IOE Archives

USCIB’s Ronnie Goldberg Reelected to ILO Governing Body

Published on June 21, 2011
At the International Labor Conference, L-R: John Kloosterman (Littler Mendelson), Kristin Lipke (U.S. Department of Labor), USCIB’s Ronnie Goldberg and John Oswalt (Procter and Gamble).
At the International Labor Conference, L-R: John Kloosterman (Littler Mendelson), Kristin Lipke (U.S. Department of Labor), USCIB’s Ronnie Goldberg and John Oswalt (Procter and Gamble).

USCIB Executive Vice President Ronnie Goldberg was re-elected to the Governing Body of the International Labor Organization (ILO) in a vote  conducted in Geneva last week . The Governing Body is the executive council of the ILO and meets three times annually in Geneva. It takes decisions on policy and establishes the program and budget of the 183 member states of the ILO.

The ILO is a tripartite United Nations agency where representatives of government, business and labor work jointly to promote greater respect for labor rights around the world.  USCIB represents the interests of American business in the ILO through its role as the U.S. affiliate of the International Organization of Employers (IOE).  Ms. Goldberg also serves as the IOE’s regional vice chair for North America.

In a related development, Adam Greene, USCIB’s vice president for labor and corporate responsibility, was recently named by Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis to the National Advisory Committee for the Labor Provisions of U.S. Trade Agreements, which provides advice on the implementation of labor chapters of U.S. free trade agreements as well as the North American Agreement on Labor Cooperation.

The ILO Governing Body election took place during the annual International Labor Conference, at which a new international labor standard aimed at improving conditions for domestic workers was adopted. The U.S. employers’ delegation to this year’s ILO conference was headed by Edward E. Potter, director of global workplace rights with The Coca-Cola Company and chair of USCIB’s Labor and Employment Policy Committee.  In addition to Ms. Goldberg and Mr. Greene, the delegation included John Kloosterman (Littler Mendelson), Kent McVay (Coca-Cola), John Oswalt (Procter and Gamble) and Kevin Sullivan (IBM).

Other outcomes of this year’s conference included guidance on labor inspection and a decision to negotiate an ILO recommendation on social security.  Heads of state and government addressing the delegates included German ChancellorAngela Merkel and Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin.

Staff contact: Adam Greene

More on USCIB’s Labor and Employment Policy Committee

ILO website

ILO to Send High-Level Mission to Venezuela to Investigate Attacks on Private Enterprise

Published on March 30, 2011

During its March 23 meeting, the International Labor Organization’s Governing Body unanimously decided to create a high-level tripartite mission to examine the complaints of attacks against the Venezuelan employers’ federation FEDECAMARAS, its leaders and the private sector in general. Since 2003, the ILO has been examining a case, presented by USCIB affiliate the International Organization of Employers (IOE) and FEDECAMARAS, concerning the continuing violations of the Venezuelan business community’s fundamental rights. The mission will take place this summer and will report its findings to the ILO Governing Body at its November 2011 session.

The tripartite mission will include personalities from the business community, trade unions and the ILO. Topics that will be reviewed include bullying and harassment of FEDECAMARAS and its leaders, the creation and promotion of similar employers’ organizations by the government, and permanent attacks on the independent media to prevent employers’ exercising freedom of expression.

The IOE’s secretary general, Antonio Peñalosa commented: “This will be the first such ILO mission to Venezuela and will serve to examine in situ and in detail all the IOE complaints against the government of Venezuela in recent years.” Mr. Peñalosa added that the IOE is pleased that the government had accepted the mission and opened the door to dialogue to resolve the multiple business complaints that accumulated at the ILO, to which the Venezuelan authorities had until now refused to respond.

Click here to read more on IOE’s website.

Staff contact: Ariel Meyerstein

More on USCIB’s Labor and Employment Committee

News Brief Business Under Assault in Venezuela

Published on February 7, 2011

The IOE has been in the forefront of raising awareness about attacks – some literal – against employers and their representatives in Venezuela.  A new resource is a video documenting a violent attack perpetrated against leaders the national employers group FEDECAMARAS leaders in October.  The video – in Spanish, with an English-language version is forthcoming – also provides an overview of what the IOE terms “the constant climate of aggression and hostility towards the private sector in Venezuela” by the Chavez government and its allies.  The video is available at www.ioe-emp.org/index.php?id=357.

