The Future of ILO: What can we expect?

Kaki Grishma Alekya | The Economist

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Around the world, the Mistreatment of Workers is a major issue that many

countries face. The UN recognises this and has set up a council called the

International Labour Organisation in 1919. It aims to bring social justice to

exploited and mistreated workers.

Yet, their recent debate has made me question whether they are trying to solve

workers’ problems or their problems. Many of their solutions focus on the

economy. Moreover, when they were asked about what the community would feel about their initiatives, they wasted no thought on their answers.

A delegate answered that he thought his procedure was able to protect the migrant workers through his approach, which was to enforce guidelines for countries with poor political laws and take action against other countries that have poor local laws. He also included that he wished to give financial support to current governments that are facing high levels of corruption.

Another prompt is the FEEPS protocol. It’s a basic protocol against the corruption

of countries’ governments. It stands for:

F - Fair Working Conditions

E - Ensuring Safe Working Conditions

E - Eliminate Wage Theft

P - Prevent Passport Confiscation

S - Strengthening Inspections

All these aims are to be fulfilled through the laws and regulations of countries in

the pact. The Country behind this scheme is Denmark. It fully respects the state’s

authority and sees a shared future with other countries. The stratagem also wishes to execute training for other lower economy countries such as Qatar.

This strengthens the ILO conventions aimed at strengthening the protection of

migrant workers. It also increases the accessibility of social protection to migrant workers. This tactic’s goal is to make sure that all Migrant workers are treated equally and with dignity.

Now there is nothing wrong with the answer, but there is nothing concerning the

welfare workers other than the laws they have to follow. This is frankly concerning

as many migrant workers do not have the resources or knowledge of these laws. So they may be entrapped by their employers without knowing that help was always available.

But there was another proposal made by the majority of the delegates that

answered this concern. The proposal was an initiative called Banh Mi. There are 2

groups in the project; Host Countries and Recipient Countries. The Host Countries

are mainly countries that have a well-established economy. They are required to

fund other recipient countries for the training provided in their country. The recipient countries are required to send in the workers who wish to migrate to the

host country in the future.

“I feel like the Banh Mi initiative will be effective as it is well organised and well prepared,” the Delegate of Bangladesh stated. This shows that the delegates have

not forgotten their workers in mind. Though the funds are not properly allocated

yet and the country behind the initiative, Vietnam, is still finalising the information, I believe that with the proper people and research, it might make an

impact.

Other countries recognise the exploitation of migrant workers and believe workers have the access to main resources. Such as The Delegate of Mexico, who pushes the ILO to implement measures on all countries and urges for Bilateral and Multinational Support within countries.

The public will not wait for the policymakers to make up their mind, nor will the

nature around us. Whether these delegates choose to shape the generations of

migrant workers to come, or react to its harsh transition, is their choice. Life will

teach its own lesson. The only question is whether they are able to learn from it.