A Contribution to Lasting Peace

The Preamble of the ILO's Constitution begins with these words. They give a hint to an intention of the founders of the ILO: establish "social justice" and the chances of lasting peace are improved. international labour standards were the first means -- conceived with the founding of the ILO -- of helping establish social justice.

Can a system of international law really contribute to lasting peace?

An answer is more apparent when the question is inverted:

Can peace be expected to last without a system of international law aimed at securing social justice?

The negative answer resounds with a single thought of each and every conflict around the world based in people's powerlessness to voice their opinion in association, poverty, racial or political discrimination, unemployment, economic insecurity, inequitable distribution of wealth -- to name just a few of the types of social injustice the system of international labour standards hopes to eliminate or reduce. It is this lofty reason -- perhaps truly foremost among the many reasons given for having a system of international labour standards -- which rings most convincing in the hearts of every human being around the world. The framer's of the ILO's Declaration of Philadelphia in 1944 noted as much in their assertion at that time that "experience has fully demonstrated the truth of the statement in the Constitution...." The cornerstone of the system of international labour standards is hope for the defeat of social injustice, the cynicism which accepts it as an inevitable part of the human experience, and the possibility that lasting peace is incrementally easier to achieve with each and every defeat anywhere of social injustice.