IOE website

New Global Commitment to Tackle Jobs Crisis

Published on June 18, 2009
The ILO’s headquarters in Geneva: governments, employers and trade unions will adopt a Global Jobs Pact at the conclusion of the annual ILO conference.
The ILO’s headquarters in Geneva: governments, employers and trade unions will adopt a Global Jobs Pact at the conclusion of the annual ILO conference.

Geneva and New York, June 18, 2009 – Employers, trade unions and governments have reached a historic global agreement on measures to promote employment and enterprise development during economic recovery, according to the International Organization of Employers (IOE).

The Global Jobs Pact will today be adopted by the International Labor Organization (ILO) annual conference in Geneva – the main United Nations labor and social policy forum.  It will be the first truly global identification of labor and social measures to combat the crisis, which brings together both the developed and developing world.

The Geneva-based IOE is the largest private-sector network in the world, representing national business federations in 140 countries.  It is the leading international business organization on social and labor matters, directly representing business in the ILO and working closely with policy makers at all levels.  The United States Council for International Business (USCIB), based in New York, serves as the IOE’s American affiliate.

USCIB Executive Vice President Ronnie Goldberg, who serves on the ILO’s governing body, helped draft the Global Jobs Pact.  She said it lays out clearly the policy approaches needed to support job creation by the private sector.

“Enterprises of all sizes have been negatively impacted by the crisis, and they all require the right policies to return to growth,” stated Ms. Goldberg.

The Global Jobs Pact directly meets the challenge laid down by G20 governments in April – supporting employment by stimulating growth, investing in education and training and implementing effective labor market policies, while also focusing on the most vulnerable.

“Having agreed measures which can combat the crisis, the hard work now begins,” the IOE said in a statement.  “The challenge for the ILO, international organizations, governments, trade unions and employers, will be translating these ideas into practical measures which actually make a difference on the ground.  The true test of the new pact will be its translation into more jobs in all countries.”

The Global Jobs Pact underlines the key role the private sector must play in any recovery.  It emphasizes the importance of policies that support business survival, entrepreneurship and investment. It also identifies the development of small and medium-sized enterprises, infrastructure development, and the positive role of rural employment, as measures to respond to the jobs crisis.

“The employers of the world are committed to ensuring the global jobs pact translates into more sustainable enterprises and therefore more jobs and a rapid and comprehensive global economic recovery,” stated the IOE.  “The survival of private enterprises will be critical to that recovery.”

The text of the Global Jobs Pact is available on the ILO’s website (www.ilo.org).  Click here to access a copy.

USCIB promotes international engagement and prudent regulation in support of open markets, competitiveness and innovation, sustainable development and corporate responsibility. Its members include top U.S.-based global companies and professional services firms from every sector of the economy, with operations in every region of the world.  With a unique global network encompassing leading international business organizations, including the IOE, USCIB provides business views to policy makers and regulatory authorities worldwide, and works to facilitate international trade and investment.

Contacts:
Scott Barklamb, IOE
+41 22.917.68.02 or barklamb@ioe-emp.org

Jonathan Huneke, USCIB
+1 212.703.5043 or jhuneke@uscib.org

ILO website

IOE website

More on USCIB’s Labor and Employment Committee

African Employers Forum Focuses on Continent’s Response to Crisis

Published on May 26, 2009
Nairobi’s business district: Kenya and other African nations face declining capital inflows.
Nairobi’s business district: Kenya and other African nations face declining capital inflows.

Prior to the financial crisis, many parts of Africa were making good progress toward macroeconomic stability and reform of the business environment.  But the global recession hit the continent hard, significantly slowing growth and employment, spurring currency devaluations, declining investment and remittances from abroad, and falling prices for African commodities.

