This is the seventh memorandum presented by I. L. 0. to the Council of Europe since 1951. It covers the period August 1956- July 1957.
While a general survey of the worldwide activities of the International Labour Organisation is to be found in the annual report of I. L. 0. to the United Nations Note , this memorandum deals mainly with those activities which it is felt will be of direct interest to the Council of Europe.
It contains, in particular, an account of ILO activities of interest to Europe with a view to the improvement of living and working conditions and in the field of manpower and economic development, including details of collaboration with the European regional organisations. It also refers to the progress in the application of International Labour Conventions by the Member States of the Council of Europe. In addition, some information will be found on such activities of I. L. 0. as are of a general character and applicable to all the States Members of I. L. 0 . but which may, nevertheless, be of interest to the Council of Europe.
The report on Social Aspects of European Economic Co-operationNote , prepared by the group of experts which met to study this question in pursuance of the recommendations of the First European Regional Conference of I. L. 0., was examined by the Governing Body in November 1956. It was agreed that the Director-General would at a later stage submit proposals regarding action to be taken on the experts' report. Meanwhile t he report has been communicated to the interested international organisations.
The Governing Body approved a programme of practical action by I. L. 0. in this field at its session in March 1957.
Under this programme it is contemplated t h a t at least two major research projects in the field of labour-management relations will be initiated in 1957. Others will be undertaken in succeeding years. In addition, a series of practical and simplified manuals will be prepared for the guidance of Governments, or of worker and employer groups in countries beginning to industrialise. Individual plant studies will be undertaken to describe methods used and results obtained in good labourmanagement relations. Various types of technical assistance to Governments may be given on request. A collection of important collective agreements and awards of industrial courts is being undertaken. And the International Labour Office has been requested to act as a clearing-house for bodies at present engaged in research in the field of labour-management relations.
At the request of the High Authority of the European Coal and Steel Community, assistance is being given to the Working Group on Labour Law convened by the High Authority in order to review labour legislation and practices in the member countries of the European Coal and Steel Community.
The industrial and similar committees of I. L. 0. continue to provide opportunities for the improvement of labour-management relations.
Thus the discussion of the Inland Transport Committee at its Sixth Session (Hamburg, March 1957) on methods of improving organisation of work and output in ports led to proposals designed to establish labourmanagement relations on a sound basis and thereby to improve the turn-round of shipping.
In the Metal Trades Committee in May 1957, the discussions on job evaluation and on the social aspects of automation also dealt largely with better labour-management relations.
The Advisory Committee on Salaried Employees and Professional Workers, at its Fourth Session in April 1957, discussed and made suggestions concerning collective bargaining for non-manual workers.
The Chemical Industries Committee will take up industrial relations in its industries as one of the subjects to be dealt with at its next meeting to be held early in 1958.
The Social Security (Minimum Standards) Convention, adopted by the International Labour Conference in 1952, has been ratified by eight countries, including six member countries of the Council of Europe. Since the adoption of the Convention, the work of the Organisation on social security matters has been concentrated on research and on technical assistance to Governments to enable them to improve and extend their social security systems and to improve the administrative services which operate them.
As Members of the Council of Europe will recall, an intergovernmental conference was held in Geneva in July 1956 to put into final shape the text of the European Convention concerning social security of workers engaged in international transport. The Governments of 16 European States Members of I. L. 0. were represented, and t h e Governments of two States Members sent observers. The conference adopted a final Act and the text of a Convention covering sickness, maternity and employment injury benefits. The Convention is open for signature and ratification by the European States Members of the Organisation and, under prescribed, conditions, any other European State may accede to it. On 1st January 1957, the Convention had been signed by the representatives of t h e Governments of 11 States Members.
The first draft of the Protocol to the European Code on Social Security establishing advanced standards of social security, which was prepared by the International Labour Office and considered by the Committee of Experts on Social Security of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe in April 1956, was revised by the Office on the basis of the observations made by the experts. The amended text was submitted to the Committee of Experts in October 1956, and in February 1957 the Committee adopted a draft Protocol.
The draft agreement providing for more detailed and comprehensive protection for foreign or migrant workers moving from one State Member of the European Coal and Steel Community to another, prepared by the International Labour Office at the request of the High Authority of the Community, is now nearing completion. The outstanding points for decision were examined in June 1956, January 1957 and July 1957 by the Council of Ministers of the European Coal and Steel Community and by the Ministers of Labour and Social Affairs of the six States which are Members of the Community, with the result that all outstanding points have been settled. It is hoped that the signature of the Convention will take place before the end of 1957.
