Why are we not commemorating the ILO a century on?

“the employment of workers in the occupations in which they can have the satisfaction of giving the fullest measure of their skill and attainments and make their greatest contribution to the common wellbeing” (Extract from the Declaration of Philadelphia - ILO)

I was up at Manx Radio today talking to Dollin Mercer about the Union movement on the Isle of Man in the period 1980-2010 when I was first an active lay official and then a full time Officer for the old TGWU. They are putting together a programme in their ‘Perspective’ series and obviously will be fielding participants from the current active Trade Union fraternity. It should be an interesting programme so I wish them well.

It's often overlooked that percentage wise the Isle of Man has always had a higher proportion of Trade Union members than many other European States with the exception of the Scandinavian countries. I don’t know what the current proportion is but certainly when I finished (in 2007) about 25% of Manx workers were in Trade Unions or Staff Associations. Compare that to France often seen as a hotbed of Trade Unionism and protest which has just 7 to 8%

It's also apposite to have Trade Unionism in focus because this year is the Centenary of the International Labour Organisation (ILO).

The ILO is one of the oldest International bodies and was established as an agency of the League of Nations at the 1919 Paris Peace Conference. It was clearly the intention that all those workers who had fought and died in the great war should not have been sacrificed in vain and a better world in terms of work and social justice would prevail. The ILO was later reborn in 1944 via the Declaration of Philadelphia and became part of the United Nations. ‘The Declaration’ (a link to which is attached) is a succinct document just three pages long but I recommend that you read it because it contains all the elements for social justice that make for a decent society. The ILO work of course in enshrined in its many Conventions and Resolutions and it has been a great protector of the rights of working people.

We have had all manner of commemorations in recent years and I’m surprised therefore that the emergence of the ILO as a result of the First World War and the Declaration of Philadelphia 75 years ago are not being commemorated. When ‘the declaration’ was framed in May 1944 men were preparing to set out to liberate Europe and as it took effect men were fighting and dying in the ‘bocage area’ of Normandy. Its an important document and was meant to ensure that henceforth working people would inherit a better world of work and achieve social justice. Certainly in my time in the Trade Union movement we turned to the ILO on several occasions with a degree of success.

I do hope that the lessons of the Paris Peace Conference (1919) and the Declaration of Philadelphia (1944) are not being forgotten by governments not least our own and that proper respect is accorded to working people. After all folk fought and died in that endeavour.

Link: Declaration of Philadelphia:

https://www.ilo.org/legacy/english/inwork/cb-policy-guide/declarationofP...

Link: The ILO:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Labour_Organization

Bernard Moffatt

Celtic League