Happy Anniversary, ILO
We see threats of war arising regularly. We see tensions growing and accusations flowing. We see a world in dire need of dialogue, understanding, tolerance and compromise. During all this, there is a UN institution that has turned dialogue and negotiations into an artform: The International Labour Organization (ILO). As Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Bishop Desmond Tutu said: “If you want peace, you don’t talk to your friends, you talk to your enemies.”And the ILO offers exactly that: It provides platforms for dialogue, for negotiations and compromise - between adversaries. And it does so in an arena crucial for welfare, for the economy and for peace; the labour market.
In 2019, we celebrate the 100th anniversary of the foundation of the ILO and the 50th anniversary of its Nobel Peace Prize award. A celebration of social dialogue, of negotiations and bargaining. Of labour standards and compromises. All of which are in scarce demand these days. Radicalisation, polarisation and social unrest is growing globally. We have a world where organisations and democratic social movements, such as trade unions and employers’ associations, are struggling. A world where labour standards are undermined. A world where inequality is growing drastically in many countries in parallel with suppression of democracy, human rights and the right to both organise, assemble and negotiate solutions. Yet, we also live in a world where fact-based international institutions can make a big difference, provided that its members approach it with commitment, integrity, ambitions and a pledge for peaceful solutions. And whilst the social partners are under pressure in many countries, trade union density is declining and employers’ associations are fragmented, the ILO still mobilise considerable and broad commitment, ownership and loyalty. In many ways, the ILO serves as a role model for institutions struggling in the current international climate.
Founded in the wake of the destructive first World War, the ILO set out to pursue a vision based on the premise that universal, lasting peace can be established only if it is based on social justice. As the only tripartite UN agency, the ILO brings together governments, employers and workers of 187 member countries, to set labour standards, develop policies and promote decent work. Organising, compromising and promoting dialogue are all pillars to the thousands of resolutions, conventions and joint decisions the ILO has reached through the years: in order to stop child labour and forced labour; end discrimination; establish core labour rights and decent work as well as to promote redistribution.
It was said, in the announcement of the Nobel Peace Prize awarded to the ILO in 1969, that “if you want peace, secure justice.” It is as relevant a statement today as it was then - if not more. It aims at both the standards and social justice, as well as the tools and methods used to achieve the goals. The recipe is simple: great goals are rarely achieved by one party alone. And for parties to be able achieve more together than alone, they need to have dialogue, to negotiate and compromise. The key tools of organising and dialogue are as relevant in solving today’s challenges, and to influence our time’s labour markets, as they were before.
Social dialogue and contracts between workers, employers and the state provided the foundations for post-war economic growth and prosperity. It provided the basis for the development of welfare states in Europe. It gave important additional dimensions to the newly established democracy in for example South Africa. And has been tested in several countries as a basis for development. In Scandinavia it has become a key ingredient in social-democratic policy-development. In Norway, for example, it can explain how we turned from one of the poorest countries in Europe before WWII, to one of today’s richest. It was done by collective bargaining and social dialogue. Peaceful ways to solve conflicts should be, and have been, celebrated. That is why we congratulate the ILO today. This week the celebrations take place in Oslo and at the Nobel Peace Center. And there is no reason to hesitate or hold back: the ILO practice the tools and methods that still supersede all other ways to resolve conflicts, tensions and misunderstandings - namely dialogue and negotiations. Congratulations!
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