News on International Labour Standards

Better Work

Garment industry in the north to benefit from Better Work programme

After reaching one fourth of Viet Nam’s garment exporters in the south, the programme which aims to improve export industries’ performance and competitiveness will also expand to footwear industry.

A promise to domestic workers, after 10 years

An opinion-editorial by Irham Ali Saifuddin, Capacity Building Specialist, ILO-Jakarta highlighting the importance of the ILO Convention No. 189 on Decent Work for Domestic Workers. This was published by the Jakarta Post on 18 March 2014.

320th Session of the Governing Body

Workers’ Group pays tribute to trade unionist Marc Blondel

Elimination of forced labour is our bottom line

The All-China Federation of Trade Unions said "the elimination of forced labour is our bottom line".

ILO project to help Georgia improve compliance with labour laws

The Government of Georgia and the International Labour Organization launched a project entitled “Improved compliance with labour laws in Georgia”.

ILO body adopts new minimum monthly wage for seafarers

The mechanism is the only one in the ILO for setting the basic wage for any industry.

Domestic workers: The need to speed up change

Over the course of two years, Kartika Puspitasari, a 30-year-old Indonesian domestic worker, was assaulted by her Hong Kong employers, who would burn her with an iron and beat her with a bike chain. The trial judge called her treatment “cruel” and...

International labour standards

Domestic workers: The need to speed up change

We need to step up the speed of change to better protect domestic workers throughout the world, says ILO Wage Specialist Malte Luebker six months after the entry into force of ILO Convention 189 on Decent Work for Domestic Workers.

Maritime Labour Convention

ILO body adopts new minimum monthly wage for seafarers

The mechanism is the only one in the ILO for setting the basic wage for any industry.

ILO body adopts new minimum monthly wage for seafarers

On February 28, the Subcommittee on Wages of Seafarers of the Joint Maritime Commission (JMC) of the International Labour Organization agreed on a Resolution raising the minimum monthly basic wage figure for able seafarers from US$585 to US$592, as...

Interview

Six months in force, eight years in the making: The ILO Maritime Labour Convention, 2006 is now in full sail

Interview with Cleopatra Doumbia-Henry, Director, ILO International Labour Standards Department, ILO, Geneva

Lecture of ILO Deputy Director-General at Leuven University

Lecture of ILO Deputy Director-General, Gilbert Houngbo, at Leuven University

“The dynamism of competition should lead to a ‘race to the top’ instead of a ‘race to the bottom’ in labour standards”

Gilbert Houngbo, ILO Deputy Director-General, addressed the University of Leuven, Belgium, in a public lecture on the “Key challenges for global protection of labour rights”.

Kyrgyzstan’s Social Development Ministry discusses ILO Social Security Convention and Social Protection Floors Recommendation

On February 20, Kyrgyzstan’s Ministry of Social Development discussed the ILO Social Security (Minimum Standards) Convention, 1952 (No. 102) and Social Protection Floors Recommendation, 2012 (No.202).

Better Work

Better Work programme in garment sector to move north and expand to footwear industry

The ILO and its partners have agreed to expand a major programme aiming to improve the export industries’ performance and competitiveness in the next five years.

Labour Standards

Slovenia ratifies the Promotional Framework for Occupational Safety and Health Convention, 2006 (No. 187) and the Night Work Convention,...

Labour Standards

Tunisia ratifies three international labour Conventions, including the Tripartite Consultation (International Labour Standards) Convention,...

Forced labour

Why definitions matter

Definitions are important in developing reliable data and in guiding action on forced and child labour. They mean we can be held accountable for our efforts to generate change in the name of those who are the most exploited in the world today.

ILO welcomes EU Council Decision authorising Member States to ratify Domestic Workers Convention

The ILO welcomes the adoption by the Council of Ministers of the EU of a Decision authorising EU Member States to ratify the ILO Domestic Workers Convention, 2011 (No. 189).

Kazakh parliament starts working on ratification of two ILO wage conventions

On January 29, the Majilis, lower house of Kazakhstan’s parliament, started working on ratification of two ILO conventions – the Minimum Wage-Fixing Machinery Convention, 1928 (No. 26) and the Protection of Wages Convention, 1949 (No. 95).