As regards social security statistics, the Office is continuing its international inquiry into the cost of social security and is also preparing a study on the cost of medical care. It has begun a study on the organisation of social security medical care services, which will consist of a series of monographs on selected countries, followed by an international comparison. It is also collecting basic documentation on the treatment of nationals and of nonnationals and the payment of social security benefits abroad under the national legislation of States Members of I. L. 0.
In November 1956 I. L. 0 . co-operated with the International Social Security Association in organising an International Congress of Social Security Actuaries and Statisticians which met in Brussels and was attended by more than 200 actuaries and statisticians from 39 countries.
In November 1956 the Governing Body of I. L. 0. received the report of a tripartite committee which it had set up to study the question of the reduction of hours of work, and which met in August 1956, together with a supplementary report by the Director- General. In the light of these reports the Governing Body asked the Director-General of I. L. O. to submit to it, at its 134th Session in March 1957, a programme of studies to be undertaken in this field. At its session in March 1957, the Governing Body adjourned, until its November 1957 Session, examination of the proposals submitted to it by the Director- General.
A resolution on the reduction of hours of work was adopted by the International Labour Conference at its 40th Session (June 1957). In accordance with this resolution a general discussion of this question will be held at the next ordinary session of the Conference. Moreover, the question of weekly rest in commerce and offices was the subject of an International Labour Convention and supplementary Recommendation adopted by the ConferenceNote.
During the past year the International Labour Organisation continued to collaborate with the Organisation for European Economic Co-operation by providing the Manpower Committee of that organisation with information relating in particular to the position as regards hours of work in the countries which are Members of 0. E. E. C.
Among other activities in this field, I. L. 0. continued to take a close interest in the question of safety in coal mines. The Office took part in the work of the two committees set up in Belgium to investigate the disaster at Marcinelle and to revise the Belgian mining safety regulations. It also took part in the Conference on Safety in Coal Mines convened by the High Authority of the European Coal and Steel Community at Luxembourg. The Conference took as a basis for its work the standards and studies already published by I. L. 0 . An ILO meeting of experts is to be convened at the end of 1957 to examine the problems of the prevention of accidents in work underground in coal mines caused by fires and electricity.
As regards mining, tunnelling and quarrying, the Office is preparing the first International Report on Dust Prevention and Suppression. It is also planned to draw up separate codes of practice for dust prevention and suppression in coal mining, other mining, tunnelling and quarrying.
Safety and health in forestry operations, principally logging and timber floating have been studied by the Office at the joint request of t h e F. A. 0 . and the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe. A law and practice study of safety and health in logging operations is being prepared for a joint committee of the F. A. 0. and the E. C. E. This may be followed by t h e preparation of a code of practice on the subject.
Following upon recommendations made by a meeting of experts in 1956, t h e Office plans to undertake a considerable amount of work relating to the classification and labelling of dangerous substances, including the preparation of a basic list of such substances to which the ILO danger symbols should be affixed, the preparation of basic texts setting out the chief precautions to be taken in handling these substances and the preparation of a guide for marking them.
The Office is enlisting t h e co-operation of experts to enable it to develop its activities in the field of electropathology.
Other work being undertaken by the Office includes the preparation of a directory of organisations engaged in occupational safety and health work, preparation of a new edition of the Catalogue of Occupational Safety and Health Films, an inquiry into the desirability of creating an international federation of national safety associations and institutions, and an international classification of radiographs of pneumoconiosis.
In the near future, it is hoped to begin work on an encyclopaedia of occupational health and safety, an international list of notifiable occupational diseases, revision of the Model Code of Safety Regulations for Underground Work in Coal Mines, and codes of practice relating to safety and health in agriculture and in dock work.
As regards activities specifically concerned with occupational health, I. L. 0 . collaborated with W. H. 0. in the organisation of a seminar on The Nurse in Industry which was held in London in April-May 1957. The Joint I. L. O./W. H. 0 . Committee on Occupational Health also met this year and discussed the following questions : the training of physicians in the field of occupational health; the role and organisation of occupational health institutes; and the criteria to be used for reporting the medical reasons for absenteeism.
I. L. 0. is collaborating with the Benelux Organising Committee in the preparation of a Second World Congress on the Prevention of Occupational Accidents to be held in Brussels in 1958.
In preparation for developments in the peaceful uses of atomic energy, I. L. 0 . is compiling codes of practice on various aspects of the protection of workers against ionising radiations and is undertaking the revision of the Model Code of Safety Regulations for Industrial Establishments for the Guidance of Governments and Industry, 1949. A meeting of experts will be held in November 1957 to deal with these matters, and consultants are collaborating with the I. L. 0. in the preparation of material for the meeting.
