On the international level, the International Labour Organization (ILO) is the organization in charge of defining the
international labour standards and inducing member governments to respect them. From the beginning, the ILO agreed that "the global economy needed clear rules in order to ensure that economic progress would go hand in hand with social justice, prosperity and peace for all."
(International Labour Organization (ILO),
Labour Standards, visited on 2011-05-29)
"In 1919, the signatory nations to the Treaty of Versailles created the International Labour Organization (ILO) in recognition of the fact that ‘conditions of labour exist involving such injustice, hardship and privation to large numbers of people as to produce unrest so great that the peace and harmony of the world are imperilled'. To tackle this problem, the newly founded organisation established a system of
international labour standards – international conventions and recommendations drawn up by representatives of governments, employers and workers from around the world – covering all matters related to work."
(European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions,
International labour standards, 2007, visited on 2011-05-28)
The
international labour standards cover all these themes: "freedom of association, collective bargaining, forced labour, child labour, equality of opportunity and treatment, tripartite consultation, labour administration, labour inspection, employment policy, employment promotion, vocational guidance and training, employment security, wages, working time, occupational safety and health, social security, maternity protection, social policy, migrant workers, seafarers, fishers, dockworkers, indigenous and tribal peoples, other specific categories of workers."
(International Labour Organization (ILO),
Labour Standards, visited 2011-07-06)