African governments, employers and workers must work together to respond effectively to the crisis.  This was the goal of the African Employers Forum, hosted by the Federation of Kenya Employers, May 18 and 19 in Nairobi.  The event brought together social partners from across the continent and overseas.

The forum, supported by the International Labor Organization as well as the International Organization of Employers, also celebrated the Federation of Kenya Employers’ 50th Anniversary.

USCIB Executive Vice President Ronnie Goldberg addressed the gathering.  She highlighted the increased attention being devoted to Africa under the Obama administration, with a doubling of U.S. assistance and efforts to strengthen the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA), which provides duty-free access to the American market for a range of products from the continent.

“Although U.S. aid to Africa increased significantly under the Bush administration, President Obama has promised to double it by the end of his first term,” Ms. Goldberg said.  “We also have a number of priorities in the areas of fighting poverty in Africa.”  She said the crisis had hit labor markets around the world very hard, but that as the economy improves in the U.S., more attention would turn to providing financial and technical support to mitigate the effects of the crisis in developing countries.

USCIB President and CEO Peter M. Robinson sent a congratulatory message to the federation’s members.  “Companies represented by USCIB have long seen the African continent as a growing and vibrant source of opportunities for partnership,” he wrote, noting USCIB’s support for President Obama’s call for strengthening AGOA by improving technical assistance and infrastructure development, and by promoting closer regional cooperation on trade.

Staff contact: Ronnie Goldberg

More on the International Organization of Employers

Kenyan newspaper article on Ms. Goldberg’s remarks

ENGAGING BUSINESS: ADDRESSING CHILD LABOR

Published on May 17, 2009

Sponsored by the U.S. Council for International Business, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce,

and the International Organization of Employersin Cooperation with the International Labor Organization

Hosted by The Coca-Cola Company

Atlanta, Georgia

February 25, 2009

Presentations:

(Benjamin Smith, Chief Technical Advisor, International Programme on the Elimination of Child Labor, International Labor Organization)

(Benjamin Smith)

(Charita Castro, Operations and Research, Division Chief; Office of Child Labor, Forced Labor, and Human Trafficking; US Department of Labor)

(John B. Trew, Senior Technical Advisor, Child Labor & Girls’ Education)

The Financial Crisis: USCIB responds

Published on April 2, 2009

Latest statements and information from USCIB and our global business network

Glass globe being held by C clamp on blue background with moneyAmid ongoing financial shocks and market turmoil, USCIB and its global business network continue to actively promote efforts to provide sensible regulatory oversight and get world economic growth back on track.

Our unique affiliations with leading worldwide business groups – including the International Chamber of Commerce, the International Organization of Employers, and the Business and Industry Advisory Committee to the OECD – provide an invaluable channel through which to influence the course of global policies and regulations affecting business and the economy.

Here are links to the latest statements and actions from USCIB and our global network.

3846_image002USCIB:

– “The G-20 and the Danger of Protectionism” (letter in The New York Times by USCIB President and CEO Peter Robinson, April 1, 2009)

– Joint industry letter to President Obama on keeping markets open for foreign investment
(March 30, 2009)

– Business, Anti-Poverty and Faith-Based Groups Unite in Support of Open Markets (March 20, 2009)

– U.S. Multinational Companies Strengthen the Domestic Economy: Study demonstrates how domestic multinationals contribute to American productivity and prosperity
(March 16, 2009)

– G8 Business Summit Preparations Well Underway (March 2, 2009)

– U.S. business groups urge rejection of “Buy American” provisions in stimulus package (letter to Senate, February 3, 2009)

– USCIB letter to President Obama on priorities for tackling the economic crisis (January 21, 2009)

– Now More Than Ever: In the current crisis, USCIB’s core values matter (column by USCIB President Peter M. Robinson, January 2009)

– G8 Business Leaders: Crisis Demands Urgent Response, But Does Not Indicate a Failure of Market Economics (December 4, 2009)

– Accepting USCIB Award, Coca-Cola CEO Says Financial Crisis Jeopardizes Market Openness
(November 17, 2008)

