This is the eighth memorandum presented by the I.L.O. to the Council of Europe since 1951. It covers the period August 1957-July 1958 and also describes meetings and other activities to be carried on at later dates which were planned or otherwise prepared during this interval.
While a general survey of the worldwide activities of the International Labour Organisation may be found in the annual report of the I.L.O. to the United Nations2, the present memorandum is more limited in scope and is devoted to those activities which it is felt would be of specific interest to the Council of Europe. It contains, in particular, accounts of ILO European activities directed to the improvement of living and working conditions and in the field of manpower and economic development.
In both of these major spheres of activity there are examples of the Organisation's efforts to assist the various movements which are promoting closer co-operation between the countries of Europe. This work has taken the form of technical advice to European regional organisations and has also been manifested in the planning and convening of conferences and technical meetings in conjunction with one or more of these organisations.
Attention is also devoted in this Report to progress in the application of international labour conventions by the States Members of the Council of Europe. Finally, information is supplied on such past and future activities of the ILO as are applicable to all States Members of the Organisation but which may, nevertheless, be of interest to the Council of Europe.
The European Convention concerning the Social Security of Migrant Workers, a product of long and close collaboration between the I.L.O. and the European Coal and Steel Community, was signed in Rome on 9th December 1957 by the Ministers of Labour of the six member countries of the Community. Shortly thereafter the Commission of the European Economic Community suggested to its Council of Ministers that the Convention of 9th December 1957 be transformed into a RegulationNote of the Council. As a result of this, three meetings of social security experts in which the I.L.O. has played a leading part, have been held, in January-February, April-May and July 1958, in order to establish arrangements for the practical implementation of the Convention. The experts have also been making preparations to bring about, eventually, the adoption of the Convention, possibly in a modified form, together with these supplementary arrangements, as Regulations of the Council of Ministers of the E.E.C.
Assistance has continued to be given to the Council of Europe in the formulation of a European Code of Social Security and a Protocol with even higher standards. The I.L.O. took part in the work of the Committee of Experts on Social Security which examined the observations with regard to the Code and Protocol made by the Consultative Assembly—and transmitted comments thereon in March 1958 to the Committee of Ministers.
A questionnaire has been prepared and dispatched to the States signatory to the Social Security Agreement for Rhine Boatmen in order to elicit the opinions of these Governments on possible amendments to the Agreement as well as to its supplementary administrative arrange- péennes ; préparation et convocation de conférences merits. On the basis of replies, which should be received before the end of 1958, the I.L.O. will submit initial drafts of any revisions that may be necessary.
The European Convention on the Social Security of International Transport Workers, which was signed in Geneva in July 1956 at an intergovernmental conference attended by European States Members of the I.L.O., has now received its second ratification. According to its terms, the Convention, which contains provisions covering sickness, maternity and employment injury benefits, will enter into force on 1st October 1958. Following this, the ILO plans to prepare appropriate measures for the implementation of the Convention.
The international inquiry into the cost of social security has been maintained, and, in 1958, the I.L.O. published a third volume in this series, entitled The Cost of Social Security, 1949-1954. These investigations will continue to be issued on a periodical three-year basis. Examinations of the cost of medical care and of organisation and administrative questions in the matter of social security have also been carried on during the past year and are hoped to be published in the near future.
In response to a letter dated 10th February 1958 from the Secretary-General of the Council of Europe, the Governing Body of the I.L.O. agreed to convene, in accordance with Article 3 of the Agreement in force between the two Organisations, a conference of a tripartite character composed of two Government representatives, one employers' representative and one workers' representative from each country which is a Member of both the I.L.O. and the Council of Europe. The conference will meet in Strasbourg in December 1958 and will examine a draft European Social Charter which has been elaborated by the Social Committee of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe. A working paper comparing the standards of the proposed Charter with those contained in operative international labour Conventions and Recommendations has been prepared. This, together with the views recorded in the final report of the Conference, will be communicated to the Committee of Ministers as a technical contribution of the I.L.O. to the drafting of the final version of the Charter, which the Council of Europe itself will carry out.
The programme of practical action by the I.L.O. in the field of labour-management relations which was approved by the Governing Body at its session in March 1957 has made good progress in the course of the past year, with progress in the formulation of international standards, in research and in the provision of technical assistance.
Following a decision by the Governing Body in November 1957 fixing the agenda of the 43rd Session of the International Labour Conference in 1959, preparations have been made for the discussion at that session of the question of collaboration between public authorities and employers' and workers' organisations at industrial and national levels. A tripartite Meeting on the timber industry, scheduled for December 1958, will consider labour-management relations in that industry, and the Coal Mines Committee, in early 1959, will deal with labour-management relations in the coal mining industry, with emphasis on the human aspect of relations within the enterprise. Appropriate reports have been prepared to serve as a basis for these discussions.
Plans have been completed for a bipartite study tour for management and trade union leaders from six Asian countries to be held from September to November 1958. After an initial period of instruction at ILO headquarters, the participants are to visit, under the leadership of ILO officials, numerous undertakings in the •United Kingdom and the Federal Republic of 'Germany, where they will-observe systems of labour-management relations which have developed through long experience.