Finally, the Governing Body of I. L. 0. has decided to include in the agenda of the 42nd Session of the International Labour Conference the question of the organisation of occupational health services in places of employment, for first discussion of an international instrument on the subject.
The work of the Labour Administration Institute at Istanbul, which I. L. 0. helped to establish, with a view to enabling the Governments in the region to train labour officials, continued to expand in 1956. In the first half of the year a training course in employment service was organised for participants from three countries, and in the latter half of 1956 a course on labour inspection and occupational safety and health was provided for participants from seven countries. Senior officials of labour departments in Greece and Turkey, among other countries, attended a general information course given at t h e Institute. A follow-up course was also organised for Turkish labour inspectors who had attended the Institute courses in 1955.
At its Fifth Session the Building, Civil Engineering and Public Works Committee examined the question of national housing programmes and full employment. It adopted a resolution on this subject which emphasises t h a t the solution of the housing problem is to be found in well-planned, continuing and regular building activity.
I. L. 0 . was a joint sponsor with the United Nations of a Seminar on Housing Through Non-Profit Organisations which was held in Denmark in July and August 1956. The lectures were given by Danish as well as several international experts. Many field visits were made—for instance to building materials factories, both in Denmark and at Oslo and Stockholm.
I. L. 0 . organised jointly with the F. A. 0 . a Conference on European Rural Life held at Bad Godesberg, Germany, in April 1957. The agenda of the conference included policies and programmes aiming at the improvement of conditions of rural life in Europe; women in rural life; supplementary occupations for farm populations; and leisure and recreation in rural areas.
I. L. 0 . prepared jointly with the United Nations and the F. A. 0. a progress report on international action on land reform which was considered by the Economic and Social Council at its 24th Session (July-August 1957).
I. L. 0. has continued its study of wages and related elements of labour cost in European industry. In t h e period under review, statistics of establishments in selected industries were provided by nine countries, and information on the coal and steel industries of participating member countries was collected by the High Authority of the European Coal and Steel Community. The second stage of the study, relating to aggregative statistics based on national accounts and the operating accounts of social security agencies, was also initiated during this period. Both the establishment and the aggregative data are in process of analysis and tabulation at I. L. 0 . , and the final report is planned to be issued at the end of 1957.
The Ninth International Conference of Labour Statisticians was held in Geneva from 24th April to 4th May 1957. It had before it a general report on labour statistics and the final draft of the International Standard Classification of Occupations. The Conference approved this draft, which has now been circulated to Governments for final review before publication. The Conference also discussed international classification according to status, measurement of under-employment and the development and uses of social security statistics.
A meeting of experts on labour and social security statistics was held in Geneva in October 1956. The experts recognised that international action to develop social security statistics called for a long-range programme. They recommended that the necessary administrative machinery should be established to ensure proper co-ordination of social security statistics with statistics compiled in other fields, and emphasised the importance of establishing standards for social security statistics. The experts also recommended that I. L. 0 . should assemble detailed information on methods, definitions and classifications used in the various countries in connection with such statistics.
In t h e technical assistance field, Greece has received ILO aid with regard to the preparation of family living studies.
In the more developed countries, a great deal of research has been carried out in recent years on the causes of general unemployment and on action to achieve and maintain a high level of employment. Special action is often needed to deal with unemployment when it is concentrated in certain industries. The results of research by I. L. 0 . in this connection included, inter alia, the publication in 1956 of a study dealing with the action which might be taken to regularise production and employment in the metal tradesNote.
Moreover, problems connected with the employment of women were discussed at an ILO meeting of experts held at Geneva in November 1956. The meeting, in which experts from 11 countries (including four western European countries) took part, made a number of recommendations on the parttime employment of women, the employment of older women, the vocational guidance and training of women, and technical assistance in underdeveloped countries to improve women's conditions of work.
During the year under review I. L. 0. continued to co-operate with 0. E. E. C. in planning employment service organisation and related activities in Europe. The programme was based on t h e findings and recommendations of two consultants from I. L. 0 . and 0 . E. E. C. respectively. Four activities were selected as of particular importance for employment services in western Europe—organisation and methods of local employment exchange operations, vocational guidance and employment counselling, job analysis and international clearance of employment offers and applications. This last type of activity, which is evidently of great importance for movements of workers inside Europe, is currently receiving special attention. Under a joint ILO/OEEC/EPA project, which is to be completed in 1957, an ILO expert has undertaken a series of visits to several European countries to study their clearance arrangements both at the national and international levels. The object will be to determine general principles and methods which might be recommended for wider application.