– USCIB statement on the G-20 Summit (November 13, 2008)

– USCIB President Peter M. Robinson: Some Thoughts on the Current Crisis (October 21, 2008)

– Key Officials Address Critical Role of Sovereign Wealth Fund Investment (October 14, 2008)

3846_image004International Chamber of Commerce:

– ICC welcomes G20 boost to trade finance and pledge to conclude Doha Round (April 2, 2009)

– ICC plea in Financial Times: avoid deceptively simple solutions (April 1, 2009)

– “Resist Protectionism”
(letter to The New York Times by ICC Chairman Victor Fung, March 31, 2009)

– G20 must take action to fight protectionism and support trade finance to keep trade flowing
(March 31, 2009)

– ICC calls on G20 to address impact of Basel II on trade finance (March 27, 2009)

– Trade volume and value decline sharply as a result of crisis (March 23, 2009)

– A staunch advocate of globalization and trade (interview with ICC Chairman Victor Fung, International Herald Tribune, March 20, 2009)

– ICC issues positions on global economic crisis (March 13, 2009)

– ICC Chairman Victor Fung meets Gordon Brown ahead of G20 Summit (March 12, 2009)

– Lowest global economic index in history (February 18, 2009)

– ICC experts discuss the financial crisis and its implications (December 19, 2008)

– Doha Round agreement all the more vital in global economic crisis (December 17, 2008)

– First ICC Regional CEO Forum for Asia Pacific calls for unlocking of liquidity to spur global trade
(November 24, 2008)

– Lowest global economic index in 20 years (November 20, 2008)

– ICC Chairman hails G20 leaders rejection of protectionism and commitment to conclude WTO’s Doha Development Agenda (November 17, 2008)

– ICC Commission on Banking discusses trade finance problems at WTO (November 17, 2008)

– In CNN interview, ICC Chairman urges G20 to stimulate trade (November 13, 2008)

– ICC Chairman urges G20 leaders to adopt bold solutions to financial crisis (November 12, 2008)

– Op-ed by ICC Chairman calls for a revitalized global trading system (November 10, 2008)

– International cooperation vital to resolve financial crisis (October 15, 2008)

3846_image006Business and Industry Advisory Committee to the OECD:

– Business calls for credible G20 action to support open markets (March 31, 2009)

– Water and the economic crisis (March 16, 2009)

– The financial crisis and the role of the OECD (BIAC newsletter, December 2008)

– Major exporters pledge ongoing credit support for developing country imports (November 24, 2008 – OECD website)

– OECD welcomes G20 Declaration and offers support (November 17, 2008)

– OECD forecasts protracted economic slowdown (November 13, 2008 – OECD website)

– OECD preparing two-pillar action plan in response to crisis, says Gurría (November 12, 2008 – OECD website)

– OECD business calls for decisive G20 action against protectionism (November 10, 2008)

3846_image008International Organization of Employers:

– IOE information paper: Exiting the Crisis in Labor Markets (April 2009)

– World Employers: Financial Markets Need to Provide Stability and Liquidity to Business
(February 10, 2009)

– IOE president: Global employers are up to the challenge of the economic crisis (IOE newsletter, January 2009)

– The impacts of global crises on labor markets must be addressed (October 20, 2008)

USCIB’s Adam Greene Named to Advisory Body on Forced and Child Labor

Published on March 4, 2009
USCIB’s Adam Greene
USCIB’s Adam Greene

Appointment comes as forum spotlights child labor’s challenges to global supply chains

New York, N.Y., March 4, 2009 – Adam Greene, vice president of labor affairs and corporate responsibility with the United States Council for International Business (USCIB), has been named by the National Academy of Sciences to serve on the NAS Committee on Approaches to Reduce the Use of Forced or Child Labor, an important element in the Department of Labor’s efforts to prevent imports of goods made with prohibited forms of labor.

“We’re delighted that the National Academy of Sciences has recognized Adam Greene’s important contributions to the cause of combating forced labor and child labor,” stated USCIB’s President and CEO Peter M. Robinson.  “USCIB members take their responsibilities in this regard seriously and are working closely with Adam to ensure that forced and child labor are rooted out of global supply chains.”

