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[Congressional Bills 106th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Con. Res. 116 Introduced in House (IH)]

106th CONGRESS
  1st Session
H. CON. RES. 116

     Expressing congressional support for the International Labor 
  Organization's Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at 
                                 Work.

_______________________________________________________________________

                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                              May 25, 1999

Mr. Ford (for himself, Mr. George Miller of California, and Mr. Matsui) 
 submitted the following concurrent resolution; which was referred to 
                the Committee on International Relations

_______________________________________________________________________

                         CONCURRENT RESOLUTION

 
     Expressing congressional support for the International Labor 
  Organization's Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at 
                                 Work.

Whereas the International Labor Organization (in this resolution referred to as 
        the ``ILO'') was created in 1919 by part XIII of the Treaty of 
        Versailles for the purpose of improving labor conditions worldwide;
Whereas for 79 years, the ILO has provided an avenue for nations to improve 
        labor standards in a manner that does not erode their competitive 
        advantage in world commerce;
Whereas the United States has long recognized the linkage between the ILO and 
        world trade, having joined the ILO in 1934, the same year that President 
        Roosevelt and Secretary of State Cordell Hull launched the Reciprocal 
        Trade Agreements program;
Whereas the increasing integration of the global economy has drawn renewed 
        attention to the question of how best to improve labor standards in an 
        economic environment characterized by intensified international 
        competition;
Whereas in 1994, at the conclusion of the first Ministerial Meeting of the World 
        Trade Organization in Singapore, Trade Ministers issued a declaration 
        which reaffirmed the commitment of World Trade Organization members to 
        observe internationally recognized core labor standards and identified 
        the ILO as the ``competent body to set and deal with'' these standards;
Whereas the 174 members of the ILO have recognized the following 7 conventions 
        as protecting core labor standards: Convention No. 29 on Forced Labor 
        (1930), Convention No. 87 on Freedom of Association and Protection of 
        the Right to Organize (1948), Convention No. 98 on the Right to Organize 
        and Collective Bargaining (1949), Convention No. 100 on Equal 
        Remuneration (1950), Convention No. 105 on the Abolition of Forced Labor 
        (1957), Convention No. 111 on Discrimination in Employment and 
        Occupation (1958), and Convention No. 138 on Minimum Age (1973);
Whereas in June 1998, at the conclusion of the 86th International Labor 
        Conference, the ILO adopted the ``Declaration on Fundamental Principles 
        and Rights at Work'', which declares the core labor standards embodied 
        in the 7 conventions to be essential to membership in the ILO; and
Whereas an essential element of the 1998 Declaration is its ``Follow Up 
        Mechanism'', which provides for the monitoring of ILO member countries' 
        compliance with the core labor standards: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved by the Senate (the House of Representatives concurring), 
That it is the sense of the Congress that--
            (1) the International Labor Organization's Declaration on 
        Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work is an important 
        achievement that may help advance core labor standards in a 
        competitive global economy; and
            (2) the President should use all means at the President's 
        disposal to ensure that the Declaration and its Follow Up 
        Mechanism evolve into an effective means of monitoring 
        worldwide compliance with core labor standards.
                                 <all>
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