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Unit 2: ILO and its Contribution in Labour Welfare and Social Security

2.7 Difficulties in the Adoption of Conventions and Notes
Recommendations

Conventions and Recommendations of ILO seek to prescribe and indicate internationally uniform
minimum labour standards. The purpose is to see that the labour standards in the Member
countries are not below the ones prescribed by ILO. As the Member countries of ILO are at
different stages of economic growth and industrial advancement, the capacity to maintain and
preserve labour standards differs from country to country, depending upon their relative
economic prosperity. Some of the countries are extremely poor, economically and technologically
backward, therefore having, very poor labour standards, and are incapable of securing any
immediate improvement in the same. On the other hand, there are highly industrially advanced
countries with national income sufficiently large enough to ensure equally high labour standards.
There are many countries at the intermediate stage of economic development.
This uneven economic development on the world scale presents the main hindrance to the
adoption of a Convention or Recommendation, laying down a minimum labour standard. What
may be too high for economically backward and poor countries may, perhaps, be too low for the
rich countries. A Convention or Recommendation seeking to bring about a significant
improvement in the labour standards runs the risk of being unrelated to the prevailing labour
standards and beyond the economic, and administrative capacity of many countries. A Convention
or Recommendation has to gain acceptance from the member countries if it is to be effective in
achieving its purpose. The Convention which seeks to provide really high labour standards will
fail to secure acceptance and what may succeed in securing acceptance, may not, in reality, be
able to prescribe high labour standards. It is a dilemma which has confronted ILO since its very
inception.
Thus, Conventions and Recommendations, if they are to be of real weight in the establishment
of internationally uniform labour standards, "must strike an appropriate balance between the
ideal and the immediately practicable and between precision and flexibility." It is creditable that
ILO has been able to adopt 185 Conventions and 193 Recommendations, dealing with diverse
aspects of labour in spite of contradictory pressures pulling in different directions.

2.8 Problems of Ratification

The process of evolving internationally uniform minimum labour standards does not end with
the adoption of a Convention or Recommendation. A Convention has to secure ratification
from the appropriate authorities in the member states. A country ratifying a Convention
undertakes an international obligation with other member states, to put into effect the provisions
of the Convention by legislative or other appropriate measures. It is, therefore, pertinent here
to examine the difficulties which are faced by some of the Member countries in ratifying ILO
Conventions.
As on January 1, 2002, there were 174 member states and 185 Conventions adopted by ILO. The
average ratifications per country come to merely 35. Many countries have ratifications below
the average of 35. There are a few countries each having less than 10 ratifications. France and
Spain have ratified the maximum number of Conventions. None of the Conventions has succeeded
in securing cent per cent ratification. The highest number of ratifications has been secured by
Forced Labour Cons.(No.29) (No. 105), Freedom of Association and Protection of Right to Organise
(No.87), Right to Organise and Collective Bargaining Con.(No.98) and Equal Remuneration
Con.(No.100).
The impact of ILO on international labour standards in a particular country should not be judged
only by the number of ratifications that a country has secured. There are many countries which
are in agreement with the principles incorporated in many of the Conventions and have sought

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