News

June 2000

1. ILO Director-General calls for "renewed solidarity", says global economy excludes, hurts too many workers

   26 June 2000

   GENEVA (ILO News) - Addressing the Special Session of the United Nations General Assembly in Geneva today, Mr. Juan Somavia, the Director-General of the ILO, told delegates that "the benefits of the global economy have not reached enough people".

2. Most of World Lacks Unemployment Insurance

   21 June 2000

   GENEVA (ILO News) - Seventy-five per cent of the 150 million people unemployed around the world lack any unemployment insurance protection, says a new report by the International Labour Office (ILO).

3. Special ILO Representative for cooperation with Colombia to be appointed by Director-General

   16 June 2000

   GENEVA (ILO News) - The Governing Body of the International Labour Organization (ILO) today asked Director-General, Juan Somavia, to appoint a Special Representative for cooperation with Colombia to assist in and verify the actions taken by the Government, and employers' and workers' organizations to implement ILO Recommendations following widespread acts of violence against trade unionists over the past decade.

4. International Labour Conference adopts new Convention and Recommendation on Maternity Protection

   15 June 2000

   GENEVA (ILO News) - Delegates to the International Labour Conference (ILC), which concluded today, voted to adopt a new international Convention on Maternity Protection by a vote of 304 for, 22 against, 116 abstentions. The new Convention will enter into force after receiving two ratifications by ILO member States.

5. International Labour Conference adopts Resolution targeting forced labour in Myanmar (Burma)

   14 June 2000

   GENEVA (ILO News) - Delegates to the International Labour Conference (ILC) today voted to take action to compel the Government of Myanmar (Burma) to comply with ILO Convention No. 29 on forced labour. Burma ratified Convention No. 29 in 1955.

6. ILO to release World Labour Report 2000on 20 June 2000

   13 June 2000

   GENEVA (ILO News ) - For millions of workers around the world, globalization and the liberalization of trade has translated into lower incomes and heightened insecurity. Social protection systems, in this context, have a vital role to play especially in the face of major contingencies such as old age, failing health, incapacity to work, bearing and raising children and unemployment. But how are social protection systems adapting to changing circumstances, who benefits from them and what can be done to extend coverage to those - the vast majority - who remain unprotected?

7. New ILO study warns of HIV/AIDS "catastrophe" for workers and employers

   07 June 2000

   GENEVA (ILO News) - In the first study of its kind, the International Labour Office (ILO) warns of catastrophic consequences of HIV/AIDS for workers and employers worldwide, projecting a severe decline in the size and quality of the workforce in a number of countries over the next 20 years.

8. Child labour Convention achieves fastest ratification pace in ILO history

   07 June 2000

   GENEVA (ILO News) - The world's fundamental international standard on the worst forms of child labour, ILO Convention No. 182 (1999) has been ratified by 27 governments 1 in its first year, racking up more ratifications than any other ILO Convention during a comparable period, the International Labour Office announced today. The Convention will come into force on 19 November of this year.

9. ILO Participation in Beijing + 5

   05 June 2000

   NEW YORK (ILO News) - The International Labour Office (ILO) is organizing a series of high-level panel discussions on decent work for women, women's empowerment and micro-finance and galvanizing action for older women, during the Special Session of the UN General Assembly on Women 2000: Gender Equality, Development and Peace for the Twenty-first Century to be held in New York on 5-9 June 2000.

10. ILO Director-General highlights need for strengthened maternity protection

    05 June 2000

    GENEVA (ILO News) - Launching an appeal to the 88th International Labour Conference to strengthen maternity protection for women workers, Mr. Juan Somavia used his plenary address to the delegates to highlight "the need for a successful outcome to the revision of the ILO Standard on Maternity Protection". He said that this issue provides "a perfect example of how gender equality is at the heart of decent work".