As part of I. L. O.s technical assistance activities in this connection, study fellowships were granted during the year to employment service officials of two European countries, namely, Greece and Turkey. In Turkey, also, the Ministry of Labour is being helped to carry out a manpower survey with a view to expanding possibilities of employment in the urban and rural sectors, with emphasis on the latter which accounts for 80 per cent of the total population.
Following a survey carried out in 1956 by 0. E. E. C. on the evaluation of manpower availabilities and requirements, I. L. 0 . prepared standards of employment information which were approved by an OEEC meeting of experts held in March 1957. The meeting proposed t h a t the Manpower Committee of 0. E. E. C. should favourably consider submitting the standards to the OEEC Council for inclusion in a Recommendation addressed to member countries.
Training of supervisors. — Under an agreement with the European Productivity Agency of 0. E. E. C, I. L. 0. has carried out a survey of the status and methods of selecting and training supervisory staff in ten European countriesNote . The report submitted to the European Productivity Agency at the close of this inquiry contains a series of recommendations for future action, as well as outlining the present situation in the countries concerned. Problems connected with the training of technicians and supervisors were also considered at the Fourth Session of the ILO Advisory Committee on Salaried Employees and Professional Workers (April 1957).
In Yugoslavia, as in previous years, I. L. 0 . has rendered technical assistance to the Federal Management and Supervisory Training Centre at Zagreb. Four experts in management training, personnel administration, supervisory training and training of production specialists have helped in the management of the Centre, the training of its personnel and the organisation of courses. Fellowships have been awarded in order to supplement the training of the local personnel, and much valuable equipment has been allocated.
Training of instructors. — In agreement with the Economic Commission for Europe, a regional training course for instructors for training adults in the metal trades was held in Italy from September 1956 to February 1957 under the technical supervision of an ILO expert. The course took place at Genoa, at the Instructor Training Centre established by the Italian Government in 1953 with the assistance of I. L. 0 . Instructor trainees from Greece and Yugoslavia attended the course.
ILO technical assistance to several national instructor training projects has also been continued. In Italy, experts are cooperating with the competent authorities to provide training for adult training instructors in electronics and the maintenance and repair of agricultural machinery. In Turkey, a member of the joint ILO/UNESCO vocational education team is specialising in the training of t h e teaching and senior administrative staff.
Training for production and maintenance operations. — In Greece, a t e am of three experts has begun the reorganisation of one of t he "King's Schools " for the training of village craftsmen. The school in question will serve as a model for the whole " King's School " organisation, and teacher training courses have been conducted by I. L. 0 . for the teaching staff of the organisation as a whole. I. L. 0. has facilitated negotiations with the Council of Europe and the Greek Government in connection with a possible loan to finance the development of the pilot " King's School ".
In Malta, a four-man team is organising training courses in the building, mechanical and metal trades both to help meet Malta's needs for skilled manpower and also to train future migrants.
In Turkey, the ILO members of the joint IL0/UNESC0 vocational education team are assisting in the development of electronics and textile training facilities. The work of the teacher training specialist in this team has already been mentioned.
Traming of workers abroad. — In addition to providing training assistance on the spot, I. L. 0. also organises the training of workers abroad under its worker training programme, originated for Yugoslavia in 1950. Yugoslavia is now receiving assistance in the training of building workers, and training abroad programmes are now being operated also for Greece and Turkey, among other countries. About 750 skilled workers, technicians and foremen from the countries concerned have been placed for advanced training in over 400 undertakings abroad (13 European and one Asian country). Working in modern, well-equipped plants, these trainees have been enabled to acquire new knowledge and skills and to become acquainted with production methods in countries more highly developed t h a n their own. The beneficial results of this form of technical assistance are confirmed by the increase in the number of requests for it.
I. L. O.s interest in promoting training for workers abroad is not new. Since 1948 the Office has carried out periodical inquiries into existing means of facilitating the international exchange of trainees.
Training in co-operation and handicrafts. — Training plays an important part in the development of the co-operative movement. With the United Nations and the F. A. 0., the Office therefore organised, under the auspices of the Danish Government, a training course on co-operation, which took place in Denmark from 1st August to 12th September 1956—the fourth course of its kind since 1953. The object was to give 24 trainees, coming from countries where I. L. 0 . is now engaged on technical assistance projects, fairly advanced theoretical and practical training on the co-operative movement. Lectures were given by leading figures in the co-operative world; the participants made a thorough study of the co-operative movement in Denmark and visited many of that country's co-operative organisations.
