SOS POLITICAL SCIENCE AND PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION

MBA HRD – 204

SUBJECT NAME: INDUSTRIAL WELFARE

UNIT-V
TOPIC NAME- INTERNATIONAL LABOUR ORGANISATION AND THEIR
INFLUENCE ON INDIAN LABOUR LEGISLATIONS

India being an original founder member of the I.L.O. has been taking an active part and
interest in its activities. The I.L.O activities broadly include policy formulation, standard-setting,
industrial relations, quasi-judicial responsibilities, informational and promotional activities,
education and training, research, advisory services and operational projects etc. The three main
functions of the I.LO are:

1) To establish international labour standards;

2) To collect and distribute information on labour and industrial conditions, and

3) Provide technical assistance.

In order to achieve its main objectives, I.L.O. has relied on standard setting which is its
core activity since its establishment in 1919.The International Labour Standards take the form of
Conventions and Recommendations. A Convention is a treaty which, when ratified, creates
binding international obligations for the country concerned whereas, a Recommendation creates
no such obligations but is sensationally a guide to national action.

The Conventions are important, as they create international obligations, when ratified.
According to Nicolas Valticos “If Conventions are to achieve their object, they must also be
formally accepted and effectively applied on the widest possible scale.”

The member nations of the I.L.O. have been able to improve labour conditions in their
respective nations by adopting the Conventions. If the I.L.O Conventions are seen in the general
spectrum of labour conditions, one can imagine the great value and influence they have in
moulding the course of social and economic philosophy of the World. The World, without their
influence and continuance, may be a World of perpetual competition, exploitation, inequality and
injustice resulting in wars and confrontations.

Establishment of ILO and Constitutional Structure before Independence

On 11th April, 1919 the I.L.O. was established with the aim to improve the living and working
conditions of the labour class all over the World. Since 1919, only India was its member which
after some time became one among the members of chief Industrial nations. In the same year as
the International Labour Organisation was set up (1919), the country received its first
Constitution under the Montagu-Chelmsford reforms. This Constitution conferred a modified
degree of autonomy on the provinces. So far as labour was concerned the central legislature was
given powers to legislate on all labour matters with the exception of housing. The provincial
legislatures could, for their part, legislate on housing and also, with the approval of the central
Government and the overriding authority of the central legislature, on all other labour subjects
except mining. There is evidence that in determining this division of powers the question of the
ratification of international labour Conventions was among the factors that weighed with the
Government of India.

The concurrent jurisdiction by the central and provincial legislatures on most of the labour
subjects was continued under the constitutional provisions of the Government of India Act, 1935,
which came into force in the British Indian Provinces in 1937. There was a demarcation between
provincial and central functions regarding legislation as well as administration. While the
regulation of labour and safety in mines and oilfields, on the federal railways and in the major
ports, and inter-provincial migration were subjects for central or federal legislation, the following
were subjects of con- current legislative jurisdiction : factories, welfare of labour, conditions of
labour, provident funds, employers' liability and workmen's compensation, health insurance and
invalidity pensions, old-age pensions, unemployment insurance, trade unions and industrial
disputes. The concurrent powers were subject to the overriding jurisdiction of the central
legislature. On the other hand, it was also provided that if the central legislature desired to pass
legislation on any of these subjects involving the “giving of directions to a province as to the
carrying into execution" of such legislation, it must obtain the previous sanction of the Governor-
General under the Act.

The Constitution of India, which came into force on 26 January 1950, retains the same
division of powers between the Centre, now termed the Union, and the provinces, termed states.
The impact of the I.L.O. standards in the form of Conventions and Recommendations on Indian
Labour Legislation is direct as well as indirect. The I.L.O has provided a platform to the
representatives from India, and an opportunity to carry and spread the message of the I.L.O. to
India. By 1929, India had ratified 11 of the 28 Conventions adopted at that date, but it has been
suggested that the rapid pace of ratification reflected in part the interests of British industry, keen
to limit com-petition from India I.L.O. has adopted several Conventions and Recommendations
related to subjects like employment of women, children, young persons holidays, weekly rest
hours of work, night work, industrial safety, health, social security, wages and wage fixation,
obligation and duty of the government of the member nations to reform the labour legislation16
and its result was the ratification of the I.L.O. standards as well as the formulation of the new
Indian Labour Legislations.

Indian employer and worker representation in the ILO was to a greater degree rooted in
India. The creation of the ILO, and the need for international representation, provided an
important incentive for the creation of national organisations of employers and workers, which
had not earlier existed. In the initial years, employer delegates to the International Labour
Conference (ILC) came from the Associated Chambers of Commerce of India and Ceylon,
formed in 1920. But this organization was European dominated, and in 1926, the Indian
Federation of Chambers of Commerce and Industry was established, which also sent employer
delegates to the ILC. G D Birla, who was an employer delegate in 1927, was bitterly opposed to
European representation in the Indian employers’ delegation.

India had adopted the ILO’s tripartite principle early on. In 1942, the Government of
India set up a permanent Tripartite Labour Organisation, which included a committee on
Conventions to examine ILO standards, and an Indian Labour Conference modelled on the ILC.
The tripartite Indian Labour Conference continued to meet after independence, and has now held
more than 42 meetings, which suggests that, even though it has only advisory status, it is a useful
mechanism for social dialogue on labour matters. The tripartite approach has also been reflected
in the role and influence of Indian employer and worker representatives in ILO debates.

