Unit 1 
Why an ILO Declaration Now?
The ILO Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work and its Follow-up was adopted at the 86th Session of the International Labour Conference in 1998. It has its roots in the history of the ILO for the implementation of core workers' rights. At the International Labour Conference in 1994, the Director-General stated that the guarantee of fundamental rights should allow the social partners to claim freely their fair share of economic progress generated by the liberalization of trade.
As a result of its efforts, the ILO influenced the agenda of the 1995 World Summit for Social Development in Copenhagen, where ILO core labour standards were recognized as universal values.
On that occasion, the world's heads of state reaffirmed that there are basic workers’ rights, which are expressed in some ILO International Labour Standards (slide), known as the ILO core Conventions. There was also a growing recognition that the goals contained in the core Conventions were still far from being sufficiently achieved, and were not always respected.
These fundamental principles included in the core Conventions (slide) are also embodied in the ILO Constitution. For this reason, all member States, because of their membership in the Organization, should ensure the respect of those fundamental principles.
Furthermore, at the WTO Ministerial Conference in Singapore (1996), the Ministers of Trade renewed their commitment to observe internationally recognized core labour standards, made it clear that the ILO was the competent body to set and deal with standards, and affirmed support for the ILO's work in promoting them.
Much work has been done, however there are still serious difficulties:
- core Conventions have not yet been ratified by all member States;
- ratified Conventions often have not been implemented in practice.
Ratification and implementation of ILO core Conventions can contribute to the development of a universal social pillar within the globalization process. In some cases the global competition due to economic integration has jeopardized human rights. The Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work and its Follow-up is the ILO’s answer to this crucial challenge.
OECD studies in 1996 and 2000 show that any fears that respect for the fundamental principles would affect the competitive position of the countries concerned in the context of liberalization are quite unfounded. On the contrary there is a valid argument that in the long term they would set the stage for strengthening the economic performance of all countries.
Therefore, the ILO has committed itself to go one step further by adopting the Declaration as a new tool aimed at promoting the principles and rights of the Organization including the ratification and implementation of the core Conventions.
Aside from the Declaration, the existing ILO supervisory machinery already provides the means to assure the monitoring regarding the application of ratified Conventions.
In the case of Freedom of Association, there is also a special procedure for reviewing complaints in this specific area whether the relevant Conventions have been ratified or not.
The supervisory machinery of the ILO, including the Committee on Freedom of Association ensures that member States of the ILO comply with their obligations.