March 1998

1. Press release

   Chilean Elected to ILO Top Job

   23 March 1998

   GENEVA (ILO News) ­ The Governing Body of the International Labour Organization today elected Mr. Juan Somavia of Chile to serve as the next Director General of the ILO. He was elected by a vote of 44 votes for his candidacy. A majority of the 56 eligible votes was necessary to be elected. There were no abstentions. Ms María Nieves Roldan-Confesor (Philippines) received 12 votes. Mr. Somavia's five-year term of office begins on 4 March 1999.

2. Press release

   ILO Governing Body to Convene Decisions Expected on Declaration of Fundamental Rights

   11 March 1998

   GENEVA (ILO News) ­ A key decision for the future of human rights and international labour standards is forthcoming at the 271 st session of the ILO Governing Body. In the course of its deliberations between 23-27 March, the Governing Body will examine the draft text of a possible Declaration on fundamental rights, to be submitted to the next session of the International Labour Conference in June 1998.

February 1998

1. Press release

   Global employment in refining industry remains stable, but pressure on jobs grows

   23 February 1998

   GENEVA (ILO News) – Increasing competition, excess refining capacity and the mounting cost of investments needed to meet tightening environmental standards threaten the profitability of the oil refining industry and cast a shadow over the job prospects of oil refinery workers, particularly in OECD countries, a new ILO report says.

2. Press release

   Nominations close for top ILO post

   23 February 1998

   GENEVA (ILO News) – Two candidatures were submitted for election to the post of Director-General of the International Labour Office as nominations to the ILO top job officially closed today.

3. Press release

   ILO Calls for More Democracy and Social Justice in Asia

   21 February 1998

   LONDON (ILO News) ­ Pointing to the huge social costs of the unfolding crisis in Asia, the Director-General of the International Labour Office, Mr. Michel Hansenne, has called on the governments of the leading industrial nations of the world to place the promotion of democracy and social justice at the heart of their international economic strategies.

4. Press release

   More than 120 Nations Provide Paid Maternity Leave

   16 February 1998

   GENEVA (ILO News) – More than 120 countries around the world provide paid maternity leave and health benefits by law, including most industrialized nations except Australia, New Zealand and the United States, says a new report (Note 1) by the International Labour Office (ILO).

5. Press release

   Conference calls for abolition of child labour in Africa

   07 February 1998

   KAMPALA (ILO News) – Delegates from 22 African countries called today on African countries to commit themselves to the total abolition of child labour as prescribed in the ILO Minimum Age Convention (No. 138, 1973) and the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. They identified poverty "as the fundamental cause of child labour" and called for "increased international assistance to attack poverty."

6. Press release

   ILO Director-General warns of "tragedy" of child labour in Africa

   05 February 1998

   KAMPALA (ILO News) – The Director-General of the International Labour Organization, Mr. Michel Hansenne today called upon African nations to take urgent action to reverse the growing trend toward child labour on the continent and to take immediate steps to eliminate child labour in its most intolerable forms.

7. Press release

   Child Labour Risks Growing in Africa OAU and ILO Convene Tripartite Meeting

   04 February 1998

   KAMPALA (ILO News) – The growing army of child labourers in Africa is expected to swell by at least one million new children per year if current economic and social trends persist, the International Labour Office warned today in a report prepared for a tripartite meeting of workers, employers and governments in Kampala, Uganda. While citing widespread but scattered initiatives to reduce and eliminate child labour in certain industries, the report, Child Labour in Africa - Targeting the Intolerable says that " the poverty, population and education indicators give a potentially bleak picture for the future of child labour in Africa."

8. Press release

   Fighting Drug and Alcohol Abuse in the Workplace New Study Cites Problems and Solutions

   03 February 1998

   GENEVA (ILO News) – Moderate drinkers who have had "one too many" actually cause more alcohol-related workplace problems than their less numerous, but heavier-drinking colleagues. Many heavy drinkers have developed "a physical tolerance and social mechanisms", that mask the impact of their drinking behaviour, says a new report prepared for the International Labour Office.