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28 - The International Labour Organisation

An Integrated Approach to Economic and Social Rights

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 June 2012

Malcolm Langford
Affiliation:
Norwegian Centre for Human Rights, University of Oslo
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Summary

INTRODUCTION

This chapter concerns the socio-economic rights jurisprudence of the International Labour Organisation (‘ILO’). Founded in 1919, the ILO's primary focus is the promotion of labour rights, or rights at work. Since its creation, the ILO has promulgated 185 Conventions and 195 Recommendations dealing with a wide array of matters pertaining to labour relations. ILO Conventions and Recommendations cover (among other things) workers' human rights, wages, working time, social security, and the working conditions in particular economic sectors, including migrant workers, seafarers and home-workers. There is a clear relationship between these instruments and the broader field of socio-economic rights: ILO conventions provide in detail for the implementation of many of the principles contained in Articles 6 to 9 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (‘ICESCR’). The ILO has also promulgated a variety of other standards, and its supervisory bodies have generated a significant volume of material relating to the application of these instruments.

The long history of the ILO and the scale of its activities have been widely studied; indeed they are the subject of numerous books and countless journal articles. In the space available therefore I will focus on two things: first, the ILO's Core Labour Standards (‘CLS’). These deal with: (1) freedom of association and the right to bargain collectively; (2) freedom from forced labour; (3) freedom from discrimination in employment; and (4) freedom from harmful child labour. As will appear presently, the identification of the ‘core’ is contested.

Type
Chapter
Information
Social Rights Jurisprudence
Emerging Trends in International and Comparative Law
, pp. 591 - 612
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2009

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