The new committee will play an integral role in advising the Department of Labor on the framework for identifying those goods made with prohibited forms of labor.  The department is charged with developing a public list of all such goods by January 15, 2010.

Last week in Atlanta, USCIB, in partnership with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the International Organization of Employers (IOE), and the International Labor Organization (ILO), held a one-day international business forum on “Engaging Business – Addressing Child Labor,” hosted by The Coca-Cola Company.  Child labor experts from the ILO, business leaders and other key actors converged to share concrete experiences dealing with child labor from the local to the global levels as well as the growing business risks resulting from child labor in supply chains and how business can strengthen efforts to address child labor.

Speakers at the USCIB forum included Muhtar Kent, president and CEO of The Coca-Cola Company, Brent Wilton, deputy secretary general of the IOE, Ed Potter, director of global workplace rights with The Coca-Cola Company, and USCIB Executive Vice President Ronnie Goldberg, a member of the ILO’s Governing Body who moderated a panel on the impact of child labor on business.

USCIB is the primary forum through which American business advances its interests in the area of international labor policy.  It works with the executive branch and Congress to develop trade policies that also promote sound labor practices. Serving as the U.S. affiliate of the IOE, which represents business in the International Labor Organization, USCIB was instrumental in the development of the ILO’s Declaration on the Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work.

In developing its list of prohibited goods, the Department of Labor will create a standard set of practices to reduce the likelihood that prohibited goods make their way into supply chains.  The new committee will advise the department on the framework for identifying and organizing such practices.

Mr. Greene is responsible for USCIB’s activities on labor and corporate responsibility.  He manages U.S. business participation in the development of international labor standards and advises companies on international and regional trends in labor and employment policy.  He also coordinates USCIB involvement in the governing and standard setting bodies of the ILO and promotes the ILO Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work.  He serves as vice chair of the Business Technical Advisory Committee on Labor Affairs to the Inter-American Conference of Ministers of Labor.

USCIB promotes international engagement and prudent regulation in support of open markets, competitiveness and innovation, sustainable development and corporate responsibility. Its members include top U.S.-based global companies and professional services firms from every sector of the economy, with operations in every region of the world.  With a unique global network encompassing leading international business organizations, including the IOE, USCIB provides business views to policy makers and regulatory authorities worldwide, and works to facilitate international trade and investment.  More information is available at www.uscib.org.

Contact:
Jonathan Huneke, VP Communications, USCIB
Tel: +1 212.703.5043 (office) or +1 917.420.0039 (mobile)
E-mail: jhuneke@uscib.org

Agenda of February 25 USCIB forum, “Engaging Business: Addressing Child Labor”

More on USCIB’s Labor and Employment Committee

More on USCIB’s Corporate Responsibility Committee

National Academy of Sciences website

World Employers: Financial Markets Need to Provide Stability and Liquidity to Business

Published on February 10, 2009
IOE President Prof. Wiseman Nkuhlu
IOE President Prof. Wiseman Nkuhlu

Lisbon and New York, February 10, 2009 – As governments around the world enact stimulus measures to deal with the recession, financial institutions must move quickly to speed the injection of new capital into struggling economies, according to the head of the International Organization of Employers.

“The financial markets need to fulfill their proper task of providing stability and liquidity to business, rather than serving their own interests,” stated IOE President Prof. Wiseman Nkuhlu of South Africa on the release of an IOE statement on the crisis at a forum in Lisbon.  “They must act to ease the current credit crunch and start circulating in the economy the cash injections received through various government stimulus packages.”

The Geneva-based IOE is the largest private-sector network in the world, representing national business federations in 140 countries.  It is the leading international business organization on social and labor matters, directly representing business in the International Labor Organization (ILO) and working closely with policy makers at all levels.  The United States Council for International Business (USCIB), based in New York, serves as the IOE’s American affiliate.

