GENEVA (ILO News) - The Director-General of the ILO, Michel Hansenne, applauded the decision of the Government of Indonesia to ratify ILO core Conventions, including No. 87 (Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organize, 1948), which was ratified in Jakarta on 5 June, 1998.
At a meeting in Geneva this morning, Indonesia's Minister of Manpower, Mr. Fahmi Idris, formally notified the Director-General of the ratification. Michel Hansenne said that "the ILO stands ready to help Indonesia in the transformation underway." He added that "the ratification of this all-important convention represents a major step on the road to institutionalizing democracy and human rights in the workplace."
In a speech to the International Labour Conference yesterday, Minister Idris indicated the intention of the Government of Indonesia to ratify other ILO Conventions, including No. 105 (Abolition of Forced Labour, 1957), No. 111 (Discrimination - Employment and Occupation, 1958 and No. 138 (Minimum Age, 1973).
The ratification of these Conventions would mean that Indonesia would count among the 35 countries which have ratified all seven of the ILO's "core" human rights Conventions. (Endnote 1)
To date, Convention No. 87, which guarantees the right of workers to organize and engage in collective bargaining, has received 122 ratifications among the 174 member States.
The drive to reinforce respect for ILO standards dates from the United Nations Social Summit in Copenhagen (1995), following which the ILO launched an intensive campaign among its Members to increase ratifications of core standards. In 1995, when the campaign for ratifications started, only 23 States had ratified all seven fundamental Conventions.
Endnote 1:
Freedom of association and collective bargaining (
No.
87 and
98);
Forced labour (
No.
29 and
No.
105); Non-discrimination (
No.
100 and
No.
111); and Minimum age (
No.
138).