Brief history and timeline
The United States partnership with the ILO began with its founding in 1919 when the ILO was created along with the League of Nations from the Treaty of Versailles. In October 1919, the first International Labor Conference (ILC) took place in Washington, D.C. and a year later, an ILO branch office was established in that city, making it one of the first four cities to have an ILO office (along with Paris, London, and Rome). In 1934, the US joined the ILO, the only League of Nations organization with which it was to be affiliated.
In 1944, the International Labor Conference held in Philadelphia broadened the ILO’s mandate. The delegates adopted the Declaration of Philadelphia, annexed to the Constitution, which constitutes the Charter of the aims and objectives of the modern ILO. In 1946, the ILO became a specialized agency of the newly formed United Nations.
In 1980, President Jimmy Carter established the President’s Committee on the ILO (PC/ILO). The President's Committee is a tripartite federal advisory committee that directs US participation in the ILO. It is chaired by the US Secretary of Labor and includes the Secretaries of State and Commerce, the Assistants to the President for National Security Affairs and Economic Policy, the Presidents of the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO) and the United States Council for International Business (USCIB).
In 1944, the International Labor Conference held in Philadelphia broadened the ILO’s mandate. The delegates adopted the Declaration of Philadelphia, annexed to the Constitution, which constitutes the Charter of the aims and objectives of the modern ILO. In 1946, the ILO became a specialized agency of the newly formed United Nations.
In 1980, President Jimmy Carter established the President’s Committee on the ILO (PC/ILO). The President's Committee is a tripartite federal advisory committee that directs US participation in the ILO. It is chaired by the US Secretary of Labor and includes the Secretaries of State and Commerce, the Assistants to the President for National Security Affairs and Economic Policy, the Presidents of the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO) and the United States Council for International Business (USCIB).