Just as the financial sector bore some of the responsibility for the onset of the crisis, it bears a similar responsibility for getting the economy moving again, said Prof. Nkuhlu, who spoke on the eve of an ILO European meeting in Lisbon.

“This easing of credit is particularly true for the small and medium-sized enterprises which form the backbone of our economies and employ our people,” he added.  “They are the sometimes forgotten majority in efforts to kick start the economy.”

Speakers at the IOE forum speakers provided a global overview of the impact and responses to the crisis.  In summing up the session, IOE European Vice President Renate Hornung-Draus of Germany spoke of the many similarities between countries in the identification of what employers see as critical in ensuring the life of enterprise and of the jobs they provide.

“Key support is needed to secure the fundamentals of growth,” she stated,” particularly in areas of ongoing investment in people through education and training.  The ILO meeting of European employers, workers and governments over the coming week needs to focus on the actions we all have to take to start moving forward again.”

IOE Executive Vice President Daniel Funes de Rioja of Argentina, who serves as employers’ vice chair of the ILO Governing Body, stressed the need to maintain an open trading system as a key means for business to revitalize its activities.

“We remain in a globalized world, and recent calls for a return to protectionist measures to satisfy short term political unpopularity must be actively and persistently resisted,” he urged.  “For example, a country like Argentina, which has itself had direct experience of a financial crisis, found a  key element in its recovery was its continuing to be able to access global markets.”

Within the ILO and elsewhere, employers need to be vigilant about adopting failed policies of the past as answers for the present difficulties,” warned Mr. Funes de Rioja.  “We owe it to our enterprises and to our citizens to remain focused on the real means of reviving growth and to make it happen quickly.”

The forum participants also benefited from the views and reflections on the impact of the crisis in their respective regions of USCIB Executive Vice President Ronnie Goldberg, who is IOE’s regional vice president for North America, as well as Yogendra Modi, chairman and CEO of Great Eastern Energy Corp. of India, and Francisco Van Zeller, president of the Confederation of Portuguese Industry.

USCIB promotes international engagement and prudent regulation in support of open markets, competitiveness and innovation, sustainable development and corporate responsibility. Its members include top U.S.-based global companies and professional services firms from every sector of the economy, with operations in every region of the world.  With a unique global network encompassing leading international business organizations, including the IOE, USCIB provides business views to policy makers and regulatory authorities worldwide, and works to facilitate international trade and investment.

Contacts:
Antonio Peñalosa, IOE secretary general
+41 79.409.27.16 or ioe@ioe-emp.org

Jonathan Huneke, USCIB
+1 212.703.5043 or jhuneke@uscib.org

IOE statement: Economic Recovery and Employment

More on USCIB’s Labor and Employment Committee

IOE website

Employers’ Vision of the ILO Summer 2008

Published on June 1, 2008

From the President’s Desk:

Focusing international labor policy on entrepreneurship and enterprise creation

By Peter M. Robinson

Peter M. Robinson
Peter M. Robinson

Globalization and the integration of international markets have been a tremendous benefit for the countries that have prepared themselves to take advantage of the new opportunities they provide. But for those countries that have failed to adjust or reform, these forces have exposed systemic failures in national governance that have in turn led to considerable social upheaval due to increased competition and changing labor markets.

Since social pressures can present a considerable barrier to maintaining or expanding international integration, a key policy challenge for international business is to develop effective mechanisms that can help countries reform their domestic policies to respond better to new external pressures. One such mechanism, the International Labor Organization (ILO) – the UN agency responsible for international labor and social policy – could play a leading role in this effort, and business is taking the lead to make it more responsive to employers’ needs.