A series of monographs on labour-management relations for use by Governments and research institutes interested in these questions "was inaugurated during 1957. A volume entitled International Standards and Guiding Principles 1944-1958 — a comprehensive compilation of industrial standards and resolutions concerning labour-management relations which have been adopted at meetings convened under the auspices of the I.L.O. — has been completed and will shortly be issued as part of this series. Other titles in the course of preparation include a directory of research organisations active in the field, together with summaries of their activities and comparative analyses of national dismissal procedures.
The organisation of occupational health services in places of employment was the subject of a first discussion at the 42nd Session of the International Labour Conference in 1958. As a result of the views which were presented at this time, the necessary reports are under preparation for a second discussion of this topic at the 1959 Session of the Conference, with a view to the adoption of an international Recommendation on the subject.
The I.L.O. has begun work on a comprehensive Manual on Protection against Radiations in Industry, for use by public and private authorities, in view of the increasingly urgent need for standards in this field. The Governing Body, in November 1957, decided to place the question of the protection of workers against radiations on the agenda of the International Labour Conference in 1959. The reports prepared for these discussions encompass a considerable number of safety requirements to be dealt with in the Convention and Recommendation which may ultimately be adopted, although it is contemplated to frame such instruments in general terms so as to permit precise rules of application to be kept in flexible form. These instruments will constitute Part I of the ILO Manual.
In addition, a meeting of experts on this subject was convened by the I.L.O. in November- December 1957 to examine the section on ionising radiations of the Model Code of Safety Regulations for Industrial Establishments for the Guidance of Governments and Industry.
The experts decided upon a number of revisions and additions in the light of recent developments in the field, and the Governing Body subsequently approved the issuance of these new provisions as amendments to the Model Code. This material is considered as Part II of the ILO Manual. The experts also examined three draft guides for the use of industrial personnel down to the foreman level. The first guide provides fundamental information on the dangers and means of protection for all types and uses of ionising radiations, the second deals with industrial radiography and fluoroscopy, and the third is devoted to the protection of workers in the use of luminous compounds. These guides have been undergoing revision during the past year and will shortly be published as Parts III, IV and V of the ILO Manual.
Also in this field, a European course on radiation protection for industry was held in London in June 1958. This course was attended by labour inspection officials, safety engineers, industrial physicians and other personnel responsible for safety inside undertakings and was designed to acquaint them with the hazards and techniques necessary in safeguarding workers against ionising radiations.
A Meeting of Experts on Safety in Coal Mines, organised by the I.L.O. in 1957, adopted codes of practice on the prevention of accidents due to fires and electricity underground in coal mines. These codes are scheduled for publication in 1958.
Following the conference on safety in coal mines convened by the European Coal and Steel Community in 1956-1957, the High Authority established a permanent body to consider problems of this character on a continuing basis. The I.L.O. participates in this work in a consultative capacity.
Work is continuing with regard to dangerous substances, in accordance with the recommendations of a meeting of experts which the I.L.O. convened in August 1956. Data sheets for individual dangerous substances are being prepared, as well as a basic list of these substances and a guide for marking them. The I.L.O. has continued to co-operate with the United Nations and also with the Western European Union and the Berne Union for the Transport of Goods by Rail with regard to the classification and labelling of dangerous substances.
Preparations have been made for the organisation of a Meeting of Experts on the International Classification of Radiographs of Pneumoconiosis, to be held in October-November 1958. During the past year two consultants on the subject, appointed by the I.L.O., conferred with the various European organisations interested in this question with a view to an international standardisation of the classification of radiographs of pneumoconiosis. The report of these consultants will be considered at the forthcoming meeting.
The I.L.O. published the First International Report on the Prevention and Suppression of Dust in Mining, Tunnelling and Quarrying in 1957. Triennal reports on these problems, covering the years 1955-1957, have been requested from Governments, and a Second International Report is planned, based on this information. Preliminary measures have also been taken for the preparation of a manual on these questions which will contain discussions, inter alia, on methods of sampling, measuring and analysing dust.
The I.L.O. is collaborating with the International Social Security Association in setting up an international safety information centre, to which national information and documentation centres will affiliate. This will expand the information services now rendered by the I.L.O. This work has resulted in part from a study on international co-operation among national occupational safety institutions which the I.L.O., presented to the Second World Congress on the Prevention of Occupational Accidents in Brussels in May 1958.
During 1958 the I.L.O. published a code of practice on safety and health in dock work, consisting of a body of concise recommendations to be supplemented, where appropriate, by explanations, discussions and illustrations. A study was also made of occupational safety and health in forest operations and was presented to the Second Session of the joint F.A.O./E.C.E. Commission on Forest Working Techniques and Training of Forest Workers in September 1957. Other research undertaken within this period includes the compilation of a directory of organisations engaged in occupational safety and health work and the preparation of a new edition of the catalogue of occupational safety and health fdms.
At the request of the High Authority of the European Coal and Steel Community, the I.L.O. has maintained its assistance to the Working Group on Labour Law convened by the High Authority to review labour legislation and practices in the member countries of the European Coal and Steel Community.
