How employers' and workers' organizations are involved in the adoption of standards

Employers' and workers' representatives are involved in setting international labour standards from the beginning. For example, the need for an international standard may be perceived by the workers' group. Through its representation in the ILO's Governing Body, the subject can be placed on the agenda of a future International Labour Conference. The employers' group as well has the right to take this initiative.

Once the International Labour Office circulates its law and practice report, governments are requested (and obliged under the Standing Orders of the Conference) to consult the most representative organizations of employers and workers before finalizing their replies to the questionnaire which accompanies the report. Employers' and workers' groupings are also free to transmit their comments and ideas directly to the Office.

The systematic nature of the adoption process enables concerned workers' and employers' groups to know the subjects set down for labour standard setting months, even years, in advance. This facilitates their participation. For those countries which have ratified the Tripartite Consultation (International Labour Standards) Convention, 1976 (No. 144), the government is under a legally binding obligation to consult, and aggrieved parties may use regular and special enforcement mechanisms for alleging non-conformity with the requirements of the Convention.

At the first discussion -- as well as any second discussion -- of the agenda item at the Conference, employers' and workers' groups are intensely involved in the process of proposing texts, making amendments, and considering the ultimate form of the standard. They have equal voting strength with governments in the Committee and have, in practice, a decisive impact on the ultimate form and content of the international labour standards.

After the first discussion, the Office's draft instrument is subject to scrutiny by member States. Here again, governments are expected to consult representative employers' and workers' organizations and reflect their proposed amendments to or comments on the draft to the Office. Once again, employers' and workers' groups at the national level are free to transmit their amendments or comments directly to the Office.

In the ultimate adoption of a labour standard by the full Conference, a two-thirds majority of votes cast by the delegates present must be achieved. The participation by the employers' and workers' groups, as well as their voting in favour or against a standard, has critical importance. This is not only with respect to the adoption of the instruments concerned, but also for the viability of any Conventions adopted: without the active involvement of all groups -- governments, employers, and workers -- the newly set standard can be challenged in debate at the national level, sometimes undermining chances of wide spread ratification, and thus the viability of particular international labour standards as well as the international labour standards system.