ILO Conventions are international labour instruments or treaties, which on ratification

create legally binding obligations upon the States. As on July 2015, ILO has adopted 189
conventions and 204 recommendations. Out of 189 ILO Conventions, India has so far ratified 43
ILO Conventions and 1 protocol which includes four core or fundamental human rights
Conventions like Forced Labour Convention (C-29), Equal remuneration Convention (C-100),
Abolition of Forced labour Convention (C-105) and Discrimination (Employment & Occupation)
Convention (C-111) and three priority/governance conventions such as Labour Inspection
Convention (No.81), Employment and Social Policy Convention (No.122) and Tripartite
Consultations (International Labour Standards) (No.144).During 104th session of ILC, India
supported the adoption of recommendation (R-204) on “Transition from Informal to Formal
Economy” by ILO. The following are the list of ILO conventions and protocols ratified by India.

Impact of I.L.O’s Conventions on Labour Legislations in India

A study of the labour laws passed in India since 1919 would certainly reveal what a considerable
impact the I.L.O’s Conventions had in the field of Indian Labour Legislation. The impact on
Indian Labour Legislation before 1932 was direct and tangible as they have played a significant
role in initiating Indian Labour Legislations.

1. Factories and Mines Legislations with regards to aspects like hours of work, weekly rest,
holiday with pay and wages

a) Employment of children and young persons

b) Employment of women at night

c) Industrial health, safety and welfare.

2. Wage-legislations - India ratified Convention 26 on minimum wages fixing machinery in

1955 and amended Minimum Wages Act to constitute an advisory Committee to advise on this
matter.

3. Social Security - A number of Conventions and Recommendations dealing with workmen

compensation, sickness insurance, invalidity, old age and survivors' insurance, unemployment
provisions, maternity protection and general aspects of social security have been adopted by the
ILO. India has directly or indirectly adopted some of them in its laws

An illustrative list of the enactments undertaken as a direct result of I.L.O. convention is given
below:

1. The influence of Conventions can also be seen in the various amendments made to the
Factories Act, 1934, during the period 1934 to 1948. An enactment having a bearing on
the provisions of the Minimum Age (Industry) Convention (Revised), 1937, was adopted
in 1940. The Factories (Amendment) Act, 1940, was designed to prevent the exposure of
children to the risk of exploitation and employment in unhealthy and dangerous
conditions. By the amendments the provisions of the Factories Act concerning health,
safety, children and registration were extended to factories using power and employing
ten to 19 persons, defined as small factories. It further empowered the provincial
governments to declare any premises employing children to be a “small factory" even
though less than ten workers were employed therein. The Factories Act was again
amended in 1945 to provide for workers in non-seasonal factories covered by the
Factories Act, 1934, ten consecutive days of annual holidays with pay for adults and 14
for children, after a qualifying service of one year. The “Statement of Objects and
Reasons" claimed that the measure covered "not an unimportant part" of the Holidays
with Pay Convention, 1936. The Factories Act, 1934, was consolidated and amended in
1948. Speaking on the Bill in Parliament on' 30 January 1948, the Labour Minister'
pointed out that the Government had tried to implement as many of the provisions
elaborated by the I.L.O. in the field of industrial hygiene as were practicable under Indian
conditions and that the provisions relating to the periodical medical examination of young
persons and the submission of plans of factory buildings had also been taken from
international labour Conventions. More recently the Factories Act, 1948, was amended in
1954 to give effect to the Night Work (Women) Convention (Revised), 1948, and the
Night Work of Young Persons (Industry) Convention (Revised), 1948, ratified by India in
1950. The discrepancies eliminated in this way related to the duration of the night
interval in cases where a change of shift affected the rest period of women on the one
hand, and where the young persons had not attained the age of 17 years, on the other.

2. Implementation of the Night Work (Women) Convention (Revised), 1948, also led to the
insertion in the Mines Act of 1952 of a provision prohibiting the employment of women
in mines during the night on work above ground, in addition to the prohibition covering
work underground.
3. The Indian Ports Act, 1908, was amended in 1922 to implement the Minimum Age
(Industry) Convention, 1919. The amendments laid on the local governments the
obligation of making rules prohibiting the employment of children under 12 years of age
in the handling of goods at quays, docks, etc.
4. When the Minimum Age (Industry) Convention, 1919, was revised in 1937 a Bill was
introduced in the central legislature on 15 August 1938 expressly designed to give effect
 to the Convention. Some of the provisions of the Employment of Children Act, 1938,
adopted as a result of this initiative, were even in advance of the specific provisions of
the Convention relating to India ; for example for India the Convention fixed 13 years as
the minimum age in " the transport of passengers or goods, or mails, by rail, or in the
handling of goods at docks, quays or wharves, but excluding transport by hand " (Article
7 (3)), while the Act fixed the minimum age at 15 years for the handling of goods at
docks, wharves or quays. The Act was further amended in 1951 to give effect to the
provisions of the Night Work of Young Persons (Industry) Convention (Revised), 1948.
When the Mines Act was being consolidated in 1952 a specific provision prohibiting the
employment of women during night in mines was inserted in order to implement the
provisions of the Night work (Women) Convention (Revised), 1948.
5. The Indian Railways (Amendment) Act, 1930 was passed to secure a statutory obligation
to apply the provisions of the Hours of Work (Industry) Convention, 1919 and the
Weekly Rest (Industry) Convention, 1921.
6. The Indian Dock Laborers’ Act, 1934, sought specifically to give effect to the provisions
of the Protection against Accidents (Dockers) Convention (Revised), 1932, and contained
provisions to ensure the safety of workers employed in loading and unloading ships.
7. The Woman’s Compensation Act, 1932 was amended in 1926 to bring it in line with the
provisions of the Workmen’s compensation (Occupational diseases) Convention, 1925.