The Labour Administration Institute, established with ILO assistance in Istanbul in 1954 with a view to furthering the efforts of Governments in the area to train competent labour officials, has continued in operation during the past year. Courses on labour inspection, industrial hygiene and industrial safety were offered during the period.
The Report on Supplementary Employment for the Agricultural Population as a means of Raising the Living Standards in Rural Areas, submitted to the FAO/ILO European Conference on Rural Life which met in Bad Godesberg in April 1957, is being enlarged and brought up to date. Additional material relating to the situation in Europe is being included and the scope of the study is being expanded to cover countries in other parts of the world.
Also as a result of the discussions at the Rural Life Conference drawing attention to the need for investigations on conditions of rural populations as a basis for formulating appropriate policies and programmes, a Working Party on Sociological Research has been established as a sub-committee of the FAO European Commission on Agriculture. Representatives of F.A.O., the I.L.O., UNESCO and the European Society for Rural Welfare comprise the Steering Committee of this group.
The I.L.O. has completed a preliminary version of a comparative study of the movement of Labour out of agriculture, entitled " Why Labour Leaves the Land ". This analysis, which it is hoped to publish in the future, contains inter alia an important section on the declining agricultural labour force in advanced countries, with discussions of the situations in Denmark, France, the Federal Republic of Germany, Great Britain, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway and Sweden. .A later chapter traces the " to and fro " movement In Turkey, which has witnessed a partial reverse in its rural exodus.
A detailed discussion on hours of work ~was Tield at the 42nd Session of the International Labour Conference in 1958. This was based on a report submitted to the delegates which surveyed past ILO action in the field, presently existing standards, actual hours of work and recent trends and developments. The report also contained a comparative analysis of tthe regulation of hours of work with particular reference to the situations in industry, in commerce and offices and in respect of young persons. It also included a discussion of the diversity of the effects of a reduction of hours of work together with suggestions for future action. Following the debate, a resolution was adopted requesting the Governing Body to consider placing the question of hours of work on the agenda of an early session of the International Labour Conference with a view to the adoption of a new international instrument on the subject. jS] The LL.O. also prepared a study of hours of work in OEEC countries which was presented to the OEEC Manpower Committee and its Joint Consultative Group on Manpower Utilisation.
The close association between the LL.O-and the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women has continued, and three studies were presented to the 12th Session of the Commission in March 1958. These analysed the situation of working women with family responsibilities; the right to rest and the right to material security in respect of old age, illness and loss of capacity to work; and recent progress in achieving equal pay for men and women workers for work 42nd Session of the International Labour Conference in June 1958 on the Conditions of Work of Fishermen 1 a resolution was adopted placing this item on the agenda of the 1959 Conference with a view to the adoption of three new Conventions. These will concern (a) the minimum age for admission of fishermen to employment, (b) the medical examination of fishermen, and (c) fishermen's articles of agreement.of equal value.
Preparations have been made for a meeting of experts to consider the employment and conditions of work of nurses, which will be held in October 1958. The report drawn up as a basis for discussion at the meeting covers nurses' functions and qualifications, employment, conditions of work (with particular reference to hours and remuneration), living conditions related to working conditions, social security and the situation of nurses employed abroad.
Following recommendations of the ILO Advisory Committee on Salaried Employees and Professional Workers, a Meeting of Experts on Teachers' Problems will be convened from 20th October to 1st November 1958. Reports have been prepared for each of the three agenda items which concern a general review of social and economic problems affecting teachers, principles underlying the determination of teachers' salaries, as well as those affecting superannuation arrangements for teachers.
At the 41st (Maritime) Session of the International Labour ConferenceNoteheld in April-May 1958, international instruments and resolutions were adopted concerning several aspects of living and working conditions on board ship.
Following a first discussion at the 42nd Session of the International Labour Conference in June 1958 on the Conditions of Work of FishermenNote a resolution was adopted placing this item on the agenda of the 1959 Conference with a view to the adoption of three new Conventions. These will concern (a) the minimum age for admission of fishermen to employment, (b) the medical examination of fishermen, and (c) fishermen's articles of agreement.
In view of a resolution adopted at the 42nd Session of the Conference, the Governing BodyNote will be considering the possibility of establishing a special committee to direct an ILO research programme relating to training and working conditions of fishermen.
During the past year the I.L.O. has continued to counsel Governments and to publish statistics in the fields of employment, unemployment, wages, hours of work, labour disputes, social security and related social fields.
Following the First European Regional Conference of the I.L.O. in 1955, a major statistical inquiry has been made into wages and related elements of labour cost in European industry. A preliminary report was issued in August 1957, and final compilations for the study were completed during the past year with a view to publication in the near future.
Attention has continued to be devoted to family living studies. A Bulletin on Family Expenditure Studies, bringing together the main results of about 50 recent studies from 40 countries has been in preparation for the past two years and is expected to be issued before the end of 1958. In addition, work has started on a Symposium of Family Living Studies, which will discuss the methods used in some of the best analyses made in recent years. Leading authorities and organisations in the field have been invited to contribute chapters to this volume, of which the I.L.O. will prepare the basic introductory section. A field project on this subject has continued to be carried on in Greece.
