The international labour organisation & cooperatives

Abstract

I have tried to put together some points which might highlight for you the 75 year old tradition of the International Labour Organisation's (ILO) promotion of cooperatives while, at the same, looking into the history of the ILO. As you all probably know the ILO was established in order to promote social justice and improve living and working conditions for the working people. It was the first international organisation founded after the League of Nations. For all of us, it should be of interest that the constituents of the ILO were not only the governments as all other United Nations (UN) agencies are set up nowadays; but it was already provided in the constitution of the ILO that the organisation should have regular consultations with international organisations of employers and workers, which are known to all of us, but also with organisations of agriculturists and cooperators. So already in the constitution of the ILO you have the mention of co-operators but probably the role of the employers and workers organisations developed over time much more intensively than that of the fourth category. Still, the international organisations of cooperators and agriculturists have a special observer status in the ILO. This is why the International Cooperative Alliance (ICA) - which is actually older than the ILO; it will celebrate its 100th anniversary in 1995 - and the International Federation of Agricultural Producers are always invited to any committee meeting in the ILO and they are always free to speak there. Although I have to qualify this by saying that the ICA did not take up this role for many years.