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Geneva, 25-29 October 1999 BackgroundThis Meeting is one of a regular series of tripartite sectoral meetings - comprising representatives of governments, employers and workers - under the auspices of the International Labour Organization held to discuss current employment and labour issues of importance in the sector or industry concerned and to provide guidance for action, at national and international levels, by employers' and workers' organizations, governments and the ILO itself. Traditionally, retailing - if not wholesale - has been considered a localised sector, mainly composed of relatively small-scale operations. Following gradual but extensive reductions in trade barriers as a result of international treaties, however, growth of internal and international trade has made commerce pivotal to economic growth and an engine of employment worldwide. Big multinational or national retail chains nowadays rank among the largest businesses in many industrialized countries, and accounted for a considerable share of the estimated US$6.5 trillion in international commercial transactions in 1997. Technological breakthroughs (including electronic commerce for instance), the international mobility of enterprises and rapidly spreading competition-driven changes, such as just-in-time production and sales, are these days both agents for and consequences of an increasingly integrated highly competitive global market, deeply affecting the organization and human resource strategy of commercial firms. Yet the development and dynamism of this sector are also frequently accompanied by a deterioration of employment and working conditions that is raising concern. At its 267th Session (November 1996), the Governing Body of the ILO decided to include in the programme of sectoral meetings for the 1998-99 biennium a Tripartite Meeting to review human resource strategies that combine profit considerations and decent employment and working conditions. The Meeting would consider the emerging circuits of distribution, including the new, evolving relations with producers and between wholesale and retailing. It would examine the determinants and processes of change, highlighting the worldwide impact of the new structures on employment levels, occupations, skill requirements, contractual agreements, levels and forms of remuneration, working hours and other working conditions, and labour-management relations.
ParticipationThe Meeting brought together participants representing governments, employers and workers in national and international wholesale and retail. In addition, the International Organization of Employers and the International Federation of Commercial, Clerical, Professional and Technical Employees (now Union Network International), and a number of other non-governmental organizations (NGOs) concerned with this sector were present. Most sessions of the Meeting were open to the general public, but the right to take the floor was restricted to the official delegates, to the technical advisers accompanying them, and to representatives of invited intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations. Governments of the following countries were represented: Canada, China, Czech Republic, Egypt, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Republic of Korea, Luxembourg, Nepal, Peru, Portugal, Switzerland, Thailand, Turkey, and the United Kingdom. A representative of the Government of Nigeria participated as an observer. 25 Employer and 22 Worker delegates attended as well as one Employer and four Worker advisors. A full list of participants is included in the Note on the proceedings. Purpose of the MeetingThe purpose of the meeting was to exchange views on and experience of the emerging circuits of distribution and their impact on the employment and working conditions of commerce personnel; to adopt practical conclusions, including guidance and proposals for further action; and to adopt a report on the discussions. The meeting also adopted a resolution. The “conclusions” embody the consensus of the meeting on the topic being considered and on the kind of policy actions that are appropriate at national and international level. The “resolution” expresses the sense of the meeting on labour and social issues, other than those covered by the title of the meeting, related to the impact of globalization and restructuring on commerce workers. The report of the discussion was published in the Note on the proceedings, that is the record of deliberations and outcomes of the Meeting.
Agenda and report to the MeetingAs a basis for the discussions the International Labour Office (as the secretariat of the International Labour Organization is called) published a report, Human Resource Implications of Globalization and Restructuring in Commerce, in English, French and Spanish containing relevant information and analysis of the topic. It reviewed the impact - as well as the interaction - of globalization and restructuring on: the employment situation; recent trends in consumer demand and new retail formats; advances in information technology; the international dimensions of new commercial circuits in a liberalized world market; labour-management relations; voluntary social and labour initiatives; and the ILO’s involvement in these issues. A section of the report briefly examined the increasingly important new phenomenon of electronic commerce.
Panel DiscussionsPanel discussions focusing on general labour issues of topical interest to the commerce sector were held in the course of the meeting and included participants, ILO experts, as well as outside speakers. These panel discussions were not intended to produce negotiated texts; a summary record of the discussions is included in the Note on the proceedings.
Note on the proceedings of the MeetingThe Note on the proceedings of the Meeting
is available in English, French
and Spanish,
and in pdf format
Related Meetings and PapersFor additional information on ILO activities and publications on this sector, please visit the ILO sectoral Website page for commerce. Priced publications related to this and other ILO meetings and activities can be obtained from ILO Publications
CONTACT FOR FURTHER INFORMATION:Mr. John Sendanyoye, |
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