The I.L.O. has maintained its close association with the Conference of European Statisticians which is organised by the United Nations. At the most recent annual session in June 1958, the I.L.O. presented information on its work concerning wages and related elements of labour cost and family living studies.
The Working Party set up at the suggestion of the O.E.E.C., and composed of representatives of I.C.E.M., the I.L.O. and the O.E.E.C., recently completed its study on statistics of international migration since 1946. These results are being communicated to Governments and interested persons and institutions. Further work is contemplated to keep this material up to date.
A revision of the International Standardisation of Labour Statistics has also been completed during the past year and will appear before the end of 1958.
The 42nd Session of the International Labour Conference in June 1958 adopted a Convention and a Recommendation on the question of discrimination in the field of employment and occupationNote
As a result of the economic recession in North America during the past year, the I.L.O. prepared a survey of The World Employment Situation, which was circulated to delegates at the most recent ILO Conference for their information. This report surveyed the extent and nature of unemployment, noted the main types of measures being taken in various countries to deal with the situation, outlined the chief international standards and machinery which had been established for action against unemployment and discussed the possibility for further action in this field. The Conference later adopted a detailed resolution concerning measures to promote employment and action against unemployment. Both the report and the resolution were then communicated to the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations for consideration at its 26th Session in July 1958.
The close contacts which have been established with the European Productivity Agency have continued. As a result of a project in 1955 and 1956 concerning experimental employment exchanges, in which the I.L.O. participated, two further projects have been carried on in the past year in which the two organisations have worked together. One concerns methods of training staff for the employment services, for which the I.L.O. has advised the expert making the study. The other relates to the international clearing of vacancies and applications for employment. The aim of this study was to analyse existing circumstances and suggest means whereby qualified persons could receive information and obtain employment in other countries. An I.L.O. official was made available to the EPA as the expert to discharge this project, and his final report and recommendations were discussed at an ad hoc meeting of experts on the subject convened by the O.E.E.C. in May 1958.
Also in conjunction with EPA, the I.L.O. has embarked on a project whereby assistance will be given to OEEC member countries inl improving their occupational information. As part of this project, arrangements will be suggested for pooling such information within and among countries, and comparisons will be made of occupational qualification requirements in the construction industry. It is hoped to collaborate with the Council of Europe in the latter phase of this work, in conformity with Recommendation 154 (III) adopted at the Ninth Ordinary Session of the Consultative Assembly in January 1958
A project for the European Productivity Agency concerning human relations in the building industry has been pursued under the direction of an ILO official.
Work has been completed on the International Standard Classification of Occupations which encompasses the results of several years' work. In the light of this, the I.L.O. has been assisting a number of European Governments to adjust their occupational formulations to conform with these new standards in preparation for the 1960 census.
A manual on the National Employment Service in Belgium was published in 1957. This constituted the fourth volume in a series which presents in a uniform manner basic documentation on the principal characteristics of the organisation and operation of employment services in various countries.
An ILO study on the employment possibilities in urban districts and in the countryside of Turkey is continuing. The investigations already carried out have made it possible to identify and compare both the characteristics which are peculiar to each of the regions studied, as well as those which they have in common. This will enable a long-term programme of employment to be established and the best working techniques to be determined, as well as the cost of the services required and the time necessary to collate the information obtained.
The I.L.O. has continued to participate in the work of the Advisory Committee of the Council of Europe's Special Representative for National Refugees and Over-population. In accordance with the wish expressed by the Consultative Assembly, and at the Committee's suggestion, the Special Representative requested the O.E.E.C. to make available to him the services of the experts who constitute Working Party No. 5 (Vocational Training) of its Manpower Committee. The I.L.O. is an active member of this group, which submitted a detailed report to the Special Representative pursuant to his request. Following the publication of this report, the Special Representative announced that S5 million will be made available from the Council of Europe's Resettlement Fund to aid in the establishment of vocational training centres in Italy, Turkey and Greece. The I.L.O. expects to take part in carrying out these programmes.
Plans have been completed for holding two new vocational training projects at the instructor training centres established by the Italian Government with the assistance of the I.L.O. A first course in electronics and electro-mechanics is scheduled to begin in September 1958 at the Genoa centre. An ILO expert will shortly complete his mission to the Naples centre, having made arrangements for a course on the repair and maintenance of agricultural machinery which will be held as soon as resources permit. During the past year another ILO expert has been attached to the Italian Ministry of Education in outlining a programme for the training of electricians. The I.L.O. has also advised I.C.E.M. in connection with some of the training projects which that Organisation is sponsoring in Italy and Sicily.
The project under which ILO experts have been revising curricula, perfecting equipment and training instructors in the vocational schools within the Institution of the King's Schools in Greece will shortly be concluded. The first school organised with ILO technical assistance is at present being used as a model for the reorganisation of the other schools within this Institution. The financing of this plan has been made possible by a loan of some $60,000 which the Greek Government has obtained from the Council of Europe's Resettlement Fund for National Refugees and Over-population. The intention is to train practical work instructors in the woodwork and building trades who will then teach in schools containing several thousand boys.
