News

February 2006

  1. Press release

    ILO to adopt 'bill of rights' for seafarers

    06 February 2006

    The first Maritime Session of the International Labour Conference of the 21st century scheduled here between 7-23 February 2006 will consider a major new international labour instrument, the Maritime Labour Convention, 2006.

  2. Article

    Maritime Session of the International Labour Conference (7-23 February 2006): A new standard for the global shipping industry

    02 February 2006

    Nearly 1.2 million seafarers work for the world's shipping industry. The ILO now heads for a new Maritime Labour Convention reflecting the needs of a globalized shipping industry. If adopted, the standard will consolidate and update more than 65 international labour standards adopted over the last 80 years. ILO Online spoke with Cleopatra Doumbia-Henry, Director of the ILO's International Labour Standards Department, about the new Convention.

  3. Press release

    94th (maritime) session of the International Labour Conference 7-23 February 2006

    01 February 2006

    The 94th (Maritime) Session of the International Labour Conference (ILC) opens here on 7 February and will discuss a sweeping new maritime convention that consolidates international law on the working conditions of the world's 1.2 million seafarers. It is without doubt the most far-reaching international Conference on maritime labour issues held since the founding of the ILO in 1919.

January 2006

  1. Article

    Environmentally sustainable development: the WILL is there

    30 January 2006

    NAIROBI (ILO Online) - The Workers Initiative for a Lasting Legacy (WILL 2006), organized by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) in cooperation with the ILO, SustainLabour and the UN Global Compact, held here the first ever trade union assembly on labour and the environment last week. ILO Online spoke with Lene Olsen from the ILO Bureau for Workers' Activities who participated in the assembly.

  2. Article

    Maritime Session of the International Labour Conference (7-23 February 2006): The global seafarer: mixed fortunes mirror global trends

    29 January 2006

    Nearly 1.2 million seafarers work for the world's shipping industry. Aboard the world's cruise ships, crews often represent 20 nationalities or more. While the current shipbuilding boom has created strong demand for officers worldwide, the trend towards increasingly automated vessels also reduces the need for ratings. The ILO now heads for a new Maritime Labour Convention reflecting the needs of a globalized shipping industry. If adopted, the standard will consolidate and update more than 65 international labour standards adopted since the 1920s. Journalist Ian Gill reports from the Philippines.

  3. Article

    Is there a decent way to break ships?

    26 January 2006

    GENEVA (ILO Online) - The dispatch of the asbestos-laden aircraft carrier 'Clemenceau' from France to the world's largest ship graveyard on India's west coast for scrapping has focused new attention on the human and environmental dangers inherent in ship breaking. While breaking ships and selling of the scrap and hardware from retired vessels provides work and income for tens of thousands of persons in Bangladesh, China, India and Pakistan, the work is dangerous and can cause deaths due to work accidents as well as serious acute and chronic health problems, especially due to exposure to hazardous substances such as asbestos. ILO Online spoke with ILO shipbreaking expert Paul Bailey.

  4. Press release

    ILO Director-General warns of "unprecedented jobs crisis" Hails World Economic Forum focus on jobs creation

    25 January 2006

    The world is facing an "unprecedented global jobs crisis of mammoth proportions", the Director-General of the International Labour Organization (ILO) said today in a statement issued for the annual World Economic Forum (WEF) taking place here.

  5. Press release

    ILO annual jobs report says global unemployment continues to grow, youth now make up half those out of work

    24 January 2006

    The number of people unemployed worldwide climbed to new heights in 2005, as robust economic growth failed to offset an increase in people seeking work - especially among the vast and growing legion of jobless youth, the International Labour Office (ILO) said in its annual Global Employment Trends released today.

  6. Article

    Which is best for the economy: employment stability or employment flexibility?

    20 January 2006

    A recent article in the ILO's International Labour Review analyzes the relationship between employment stability and productivity in six major sectors in 13 European countries. According to the authors, both, extensive and short job tenure can produce adverse affects on productivity. They propose a policy of "protected mobility" on the labour market, together with active labour market policies seeking to combine both flexibility and security. ILO online spoke with Peter Auer, co-author of the article.

  7. Article

    The Lego experience: "Putting flexibility and security together"

    13 January 2006

    Workers who are facing layoffs may want to know why employees at Danish toymaker Lego don't worry too much if their jobs are outsourced. It has to do with what the International Labour Office and others call "flexicurity". ILO Online reports from the Lego toy factory in Denmark.