International Labour Organisation: objectives, composition and functions

1. Origin

The ILO was created in 1919 by Part XIII of the Treaty of Versailles, which contained its Constitution, drafted by the Commission on International Labour Legislation at the Paris Peace Conference. Three motives are usually given: humanitarian (the conditions of workers), political (social unrest after the Russian Revolution threatened peace), and economic (a country adopting humane labour standards would be at a disadvantage against competitors who did not). It was linked to the League of Nations but survived it, and in 1946 became the first specialised agency of the UN under an agreement made under Articles 57 and 63 of the Charter. Its headquarters are in Geneva. It received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1969. It has 187 member States.

2. Objectives

The Preamble to the Constitution begins: universal and lasting peace can be established only if it is based upon social justice. It lists conditions of labour to be improved: regulation of hours of work, including a maximum working day and week; regulation of labour supply and prevention of unemployment; an adequate living wage; protection against sickness, disease and injury arising out of employment; protection of children, young persons and women; provision for old age and injury; protection of migrant workers; recognition of the principle of equal remuneration for work of equal value; recognition of the principle of freedom of association; and vocational and technical education. It adds that the failure of any nation to adopt humane conditions of labour is an obstacle in the way of other nations which desire to improve conditions in their own countries.

The Declaration of Philadelphia (1944), annexed to the Constitution, restated the aims in four principles:

• labour is not a commodity;
• freedom of expression and of association are essential to sustained progress;
• poverty anywhere constitutes a danger to prosperity everywhere;
• the war against want requires continuous international effort in which representatives of workers and employers, enjoying equal status with those of governments, join with them in free discussion and democratic decision.

It also affirmed 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.

Later statements: the Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work (1998), committing all members, whether or not they have ratified the relevant conventions, to respect freedom of association and collective bargaining, elimination of forced labour, abolition of child labour, and elimination of discrimination in employment; in 2022 a safe and healthy working environment was added as a fifth category. The Declaration on Social Justice for a Fair Globalization (2008) and the Centenary Declaration for the Future of Work (2019) followed.

3. Composition

The ILO has three organs (Constitution, Article 2).

(a) The International Labour Conference (Articles 3 and 4). The general assembly of the ILO, meeting at least once a year, usually in June in Geneva. Each member State sends four delegates: two government delegates, one employers' delegate and one workers' delegate, each of whom may be accompanied by advisers. The non-government delegates are nominated in agreement with the most representative organisations of employers and workpeople in the country. Each delegate votes individually, so employers' and workers' delegates may vote against their own government. Functions: adopting conventions and recommendations by a two-thirds majority (Article 19); supervising their application through the Committee on the Application of Standards; adopting the budget; electing the Governing Body; and serving as a forum for discussion of labour questions.

(b) The Governing Body (Article 7). The executive council, meeting three times a year. It has 56 titular members: 28 government members, 14 employers' members and 14 workers' members, with deputy members as well. Ten of the government seats are held permanently by the States of chief industrial importance, which include India; the rest are elected by the Conference every three years. It appoints the Director-General, prepares the agenda of the Conference, draws up the budget, supervises the Office, and examines complaints and representations. A 1986 amendment to restructure it has not yet entered into force.

(c) The International Labour Office (Articles 8 to 10). The permanent secretariat in Geneva, headed by the Director-General, appointed by the Governing Body; Gilbert F. Houngbo has held the post since 2022. It collects and distributes information, prepares documents for the Conference, conducts research, provides technical co-operation to members, and publishes reports. Its staff are international civil servants and must not seek instructions from any government (Article 9).

4. Functions: standard setting and supervision

• Conventions and recommendations (Article 19). Conventions, once ratified, bind the member like treaties; recommendations are non-binding guidelines. Even without ratification, a member must bring a convention before its competent authorities within twelve to eighteen months, and report on its law and practice when requested (Article 19(5)). Over 190 conventions have been adopted.
• Reports by governments on ratified conventions (Article 22), examined by the Committee of Experts on the Application of Conventions and Recommendations and the Conference committee.
• Representations by an employers' or workers' organisation that a member has failed to observe a ratified convention (Article 24).
• Complaints by one member against another, by a delegate, or by the Governing Body (Article 26), which may be referred to a Commission of Inquiry (Articles 26 to 28). If the recommendations are not carried out, the Governing Body may recommend action to the Conference (Article 33), as was done against Myanmar for forced labour in 2000.
• Committee on Freedom of Association of the Governing Body examines complaints even against States that have not ratified the freedom of association conventions.
• Interpretation: disputes about the interpretation of the Constitution or a convention are referred to the ICJ (Article 37).
• Technical co-operation and the Decent Work Agenda.

5. The fundamental conventions

Ten conventions are now classed as fundamental:

• Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise, 1948 (No. 87); Right to Organise and Collective Bargaining, 1949 (No. 98);
• Forced Labour, 1930 (No. 29) and its 2014 Protocol; Abolition of Forced Labour, 1957 (No. 105);
• Minimum Age, 1973 (No. 138); Worst Forms of Child Labour, 1999 (No. 182);
• Equal Remuneration, 1951 (No. 100); Discrimination (Employment and Occupation), 1958 (No. 111);
• Occupational Safety and Health, 1981 (No. 155); Promotional Framework for Occupational Safety and Health, 2006 (No. 187).

6. India and the ILO

India is a founder member (1919) and holds a non-elective seat on the Governing Body as a State of chief industrial importance. It has ratified six of the ten fundamental conventions (Nos. 29, 105, 100, 111, 138 and 182), but not Nos. 87 and 98 on freedom of association or Nos. 155 and 187 on occupational safety. ILO standards have shaped Indian labour law: the Equal Remuneration Act, 1976 drew on Convention No. 100, and its principle is now carried into the Code on Wages, 2019; the four Labour Codes, in force from 21 November 2025, consolidate twenty-nine earlier labour laws. Because India is dualist on treaties, a ratified ILO convention does not by itself change Indian law; it operates through legislation or as an aid to interpreting statutes and fundamental rights (see the note on international and municipal law).

How this is examined

For the objectives-and-composition essay: origin with dates; objectives from the Preamble and the Declaration of Philadelphia (the four principles verbatim); the 1998 Declaration; then the three organs, giving the 2:1:1 delegation and the 28:14:14 Governing Body figures; close with functions and India. As a short note, the same in compressed form, stressing tripartism and Article 19.