The programme for selecting skilled workers and supervisors from Turkey, Greece and Yugoslavia, which enables such personnel to go abroad to study modern methods, has been maintained. Yugoslavia has been able to send approximately 100 trainees into nine European industrial countries where they have followed a wide variety of practical courses. These have averaged four months in duration and have been in heavy industry, the chemical, electrical, textile and food-processing industries, the manufacture of scientific instruments and geological and seismic research. Under this programme, Greece and Turkey have sent a number of trainees to railway, agricultural machinery and paper manufacturing workshops in Western European countries.
Having been requested by the Yugoslav Government to help carry out its programme for building worker trainees, the I.L.O. arranged for the placement of over 300 workers from various branches of the building trades in firms in Belgium, France, the Federal Republic of Germany, Sweden and Switzerland. These trainees have been engaged and are being paid by the firms themselves, according to the usual rates for their qualifications, and remain in their jobs for periods ranging from 6 to 12 months.
The I.L.O. participated in a European Seminar on Social Research and Community Development in European Problem Areas, which was organised by the United Nations Technical Assistance Administration in June 1958. It presented a paper to this meeting concerning the provision within programmes of community development of services by Government and other agencies in fostering co-operatives, handicrafts and rural industries, vocational training in agriculture and promotion of supplementary employment opportunities for farm populations.
Technical assistance in vocational training furnished to the Government of Malta is proceeding normally. The organising of accelerated training courses for adult workers is nearing completion. The same applies to improvement courses for under-employed workers. Long-term courses for young workers have also been arranged.
In view of the close association which has long existed with the joint ECE/FAO Committee on Logging Techniques and Training of Forest Workers, the name of that body has recently been amended to include the words " in collaboration with the ILO ". At the request of the Committee during the past year, a course in vocational training for instructors in mountain logging (cable operators) was organised by the I.L.O. in Austria with 22 participants from six European countries attending. Preparations have been completed for a second course on this subject which will have sessions in Florence, Italy and Coire, Switzerland, during the autumn of 1958.
Arrangements have been made for a first international centre on vocational training in agriculture to be held in August-September 1958 in Zurich. This is a joint undertaking of the Swiss Government, the I.L.O., F.A.O., UNESCO and the O.E.E.C. The I.L.O. is providing a number of fellowships and has arranged for its officials and an outside expert to lecture to the participants.
The ILO fellowship scheme for instructors and officials in charge of vocational training for forest workers has been maintained during the past year with over 50 fellowships being granted to nationals of 12 European countries. These Fellows attend short courses, observe vocational training institutions and teaching methods in other countries and study living and working conditions of various categories of workers.
In line with its general policy of supporting and encouraging the development of vocational training, the I.L.O. has attended and presented papers at a number of European meetings during the past year. These included the first International Conference on Industrial Training, held in Rapallo in February 1958 under the auspices of the Italian Institute for Training in Industry, the Study Days on the Training of Supervisors in the Iron and Steel Industry, organised by the European Coal and Steel Community in Luxembourg in May 1958, and the annual conference of the French National Committee on Scientific Management (CNOF) which was convened at Royaumont in May 1958. At the invitation of the Belgian Government the I.L.O. also participated in a seminar on the Vocational Training of Adults organised in Brussels in October 1957 under the United Nations European Programme for Social Welfare Workers.
The I.L.O. has continued to contribute to the United Nations exchange programme for welfare service personnel by assuming the major part of the travel costs of many European persons going abroad to study the organisation problems or methods of vocational guidance.
The programme of workers' education launched by the I.L.O. in 1956 has continued. A meeting of experts on workers' education organised in December 1957 made a number of recommendations which should be of great value in planning and orienting further phases of this programme. The experts recommended, inter alia, that the I.L.O. should continue to publish workers' education courses for instructors and group leaders on subjects falling within the ILO's competence, that a new series of documents on the same subjects, of a more elementary character, should be initiated, that a manual or manuals on methods and techniques of workers' education should be prepared and that these should be made available in languages additional to the official languages of the I.L.O.
Consistent with this, the series of ILO workers' education manuals is being expanded. A German edition of the course on cooperation, which appeared in 1956, was recently issued. A course on social security was completed in 1958 and has been published so far in English, French, Spanish and German. Further courses are being prepared on freedom of association, collective bargaining and the I.L.O. and its work.
A manual on workers' education methods and techniques is also being prepared. This is designed to help trade unions and other bodies, in both the lesser industrialised and more advanced countries, in the organisation of workers' education programmes and facilities.
Efforts are being made to improve the ILO collection of fdm and film strips on labour questions for loan to trade unions and other workers' education bodies. The I.L.O. will continue its efforts to overcome some of the practical difficulties hindering the international use of this material by making sound-tracks in additional languages and by preparing local language commentaries for film strips. Work has also gone forward on the collection and classification of basic documentation on workers' education with a view to the development of an international documentation service.
In keeping with the annual practice which has been followed during the past several years, the I.L.O. collaborated in organising two summer schools for trade unionists which were conducted in Geneva. These courses, for participants from the United Kingdom and Scandinavia respectively, are arranged in co-operation with the British Workers' Education Association and the Scandinavian labour movement.
