HISTORY AND ORIGIN

The ILO was created in 1919, as part of the Treaty of Versailles that ended World War I, to
reflect the belief that universal and lasting peace can be accomplished only if it is based on
social justice.
The Constitution was drafted between January and April, 1919, by the Labour Commission
set up by the Peace Conference, which first met in Paris and then in Versailles. The
Commission, chaired by Samuel Gompers, head of the American Federation of Labour (AFL)
in the United States, was composed of representatives from nine countries: Belgium, Cuba,
Czechoslovakia, France, Italy, Japan, Poland, the United Kingdom and the United States. It
resulted in a tripartite organization, the only one of its kind bringing together representatives
of governments, employers and workers in its executive bodies.
The Constitution contained ideas tested within the International Association for Labour
Legislation, founded in Basel in 1901. Advocacy for an international organization dealing
with labour issues began in the nineteenth century, led by two industrialists, Robert Owen
(1771-1853) of Wales and Daniel Legrand (1783-1859) of France.
The driving forces for ILO's creation arose from security, humanitarian, political and
economic considerations. Summarizing them, the ILO Constitution's Preamble says the High
Contracting Parties were 'moved by sentiments of justice and humanity as well as by the
desire to secure the permanent peace of the world...'
There was keen appreciation of the importance of social justice in securing peace, against a
background of exploitation of workers in the industrializing nations of that time. There was
also increasing understanding of the world's economic interdependence and the need for
cooperation to obtain similarity of working conditions in countries competing for markets.
Reflecting these ideas, the Preamble states:

Whereas universal and lasting peace can be established only if it is based upon social
justice;

And whereas conditions of labour exist involving such injustice hardship and
privation to large numbers of people as to produce unrest so great that the peace and
harmony of the world are imperilled; and an improvement of those conditions is
urgently required;

Whereas also the failure of any nation to adopt humane conditions of labour is an
obstacle in the way of other nations which desire to improve the conditions in their
own countries.

The areas of improvement listed in the Preamble remain relevant today, for example:

Regulation of the hours of work including the establishment of a maximum working

day and week;

Regulation of labour supply, prevention of unemployment and provision of an

adequate living wage;

Protection of the worker against sickness, disease and injury arising out of his
employment;

Protection of children, young persons and women;

Provision for old age and injury, protection of the interests of workers when employed
in countries other than their own;

Recognition of the principle of equal remuneration for work of equal value;

Recognition of the principle of freedom of association;

Organization of vocational and technical education, and other measures.

Keeping in view its overall objectives and structure the ILO appears like the Ministry of
Labour of the UN having the responsibility in the fields of labour conditions, industrial
relations, social security and all other aspects of social and economic policies having a direct
bearing on the workers.
AIMS AND PURPOSES
A broad idea of the aims and purposes of the ILO can be understood from the text of the
Peace Treaty of 1919. It provided that ILO is being established for 'the well-being, physical
and intellectual of industrial wage-earners'. This was being done not as a matter of charity
to labour but as a matter of 'supreme international importance'. However, it was recognised
that 'differences of climate, habits and customs of economic opportunity and industrial
tradition, make strict uniformity in the conditions of labour difficult of immediate
attainment...that labour should not be regarded merely as an article of commerce...'. Thus,
from international point of view the welfare of the wage-earners is the principal aim of the
ILO.
The objectives of the ILO are clearly enumerated in the Preamble of its Constitution
supplemented by Article. 427 of the Peace Treaty of Versailles which has been further
supplemented by the Philadelphia Declaration of 1944. Following are the conditions for
improvement the Preamble declares to be urgently required in various particulars:

the regulation of hours of work, including the establishment of a maximum working

day and week;

the regulation of labour supply;

the prevention of unemployment;

the provision of an adequate living wage;

the protection of the worker against sickness, disease and injury arising out of his
employment;

the protection of children, young persons, and women;

provision for old age and injury;

protection of the interests of workers when employed in countries other than their
own;

recognition of the principle of the principle of equal remuneration for work of equal
value;

recognition of the freedom of association; and

The organisation of vocational and technical education.