Vocational training in agriculture. — Plans are being developed for the establishment at Zurich, early in 1958, of a vocational training centre for agriculture, as a joint undertaking of the Swiss Government, I. L. 0., the F. A. 0. and UNESCO.
I. L. 0 . is continuing to collaborate with the E. C. E. and the F. A. 0. in connection with the training of instructors and officials in charge of vocational training of forest workers by providing fellowships for trainees from various European countries and for the joint sponsorship of two training centres for forest workers in Europe (Zurich, March 1957 and Vienna, May-June 1957).
The ILO workers' education programme, which was initiated on a systematic basis in 1956, is based on the needs of workers for improving their knowledge of social and economic questions so t h a t they may carry out effectively their increasingly important role in the industrial scene and in the fabric of society.
I. L. 0. is engaged in the preparation and publication of a series of workers' education courses, written in simple and non-technical language, and beginning with a course on co-operation. Similar courses on labour-management relations, social security and the work of I. L. 0. are also being prepared for publication. In addition, the Office is preparing a manual on workers' education which includes the essential information and data which might help trade unions and other bodies in planning their workers' education programmes.
As part of its practical action in this field, I. L. 0. in 1956 helped to organise and participated in three courses at the Centre for Labour Studies in the University of Strasbourg. I. L. 0. also participated in the ICFTU European Summer School and the ICFTU International Trade Union Centre at Brussels. Assistance was furnished to the Scandinavian Summer School and to the British Workers' Education Association Summer School. I. L. 0 also made available facilities to the course on the United Nations and the specialised agencies organised by the German Confederation of Trade Unions. I. L. 0. was represented at the Fourth Conference of the International Federation of Workers' Education Associations in Vienna, and at UNESCO's Consultative Committee on Adult Education.
I. L. 0 . started in June 1957 the preparation of a special study of training schemes for vocational guidance personnel.
In Europe I. L. 0. has contributed, as in past years, to the United Nations exchange programme for welfare service personnel going abroad to study the organisation, problems or methods of vocational guidance.
An ILO fellowship has been granted to an official of the Greek Ministry of Labour to enable him to go to France and the United Kingdom and study the operation of vocational guidance in those countries.
During 1956 the Organisation considerably expanded its practical work regarding the vocational rehabilitation of disabled persons.
I. L. 0. participated in a joint UN/WHO/ILO survey, carried out in March and April 1957, of the jover-all needs of Austria in the field of rehabilitation. An ILO official took part in the team carrying out the survey, which recommended the co-ordination of all services connected with rehabilitation in Austria, and proposed the establishment of several new rehabilitation centres.
I. L. 0 . played an important part at the Seventh Congress of the International Society for the Welfare of Cripples, held in London from 22nd to 26th July 1957. The Director-General was one of the principal speakers at this Congress, which was devoted to various aspects of rehabilitation of disabled people. The majority of the participants came from European countries.
I. L. 0 . is participating in a seminar on the vocational rehabilitation of the tuberculous to be held in Paris in September 1957.
At the request of the Greek Government, an ILO official will carry out a three weeks' mission in September 1957 to advise the newly formed National Council for Rehabilitation on the development of a programme for the vocational guidance and rehabilitation of disabled persons. It is possible that this mission will be followed, in 1958, by a longt e rm mission by an outside expert to develop the findings made in this preliminary survey.
Plans are proceeding for the recruitment of an expert for two months to advise the Yugoslav Government on its exact needs in training courses and equipment in the development of its programme for the rehabilitation of handicapped children.
ILO active co-operation with European organisations concerned with various aspects of migration has continued during the period under review. A representative of I. L. 0 . has attended meetings of the Advisory Committee attached to the Council of Europe's special representative for national refugees and overpopulation. At the same time I. L. 0. has cooperated in the work of 0. E. E. C. to secure greater manpower mobility in Europe. Preparation, under the joint auspices of I. L. 0 . and the High Authority of t h e European Coal and Steel Community, of a European Agreement concerning social security for migrant workers is virtually completed.
It will be remembered that, at the suggestion of 0. E. E. C, a working p a r t y composed of representatives of I. L. 0., 0. E. E. C. and I. C. E. M. was instructed to collect statistics on international migration since 1946. The statistics collected by the working party were communicated to Governments for their observations, most of which have now been received. These observations are being taken into account in the preparation of revised estimates. A study of international migration since 1945, an important part of which will be devoted to intra-European migration and migration from Europe to overseas countries, is in preparation and should be completed in 1957. Work is being continued, in co-operation with F. A. 0 . and the other international agencies concerned, on the preliminary study of land settlement by migrants.