The I.L.O. took part in a workers'education seminar organised by the ICFTU which was held in May 1958 at both Oberwesel, Germany, and Brussels and defrayed expenses of some of the overseas participants. The I.L.O. was also represented at the International Congress of Adult Education, which met in Brussels in June 1958, and at an EPA seminar on the techniques of trade union education, held in Paris during January 1958.
An ILO expert has been advising the Government and trade unions in Greece since April 1958 on ways of establishing a workers' education programme that will be suitable for local conditions.
The I.L.O. has continued to act as secretariat of the Working Party on Migration Research, a sub-committee of the Technical Working Group on Migration of the Administrative Committee on Co-ordination on which the Council of Europe as well as other European Regional Organisations are represented. The Working Party, whose other members are representatives of the UN, F.A.O., I.C.E.M. and the Office of the United Nations High Commission for Refugees, has prepared a co-ordinated migration research programme that will be submitted to the Technical Working Group later in 1958.
The study of International Migration since 1945, which the I.L.O. has been making over a number of years, is expected to be finished in 1958 and will subsequently be published. A preliminary study on land settlement by migrants, which has been under preparation with the other international organisations concerned, is also nearing completion and will be submitted to the ACC Technical Working Group on Migration in 1959.
In December 1957, the I.L.O. participated in an intergovernmental meeting on vocational training which was convened by I.C.E.M. and attended by experts from Argentina, Brazil, Greece, Italy, Spain, and by representatives of the O.E.E.C. and the Council of Europe. This meeting, which was the first attempt to give effect to some of the conclusions contained in the report of the I.C.E.M.-I.L.O. mission to some southern European and South American countries in 1957, drew up a balance-sheet of requirements and availabilities to form the basis of an agreed short-range plan of action in the field of migration.
In company with the United Nations, the I.L.O. once again sponsored the Conference of non-governmental organisations interested in migration. The Sixth Session of this Conference took place in Geneva in August 1957 and considered, inter alia, problems concerning the vocational training of migrants.
During 1957 the I.L.O. published an Introduction to Work Study, which has been designed as a practical manual for use in training courses on the principles of productivity improvement and also as a convenient reference-book for persons both inside and outside industry who are interested in work study problems. A companion volume, tentatively titled " Higher Productivity in the Small Factory ", is in the course of preparation.
A report entitled Methods of Job Evaluation, which was originally presented to the Sixth Session of the ILO Metal-Trades Committee in May 1957, is being expanded to cover other types of industry and will be published in the near future.
The I.L.O. made available a report on methods for improving the organisation of work and output in ports, which had been considered at the Sixth Session of the Inland Transport Committee in March 1957, together with the conclusions adopted by the Committee on that subject, to an international seminar on productivity in ports which was convened by E.P.A. in October 1957 in Copenhagen.
The I.L.O. has continued to co-operate with the United Nations, its specialised Agencies and other interested non-governmental organisations in the development of national rehabilitation services in European countries, particularly in Austria, Greece and Turkey. The survey on the rehabilitation of disabled children carried out in Austria in 1956 was followed in 1957 by a survey of the over-all needs of the countiy for general rehabilitation facilities. In Greece and Turkey preliminary surveys have been completed in preparation for missions by technical assistance experts, to start in September 1958, to advise each of these Governments on the establishment of a national programme of vocational rehabilitation and the creation of a special placement service for the disabled.
The I.L.O. participated in an expert conference on the rehabilitation of those with traumatic brain injuries, held in Helsinki in June 1958 under the joint sponsorship of the World Veterans' Federation and the Government of Finland. Working papers were submitted by the ILO representative on the vocational guidance, vocational training and employment of the brain injured and he led this part of the discussion at the meeting.
Other meetings to which the I.L.O. has contributed include the International Study Week on Work for the Blind, at Assisi, in October 1957, the Seminar on the Vocational Rehabilitation of the Tuberculous in France, in September 1957, and the General Assembly of the World Veterans' Federation, in Berlin in October-November 1957.
In the past several years, a number of relationship agreements have been entered into by the I.L.O. with regional as well as world-wide international organisations in an effort to foster closer contacts and thus ensure better co-ordination with others engaged in related work. This policy has been continued. In January 1958, a memorandum on mutual consultation and collaboration was signed by the Director-General of the I.L.O. and the Secretary-General of the Western European Union. A more formal agreement was concluded with the European Economic Community in July 1958, similar to those already in force with the Council of Europe and the European Coal and Steel Community. Consultations have been proceeding with the European Atomic Energy Community with a view to the establishment of a similar agreement.
A Consultative Committee of the Executive Heads of Organisations with European Activities met in Paris in January 1958 and was attended by the senior administrative officers of the Council of Europe, the O.E.E.C., I.C.E.M., the European Coal and Steel Community, the Western European Union and the I.L.O. At this meeting, the Director-General of the I.L.O. outlined the European programme of the Organisation and made suggestions with a view to achieving more effective co-ordination between the organisations concerned.