From the very beginning the ILO, therefore, has been confronted with the tremendous task of
promoting social justice by improving conditions of work and life, in all parts of the world. In
its own words, it was given a sweeping mandate in the field of social and labour action.
Philadelphia Charter 1944
The utility of the ILO as a vehicle for social action and economic reforms was greatly felt
during the dark eyes of the World War II. The ILO has been so useful to all of the three
elements composing it--government, employers and workers--that there is an almost
unanimous desire for it to continue in existence. The ILO is almost the only League of
Nations instrumentality about which it can almost be said'. A Conference convened in
Philadelphia on April 20, 1944 marked the beginning of a new era in the history of the ILO.
The delegations of forty-one States met together to consider the future role, policy and
programmes of the ILO. Out of the deliberations of the Conference emerged a document on
the re-definition of the ILO's aims and purposes and a wider conception of its responsibilities.
This was the Declaration of Philadelphia of 1944 which has been incorporated into the ILO's
Constitution. Article. 1 of the Declaration affirmed the fundamental principles on which the
Organisation is based and in particular, that:
1. Labour is not commodity;
2. Freedom of expression and of association are essential to sustained progress;
3. Poverty anywhere constitutes a danger to prosperity everywhere;
4. The war against want requires to be carried on with unrelenting vigour within each
nation, and by continuous and concerned international effort in which the
representatives of workers and employers, enjoying equal status with those of
governments, join with them in free discussion and democratic decision with a view
to the promotion of the common welfare.

Article. II of the Declaration reiterates that 'Central aim of national and international policy'
should be the attainment of social justice. In the words of the Declaration social justice
meant, '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'.

Article. III sets forth ten specific objectives which the ILO is to further and promote among
the nations of the world:
1. full employment and the raising of standards of living;
2. the employment of workers in the occupations in which they can have the satisfaction
of giving the fullest measure of their skill and attainments and make their greatest
contribution to the common well-being;
3. The provision, as a means to the attainment of this end and under adequate guarantees
for all concerned, of facilities for training and the transfer of labour, including
migration for employment and settlement;
4. Policies in regard to wages and earnings, hours and other conditions of work
calculated to ensure a just share of the fruits of progress to all, and a minimum living
wage to all employed and in need of protection;
5. The effective recognition of the right of collective bargaining, the co-operation of
management and labour in the continuous improvement of productive efficiency, and
the collaboration of workers and employers in social and economic measures;
6. The extension of social security measures to provide a basic income to all in need of
such protection and comprehensive medical care;
7. Adequate protection for the life and health of workers in all occupations;
8. Provision for child welfare and maternity protection;
9. The provision of adequate nutrition, housing and facilities for recreation and culture;
10. The assurance of equality of educational and vocational opportunity.

The way to achieve these goals, the Declaration affirms, is by effective international and
national action and the ILO pledges full co-operation to other international bodies which
share the responsibility of pursuing the above goals.

Legal Nature
The ILO like other international institutions has a limited field of activity delineated by its
'objects'. It differs from States as a subject of international law in as much as in case of the
ILO the problems of sovereignty and jurisdiction cannot be similar to that of States. Any
function outside its constitution lies within the powers of the State. As the International Court
of Justice has observed referring to the United Nations: "Whereas a State possesses the
totality of international rights and duties recognised by international law, the rghts and duties
of an entity such as the Organisation must depend upon its purposes and functions as
specified or implied in its constituent documents and developed in practice."
Thus no international body including the ILO can over-step its constitutional powers. For
instance, the ILO cannot legally exercise the peace enforcement functions of the United
Nations Security Council or vice versa. Article. 39 of the Constitution of the ILO confers on
it international legal personality and in particular he capacity to contract, to acquire and
dispose of immovable and movable property; and to institute legal proceedings. Article. 40
grants such privileges and immunities to Director-General and other officers as are necessary
for the independent exercise of their functions in connection with the ILO. Member States are
legally bound to recognise such personality.