A joint mission was sent by I. L. 0 . and the Intergovernmental Committee for European Migration to conduct an inquiry in various countries of Latin America with a view to determining the trades for which skilled workers are required and the standards of skill in those trades which immigrants from Europe should possess it they are to secure satisfactory employment in those countries. Before going to Latin America this mission visited Greece and Italy, where it collected preliminary information on the occupational skills of would-be emigrants and on available training facilities. The work of the ILO vocational training team in Malta has already been mentioned. In organising training for future migrants, close attention is paid to the requirements of countries towards which Maltese workers may emigrate. Lastly, I. L. 0 . has provided I. C. E. M. with advisory assistance in connection with the vocational training of would-be emigrants in Italy; in particular the Office has supplied I. C. E. M. with detailed comments on certain job descriptions which that agency had drawn up. It is anticipated that the ILO instructor training mission in Italy will be able to co-operate with the Italian authorities and I. C. E. M. in the study of certain aspects of the vocational training of would-be emigrants undertaken by the latter institution.
Two ILO experts have assisted the Greek productivity centre for six months and have demonstrated in selected plants the application of techniques for raising productivity.
An ILO expert undertook a study of productivity organisation in Yugoslavia at the Government's request.
During the period under review the Member States of the Council of Europe communicated a total of 14 ratifications of International Labour Conventions. The Minimum Age (Agriculture) Convention, 1921 (No. 10) was ratified by the Federal Republic of Germany, the Netherlands and Norway. In addition, the Federal Republic of Germany ratified the Sickness Insurance (Sea) Convention, 1936 (No. 56) and the Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise Convention, 1948 (No. 87). Norway ratified the Inspection of Emigrants Convention, 1926 (No. 21), the Food and Catering (Ships' Crews) Convention, 1946 (No. 68), the Unemployment Provision Convention, 1934 (No. 44) and the Night Work of Young Persons (Industry) Convention (Revised), 1948 (No. 90). Iceland ratified the Right of Association (Agriculture) Convention, 1921 (No. 11), the Minimum Age (Trimmers and Stokers) Convention, 1921 (No. 15), and the Minimum Age (Sea) Convention (Revised), 1936 (No. 58). Belgium ratified the Labour Inspection Convention, 1947 (No. 81). Ireland ratified the Certification of Able Seamen Convention, 1946 (No. 74).
It may be mentioned that a fellowship has been granted to a Spanish civil servant to study at ILO headquarters the operation of the machinery for the application of International Labour Conventions and Recommendations.
The 40th Session of the International Labour Conference was held in Geneva from 5th to 27th June 1957.
The Conference adopted a Forced Labour Convention; an Indigenous and Tribal Populations Convention and Recommendation; and a Weekly Rest (Commerce and Offices) Convention and Recommendation. It took preliminary action with a view to final discussion next year of four other instruments, namely, a Convention and a Recommendation concerning conditions of plantation workers, and a Convention and Recommendation on discrimination in the field of employment and occupation.
The Conference also adopted resolutions on the abolition of concentration camps and the deportation of national minorities, methods of wage payment, debt bondage and serfdom, abolition of anti-trade union legislation, safety in mines, women's work, workers' education, housing construction, application of Conventions in non-metropolitan territories, hours of work, and disarmament, the testing of nuclear weapons and the use of nuclear energy for peaceful purposes.
Under the Forced Labour Convention adopted by the Conference, each Member State of I. L. 0. which ratifies the Convention undertakes to suppress forced labour as a means of political coercion or education or as a punishment for holding or expressing political views or views ideologically opposed to the established political, social or economic system; as a method of mobilising and using labour for purposes of economic development; as a means of labour discipline; as a punishment for having participated in strikes; or as a means of racial, social, national or religious discrimin-ation. Each member further undertakes to take effective measures to secure the immediate and complete abolition of forced or compulsory labour as defined above.
The Indigenous and Tribal Populations Convention and Recommendation apply to members of tribal or semi-tribal populations in independent countries whose social and economic conditions are at a less advanced stage than the stage reached by the other sections of the national community, and also to members of tribal or semi-tribal populations in independent countries which are regarded as indigenous on account of their descent from the populations which inhabited the country, or the geographical region to which the country belongs, at the time of conquest or colonisation. The wide scope of these two instruments is directed towards providing effective protection for the fundamental rights of these peoples.