During the period under review, States Members of the Council of Europe communicated a total of 33 ratifications to 26 different international labour conventions, including four maritime conventions. Luxembourg ratified 15 contentions, as follows:
Minimum Wage-Fixing Machinery, 1928 (No. 26); Hours of Work (Commerce and Offices), 1930 (No. 30); Workmen's Compensation (Occupational Diseases) (Revised), 1934 (No. 42); Underground Work (Women), 1935 (No. 45); Minimum Age (Industry) (Revised), 1937 (No. 59); Minimum Age (Non-Industrial Employment) (Revised), 1937 (No. 60); Medical Examination of Toung Persons (Industry), 1946 (No. 77); Medical Examination of Young Persons (Non-Industrial Occupations), 1946 (No. 78); Night Work .of Young Persons (Non-Industrial Occupations), 1946 (No. 79); Labour Inspection, 1947 (No. 81); Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise, 1948 (No. 87); Employment Service, 1948 (No. 88); Night Work (Women) (Revised), 1948 (No. 89); Night Work of Young Persons (Industry) (Revised), 1948 (No. 90); and Right to Organise and Collective Bargaining, 1949 (No. 98).
Conventions Nos. 87 and 98 were also ratified by Italy. Iceland ratified three Conventions— Unemployment, 1919 (No. 2); Forced Labour, 1930 (No. 29); and Equal Remuneration, 1951 (No. 100). The Abolition of Forced Labour Convention, 1957 (No. 105), received six ratifications by Members of the Council of Europe during the first year following its adoption. These are: the United Kingdom, Denmark, Austria, Norway, Sweden, Ireland. Denmark also ratified the Weekly Rest (Commerce and Offices) Convention, 1957 (No. 106). The Social Security (Minimum Standards) Convention, 1952 (No. 102), was ratified by the Federal Republic of Germany in respect of all its nine substantive Parts. This is the first time that the Convention has been ratified in its entirety. Belgium ratified the Fee-Charging Employment Agencies Convention (Revised), 1949 (No. 96). The Netherlands ratified four maritime conventions: the Food and Catering (Ships' Crews), 1946 (No. 68); Medical Examination (Seafarers), 1946 (No. 73); Accommodation of Crews (Revised), 1949 (No. 92) ; and Seafarers' Pensions, 1946 (No. 71).
The 41st (Maritime) Session of the International Labour Conference was held in Geneva from 29th April to 14th May 1958.
The Conference adopted seven new international instruments; two Conventions and five Recommendations. One of the two Conventions concerns seafarers' national identity documents; the other is a revision of the Wages, Hours of Work and Manning (Sea) Convention, first adopted in 1946. One of the Recommendations also deals with wages, hours of work and manning. The others concern the engagement of seafarers for service in vessels registered in a foreign country, the contents of medicine chests on board ship, medical advice by radio to ships at sea, and social conditions and safety of seafarers in relation to registration of ships.
The Conference also adopted resolutions on the following subjects: the 40-hour week on board ship; refugee seafarers; welfare in port; health and hygiene on board ship; crew accommodation; the manning of ships; atomic power and shipping; fishermen's questions; safety of life at sea; the limitation of shipowners' liability; and officers' certificates of competency.
Under the Seafarers' Identity Documents Convention, 1958, each Member State for which the instrument is in force is required to issue seafarers' identity documents fulfilling specified requirements to each of its nationals who is a seafarer and who makes a proper application therefor. In addition, each Member State for which the Convention is in force shall permit entry into its territory of a seafarer holding an identity document, valid under the terms of this Convention, for temporary shore leave, for the purpose of joining his ship or transferring to another ship, passing in transit to join his ship in another country or for repatriation, or for any other purpose approved by the authorities of the Member concerned.
The Wages, Hours of Work and Manning (Sea) Convention, 1958, contains standards for minimum wages of an able seaman employed in a vessel to which the Convention applies and maximum hours of work under specified conditions for officers, ratings employed in the deck, engine room and radio departments and of catering personnel. There is also a provision whereby every vessel to which the Convention applies shall be sufficiently and efficiently manned for the purpose of ensuring the safety of life at sea, giving effect to the hours-of-work provisions of this Convention. There are additional stipulations whereby ratifying States undertake to ensure the proper implementation of these standards. The Recommendation on the same subject contains more advanced standards for the categories covered by the Convention.
The Seafarers' Engagement (Foreign Yessels) Recommendation, 1958, provides that each Member State should do everything in its power to discourage seafarers within its territory from joining vessels registered in a foreign country where conditions are not equivalent to those applicable under collective agreements and social standards accepted by bona fide organisations of ship owners and seafarers of maritime countries.
The Social Conditions and Safety (Seafarers) Recommendation, 1958, adopted on the subject of flag transfer, recommends, inter alia, that the country of registration should accept the full obligations implied by registration and exercise jurisdiction and control for the purpose of the safety and welfare of seafarers in its seagoing merchant ships.
The Ships' Medicine Chests Recommendation, 1958, provides that every vessel engaged in maritime navigation should be required to carry a medicine chest, the contents of which should be prescribed by the competent authority, taking into account such factors as the number of persons on board and the nature and duration of the voyage. A suggested minimum list of medicaments and medical equipment is appended to the Recommendation.
The Medical Advice at Sea Recommendation, 1958, provides that Member States should ensure by a pre-arranged system that medical advice by radio to ships at sea be available, free of charge, at any hour of the day or night and that the radio facilities be so organised as to make the operation of this essential service as efficient as possible.