Focusing on Current Needs

Abe Katz At the IOE’s May General Council meeting in Geneva, USCIB President Emeritus Abe Katz officially concluded his two-year term as the IOE’s chairman, passing the baton to Prof. Wiseman Nkhulu of South Africa. Mr. Katz noted the continuing relevance of the ILO to the conduct of international business, particularly at a time when the relationship between trade and labor standards has become an important political issue. USCIB President Peter Robinson and Executive Vice President Ronnie Goldberg also hosted a dinner in honor of Mr. Katz attended by employer members of the ILO Governing Body, business and labor union representatives to the International Labor Conference, and senior U.S. government and ILO officials. Many in attendance worked with Mr. Katz during his years as USCIB’s president (1984-98), when he served on the ILO Governing Body. Toasts were made by numerous participants, including IOE Secretary General Antonio Peñalosa, IOE Executive Vice Chairman Daniel Funes de Rioja, International Trade Union Confederation Secretary General Guy Ryder, and ILO Director General Juan Somavia. All reflected deep respect and admiration felt by colleagues from all sides. USCIB and its members have deeply appreciated Abe’s leadership over the past 24 years.
Abe Katz
At the IOE’s May General Council meeting in Geneva, USCIB President Emeritus Abe Katz officially concluded his two-year term as the IOE’s chairman, passing the baton to Prof. Wiseman Nkhulu of South Africa. Mr. Katz noted the continuing relevance of the ILO to the conduct of international business, particularly at a time when the relationship between trade and labor standards has become an important political issue. USCIB President Peter Robinson and Executive Vice President Ronnie Goldberg also hosted a dinner in honor of Mr. Katz attended by employer members of the ILO Governing Body, business and labor union representatives to the International Labor Conference, and senior U.S. government and ILO officials. Many in attendance worked with Mr. Katz during his years as USCIB’s president (1984-98), when he served on the ILO Governing Body. Toasts were made by numerous participants, including IOE Secretary General Antonio Peñalosa, IOE Executive Vice Chairman Daniel Funes de Rioja, International Trade Union Confederation Secretary General Guy Ryder, and ILO Director General Juan Somavia. All reflected deep respect and admiration felt by colleagues from all sides. USCIB and its members have deeply appreciated Abe’s leadership over the past 24 years.

The main challenge in making the ILO more effective and relevant for the business community is to focus its machinery on developing practical and workable solutions to current social and labor policy challenges. The global business community took a significant step forward in this area when the International Organization of Employers (IOE) – one of USCIB’s key international affiliates – produced an Employers’ Vision of the ILO, a comprehensive business agenda for the ILO.

Developed under the direction of Abe Katz (see box), the outgoing chairman of the IOE and USCIB’s president emeritus, the Employers’ Vision presents a clear agenda for the ILO that promotes entrepreneurship and enterprise creation, the main ways jobs are created and sustained. The vision also calls for increased attention on productivity improvements through education, skills development and training.

The IOE also calls for international labor standards that are practical and implementable.  Many existing standards set goals so impossibly high that few countries ratify them, and those that do so are unable to enforce them. Similarly, the IOE paper stresses that the ILO must help countries reform labor laws and other regulations that stifle enterprise creation and job growth, and which force operators into the ineffective and constraining informal economy.

International Business Leadership

Changing the ILO will not be easy or painless. A key reason for hope is that the ILO has a tripartite structure that is unique in the UN, meaning that employers and trade unions share voting power with the ILO’s member governments and participate in its oversight and management. USCIB Executive Vice President Ronnie Goldberg was recently re-elected to a second term on the ILO Governing Body.

On a broader level, USCIB relies on the IOE to coordinate international business engagement in the ILO. I was able to see the IOE in action at the annual International Labor Conference in June, when representatives of the IOE’s 145 national affiliates from 138 countries gathered in Geneva to speak on behalf on their business communities. The IOE is poised to build on the considerable achievements of Abe Katz in his term as IOE chairman under the new leadership of Professor Wiseman Nkuhlu, chairman of Pan African Capital Holdings of South Africa.

For more information or to get involved, please contact USCIB’s Adam Greene  (212-703-5056, agreene@uscib.org).

Mr. Robinson’s bio and contact information

More on USCIB’s Labor and Employment Committee

Learn more about the IOE

Other recent postings from Mr. Robinson:

New Financial Challenges on the Horizon (Spring 2008)

Trade Can Save the Climate (Winter 2007-2008)

From E-Commerce to the “Internet Economy” (Autumn 2007)

Business and Human Rights, Revisited (Spring 2007)