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Section 9. —International Labour Organization (1) The report of the Government delegates to the Thirtieth Session of the International Labour Conference has already been presented as parliamentary paper A-7, 1947. The conventions and recommendations adopted by the Conference are given below : (i) Convention concerning Social Policy in Non-metropolitan Territories. —The provisions of the convention cover a wide field and deal with such matters as the provision of financial and technical assistance to the local administrations; improvements in the fields of public health, housing, nutrition, education, the welfare of children, the status of women, conditions of employment, the remuneration of wage-earners and independent producers, the protection of migrant workers, social security, standards of public services, and general production. (ii) Convention concerning the Right of Association and the Settlement of Labour Disputes in Nonmetropolitan Territories. —The principal provisions are as follows : the rights of employers and employed to associate for all lawful purposes are to be guaranteed ; all practicable steps are to be taken to assure to representative trade-unions the right to conclude collective agreements ; procedures for the investigation of labour disputes are to be as simple and as expeditious as possible; employers and workers are to be encouraged to avoid disputes, and suitable machinery for the settlement of disputes between employers and workers is to be set up as rapidly as possible, representatives of employers and workers to be associated where practicable, and in any case in equal numbers and on equal terms, in the operation of such machinery. A further provision envisages the appointment of public officers to investigate and to promote the conciliation of disputes. (iii) Convention concerning Labour Inspectorates in Non-metropolitan Territories. —The convention provides that labour inspection services shall be established in territories where such services do not already exist. Workers and their representatives shall be afforded every facility for communicating with the Inspectors. The functions to be exercised by Labour Inspectors are defined, and their obligation not to disclose confidential information which may come to their knowledge in the course of their duties is stated. (iv) Convention concerning the Application of International Labour Standards to Non-metropolitan Territories. —This convention provides for the application to non-metropolitan territories of a number of general conventions. (v) Convention concerning the Maximum Length of Contracts of Employment of Indigenous Workers. —The principal provision stipulates that the maximum of service for employment under contract not involving a long and expensive journey is not to exceed twelve months if the worker is not accompanied by his family or two years if he is so accompanied, and where a long and expensive journey is involved the maximum period is not to exceed two years if the worker is not accompanied by his family or three years if he is so accompanied. The permissible exceptions are stated. (vi) Convention concerning Labour Inspection in Industry and Commerce. The convention applies to workplaces in respect of which legal provisions relating to conditions of work are enforceable by Labour Inspectors. It provides for a centrally controlled system of inspection, and covers the functions and powers of the inspectorate. (vii) Recommendation concerning Labour Inspection. —-The recommendation deals with the preventive duties of labour inspectorates to examine plans for new establishments and processes of production in order to determine their effects on the health and safety of workers; with methods of collaboration between the inspection service and employers and workers with regard to questions of health and safety; with the functions of Labour Inspectors in industrial disputes; and with the details of the information which should be included in the published animal reports on the work of inspection service. . (viii) Recommendation concerning Labour Inspection in Mining and Transport Industries. —This recommendation provides that Governments should apply appropriate systems of labour inspection to mining and transport industries. (2) Regional conferences of the American States members of the International Labour Organization have been held at which industrial problems common to the countries of the American continent were discussed. A proposal to hold a similar conference of Asian countries has been repeatedly put forward, it being recognized that eastern countries have industrial problems differing in many ways from those of western countries. The Governing Body of the Organization decided at its ninetyeighth Session (Montreal, May, 1946) to hold a Preparatory Asian Regional Conference at New Delhi in October, 1947, to be followed by the First Asian Regional Conference
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