The 42nd Session of the International Labour Conference was held in Geneva from 4th-26th June 1958.
The Conference adopted a Convention and a Recommendation concerning discrimination in the field of employment and occupation and a Convention and Recommendation concerning the conditions of employment of plantation workers. It took preliminary action with a view to final discussion next year of four other items; three draft Conventions concerning conditions of work of fishermen and a Recommendation on the organisation of occupational health services in places of employment.
The Conference also adopted resolutions on setting up a special committee on conditions of fishermen; the living standards and conditions of employment of plantation workers; occupational diseases; the publication of labour laws; human rights; industrial health and safety campaigns; manpower aspects of economic development; management development; measures to promote employment and action against unemployment; expansion of international trade; underemployment in agriculture and the influences of agrarian reform on the improvement of the social conditions of agricultural workers; labour-management relations; increased technical assistance; and hours of work.
By the terms of the Discrimination (Employment and Occupation) Convention, 1958, each ratifying State will undertake to declare and pursue a national policy designed to promote, by methods appropriate to national conditions and practice, equality of opportunity and treatment in respect of employment and occupation, with a view to eliminating any discrimination in respect thereof. The Recommendation on the same subject provides detailed guides and standards for the effective application of the policy enunciated in the Convention.
A general discussion on the subject of hours of work was also held at the Conference. At the conclusion of the debate, a resolution was approved inviting the Governing Body of the I.L.O. to place the question of the reduction of the hours of work on the agenda of an early session of the Conference, not later than 1960, with a view to the adoption of an international instrument.
The Conference also examined reports concerning the conditions of work of fishermen, in particular the minimum age of entry into employment, medical examination on entry into employment and periodically thereafter, and fishermen's articles of agreement. Following this, a resolution was adopted placing on the agenda of the 1959 Conference the question of the conditions of work of fishermen with a view to a final decision on a Convention for each three the of .subjects discussed.
A first discussion was held on the orga-'nisa'tion of occupational health services in places of employment. At the conclusion of the debate a resolution was adopted placing this question on the agenda of the 1959 Conference with a view to the adoption of a Recommendation. The conclusions approved specified that the expression " occupational health service " within the terms of the instrument to be framed would mean a service used in or near a place of employment for the purposes of (a) protecting the workers against any health hazard which may arise out of their work or conditions in which it is carried on, (b) ensuring the workers' physical and mental adjustment, in particular by their assignment to jobs for which they are suited, and (c) contributing to the establishment and maintenance of the highest possible degree of physical and mental well-being of the workers. Such services should be set up in industrial, non-industrial and agricultural undertakings as well as public institutions.
Among the resolutions adopted, that concerning measures to promote employment and measures against unemployment urges Member States to take steps to promote the maintenance and expansion of employment in their own countries by methods which will avoid the impairment of employment opportunities in other countries. It also enumerates a number of policies which would help to achieve this end. The resolution concerning human rights pledges the continued co-operation of the I.L.O. with the United Nations in supporting the principles of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights on the occasion of the celebration of the tenth anniversary of that historic document. The resolution on industrial health and safety campaigns invites the Governing Body to consider, in consultation with other international organisations concerned, possibilities for stimulating public interest throughout the world in the prevention of industrial accidents. The resolution on labour-management relations recommends that the I.L.O. intensify its programme of research in this field, become a centre for the exchange of information on labour-management relations, expand its technical assistance and educational programmes and encourage the establishment of national, regional and international institutes for training and study in labour-management relations. There was also a resolution requesting the Governing Body to consider the possibility of setting up a special committee with a view to continuing or initiating studies by the I.L.O., in collaboration with other appropriate international agencies, on the following questions affecting employment conditions on fishing vessels:
The Governing Body of the I.L.O. decided in November 1956 that, in addition to the items carried over from the 42nd Session for a second discussion, the 43rd Session of the International Labour Organisation should hold a first discussion on the protection of workers against radiations and collaboration between public authorities and employers' and workers' organisations at the industrial and national levels. It was also decided that there be a general discussion on the problems of non-manual workers' including technicians and supervisory staff.
Law and practice reports are being prepared on the following subjects for consideration by the Governing Body at its 140th Session in November 1958 when it draws up the agenda for the 44th Session of the International Labour Conference in 1960: vocational training; equality of treatment of nationals and non-nationals in social security; workers' housing; regulation of the employment of young persons in underground work of all kinds and the minimum age of admission to such work; contribution by the I.L.O. to the raising of incomes and living conditions in world communities; and hours of work.
The Sixth Session of the ILO Iron and Steel Committee met in October 1957 and adopted a comprehensive resolution on the promotion of safety in the iron and steel industry. At the Fifth Session of the Chemical Industry Committee, which met in February 1958, resolutions were approved on labour-management relations in the chemical industries and on the protection of workers against occupational diseases and poisoning. The Sixth Session of the ILO Textiles Committee, which met in April 1958, adopted a detailed memorandum, together with suggestions for its implementation, on working conditions in the industry. A Tripartite Meeting on Mines other than Coal Mines was convened in November-December 1957 and approved conclusions on accident prevention, machinery for wage-fixing and wage-protection and labour-management relations in undertakings of this type.