The International Labor Organization (ILO) was created by the Treaty of Versailles in 1919 as part of the overall system for peace that included the ill-fated League of Nations, and the ILO is the only feature of that peacemaking program to survive. The purpose of the organization was to improve living and working conditions for workers worldwide. It should be seen as part of the global community, the community of nations around the world seeking an improvement in social and economic justice for their peoples. The primary instrument by which the ILO attacks this problem is the International Labor Code, standards which have formed the basis for many social and labor laws in most of the countries that have gained their independence since 1919. The ILO consists of three parts. The first part of the structure of the ILO is the International Labor Conference, which convenes each year to bring together representatives of workers, employers, and governments of member states to develop international labor standards, adopt a budget, establish broad policy lines, and provide a world forum for discussing social and labor issues. Second is the Governing Body, an executive council charged with coordinating the work of the organization and deciding questions related to policy and programs. This body elects the Director General of the International Labor Office and supervises the work of that office as well as subsidiary organizations, industrial committees, and regional and other meetings. The third arm is the International Labor Office, with a permanent staff of officials and technical experts who serve to conduct the business of the organization's research center, publishing house, and operational headquarters (Hansenne, 1994, 3-4).
The ILO has long been called the "social conscience" of the world, a function it has served by "linking the ongoing international debate on economic and financial issues with broader sets of social concern...