The Weekly Rest (Commerce and Offices) Convention provides that, subject to certain exceptions where appropriate compensatory arrangements will be made, the persons to whom the Convention applies will be entitled to an uninterrupted weekly rest period comprising not less than 24 hours in the course of each period of seven days. The Convention further provides that , in determining the circumstances in which the permitted temporary exemptions may be granted, the representative employers' and workers' organisations concerned must be consulted. It lays down that there must be no reduction of the income of persons covered by the Convention as a result of its application, and that appropriate measures must be taken to ensure the proper administration of weekly rest regulations, by means of adequate inspection or otherwise.
The Recommendation provides that the persons to whom the Convention applies should, as far as possible, be entitled to a weekly rest of not less than 36 hours which, wherever practicable, should be an uninterrupted period. It lays down that young persons under 18 should, wherever practicable, be granted an uninterrupted weekly rest of two days, and that the temporary exemptions due to force majeure, etc. provided for in the Convention, should not apply to young persons.
The conclusions adopted by t h e Conference and directed towards a Convention and Recommendation concerning discrimination in the field of employment and occupation state t h a t the Convention should provide that each Member ratifying it would agree to declare and pursue a national policy designed to promote equality of opportunity and treatment in respect of employment and occupation, with a view to eliminating discrimination, but that it should not affect any statutory provisions or administrative regulations which relate to national security.
The conclusions adopted by the Conference and directed towards a Convention and Recommendation concerning conditions of plantation workers state that the Convention should deal with such matters as engagement and recruitment of migrant workers; contracts of employment and abolition of penal sanctions; wages; annual holidays with pay; weekly rest; maternity protection; workmen's compensation; freedom of association, right to organise and collective bargaining; labour inspection; housing; and medical facilities.
Among the resolutions adopted by the Conference, that dealing with hours of work, as mentioned aboveNote , invites the Governing Body to arrange for a general discussion of this question at the next Ordinary Session of the Conference (i.e. the42nd Session, June 1958). That dealing with safety in mines invites the Governing Body to consider what additional steps can appropriately be taken to extend still further the work of I. L. 0. in this important field, including placing the whole question on the agenda of a future session of the Conferrence. The resolution relating to the establishment of a tripartite committee on women's work requests the Governing Body shortly to constitute and convene a tripartite committee on women's work. The resolution concerning workers' education expresses the wish t h a t the Governing Body will consider expanding this sector of I. L. O.s activities and pay special attention to the realisation of practical programmes in consultation with the trade unions and the needs of the areas where the development of workers' education is most urgent.
With a view to preparing for the Maritime Session of the International Labour Conference which is to be held in 1958 the Governing Body convened a Preparatory Technical Maritime Conference, as recommended by the ILO Joint Maritime Commission. This Conference, which was held in London in September and October 1956, was attended by 21 States Members of I. L. 0. including 12 European States Members Note . The Conference discussed the following questions : general revision of the Wages, Hours of Work and Manning (Sea) Convention (Revised), 1949; engagement of seafarers through regularly established employment offices; flag transfer in relation to social conditions and safety; contents of ships' medicine chests and medical advice by radio to ships at sea; jurisdiction over the suspension of officers' certificates of competency; and reciprocal or international recognition of seafarers' national identity cards.
The Preparatory Conference adopted proposed texts of various instruments which it considered might usefully be established by the 41st (Maritime) Session of the International Labour Conference in 1958 in connection with all of these questions. As regards the revision of the 1949 Convention, the Preparatory Conference further agreed to recommend that, in the interval before the Maritime Session of the Conference, a tripartite working party should meet to examine the possibility of submitting proposals designed to secure general agreement on the revision of the Convention. This recommendation was approved by the Governing Body in November 1956, and the tripartite working party met in April 1957. The working party, after discussing various possible approaches to the question, concluded that the best method of fulfilling its task was to draw up the draft of a Recommendation which it asked the Governing Body to transmit for consideration, and, if approved, adoption by the Maritime Session of the Conference, in addition to the proposed draft revised Convention transmitted by the Preparatory Conference. It was felt t h a t in this way States Members which might be unable to ratify the Convention might nevertheless be encouraged, by accepting and implementing the Recommendation, or some parts of it, to make progress in the field with which the subject matter of the Recommendation is concerned and, in certain respects, to improve on t h e provisions of the Convention.
The Governing Body of I. L. 0 . decided in November 1956 that, in addition to the items carried over from the 40th Session for a second discussion at the 42nd Session of the ConferenceNote , a first discussion should be held at the 42nd Session on the organisation of occupational health services in places of employment and on the conditions of work of fishermen, with a view to the adoption of international instruments on these questions.
