i.e., including those of workers. These critics point to the fact that as the situation is for all other multilateral agreements,...
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