The Sixth Session of the ILO Inland Transport Committee was held in Hamburg in March 1957. Its agenda included methods of improving organisation of work and output in ports, and labour inspection in road transport. The ILO Metal Trades Committee held its Sixth Session at Geneva in May 1957. It discussed, inter alia, methods of job evaluation and the problems raised by automation in the metal trades. The ILO Iron and Steel Committee, which is to hold its Sixth Session in Monterrey (Mexico) from 7th to 19th October 1957, will discuss the promotion of safety in the industry, and conditions of work and social problems in the industry in the countries in course of industrialisation.
Two Industrial Committee meetings are planned for 1958. The Textiles Committee, at its Sixth Session, will examine, inter alia, working conditions in the textile industry and the effects of technological developments on wages, conditions and level of employment in this industry. The Chemical Industries Committee, at its. Fifth Session, will study, inter alia, industrial relations in the chemical industries and the protection of workers against occupational diseases and poisoning.
A special tripartite meeting will be held in autumn 1957 to carry out a general examination of the social problems arising in mines other than coal mines. The meeting will examine accident prevention, machinery for wage fixing and protection, and industrial relations in such mines.
A similar meeting is to be held in 1958 in connection with the timber industry.
A bipartite Ad Hoc Meeting on Civil Aviation was held in Geneva from 26th November to 5th December 1956. It consisted of ten representatives of employers' organisations and ten representatives of workers' organisations in civil aviation, all appointed by the Coverning Body. The agenda of the meeting comprised a review of conditions of employment in civil aviation, hours of work of flight personnel, and the income security of this personnel after retirement or grounding. On these two technical points draft conclusions were submitted by the workers' representatives, but the employers' representatives considered t h a t there was no occasion for further action b y I. L. 0 . in the civil aviation industry. The report of this meeting was submitted in March 1957 to the Governing Body of I. L. 0. which decided to transmit it for observations to the Governments of Members asking them to communicate i t to t h e employers' and workers' organisations concerned. The Governing Body also asked the Director-General to examine, on the basis of the replies received by November 1957, the possibility of convening as early as possible a tripartite meeting on civil aviation.
The Fourth Session of the ILO Advisory Committee on Salaried Employees and Professional Workers met in April 1957. Among the technical questions examined by the Committee were non-manual workers and collective bargaining and working conditions of technical and supervisory staff in industry, excluding management.
An Ad Hoc Meeting on Conditions of Work and Employment of Nurses, and a Meeting of Experts on Teachers' Problems, are to take place in 1958.
There are very few fields of ILO activity which will not be affected in some measure by the spread of automation and other forms of technological change. These developments have an obvious bearing on employment, wages, hours, vocational training, social security, labour-management relations, workers' education and many other aspects of the Organisation's work. The International Labour Conference in June 1957 held a useful general discussion on the labour and social implications of automation, based on the Director-General's Report to the Conference, which paid special attention to this question Note.
The Metal Trades Committee of I. L. 0. also discussed the question at its meeting in May 1957 and it will be included in the agenda of other Industrial Committees directly concerned with the impact of automation. Furthermore, a special tripartite committee of experts on the social implications of technological change is to meet in 1958 in order to help in shaping the future programme of the Organisation in this broad field.
Members of the Council of Europe will recall that a resolution on the use of atomic energy for peaceful purposes was adopted by the International Labour Conference in June 1955.
In pursuance of this resolution the Governing Body and the Office have followed closely the events leading up to the establishment of the International Atomic Energy Agency. In November 1956 the Governing Body authorised the Director-General to initiate discussions with the Agency or its Preparatory Commission at the earliest possible date with a view to establishing close co-operation between the two organisations.
I. L. 0. is concerned with many problems raised by the growing application of atomic energy to industry—problems such as employment organisation and technical training, protection of workers against ionising radiations, and labour inspection in establishments using atomic energy; and its work in these fields is being developed in accordance with the new needs emerging from the industrial use of atomic energy.
A meeting of experts on radiation protection is being held in December 1957 to consider the revision of the provisions relating to radiation contained in the Model Code of Safety Regulations for Industrial Establishments for the Guidance of Governments and Industry, originally adopted in 1949, and the preparation of illustrated codes of practice on protection against radiation dealing respectively with principles of protection against radiation common to all applications of nuclear techniques and with two relatively common industrial uses of radiation, namely, radiography by the use of X-rays and gamma rays and the application of luminous compounds. The desirability of the consideration by the International Labour Conference in 1959 of the questions of the protection of workers against radiations is under consideration by the Governing Body of the International Labour Office.