Publications

May 2020

  1. © Chassenet / BSIP via AFP 2023

    COVID-19 Crisis: Why ILO Social Protection Floors Recommendation (R202) is relevant for Trade Unions?

    02 May 2020

    ILO Recommendation (R202) was adopted by ILO constituents in the aftermath of the 2008 financial and economic crisis, expressing the commitment of member States to ensure that all members of society enjoy at least a basic level of social protection throughout their lives.

  2. © Xavier Donat 2023

    Importance of the effective respect and implementation of ILO’s International Labour Standards in the context of the outbreak of COVID

    02 May 2020

    In situations of crisis, such as the one the world is facing with COVID-19, it is crucial to respect and implement International Labour Standards (ILS) within the framework of the rule of law.

  3. © Stuart Price / UN Photo 2023

    COVID-19 Crisis: Why the ILO Social Security Convention (C102) is relevant for Trade Unions?

    02 May 2020

    ILO Convention (C102) is the only international instrument that establishes worldwide-agreed qualitative and quantitative minimum standards for all nine branches of social security. Why this Convention is relevant for Trade Unions in the context of the COVID-19 Crisis?

April 2020

  1. Managing Conflicts and Disasters: Exploring Collaboration between Employers’ and Workers’ Organizations

    09 April 2020

    This publication looks at the role that employers and workers, through their respective organizations, play in crisis situations arising from conflict and disaster.

  2. ILO ACTRAV Analysis: Governments'Responses to COVID-19 (6 April 2020)

    06 April 2020

    Please check also the ILO COVID-19 country policy responses portal for the latest information on Governments’ responses ...

  3. Trade union action to promote fair recruitment for migrant workers

    01 April 2020

    This brief highlights trade union action to promote and protect fair recruitment for migrant workers through actions including policy advocacy, service provision and outreach.

March 2020

  1. © dronepicr 2023

    COVID-19 and R205: what role for workers’ organizations?

    24 March 2020

    This note prepared by the ILO’s Bureau for Workers’Activities (ACTRAV) shows why the ILO Recommendation No 205 on Employment and Decent Work for Peace and Resilience (R205) is an effective instrument for governments, employers and workers organizations to address the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

February 2020

  1. Social protection systems for all to prevent homelessness and facilitate access to adequate housing

    20 February 2020

    The role of social protection systems in reducing poverty and inequality, preventing homelessness, and facilitating access to adequate housing.

January 2020

  1. Interactions between Workers’ Organizations and Workers in the Informal Economy: A Compendium of Practice

    30 January 2020

    A compilation of concrete examples, drawn from around the world, showing how trade unions have sought to reach out to workers in the informal economy to reduce the decent work deficits they face and support their transition to formality.

November 2019

  1. The Future of Work: Trade Unions in Transformation

    29 November 2019

    It has become harder for trade unions in both developed and emerging countries to protect the rights of workers and working conditions, as shown not only in the reduction of unionization, but also the fall in the labour share of income in most countries.This issue of the Journal compiles the thoughts of leading academics on the topics that are shaping discussions on the future of work. The Journal aims to serve as a stepping stone for the labour movement in its own deliberations on how workers’organizations can react to the fundamental changes that are affecting the world of work, and that it will provide further reflections on the transformation of trade unions these changes might entail.

  2. Web Application on Freedom of Association

    02 November 2019

    How to secure and promote freedom of association? This web application provides an overview of the principles on freedom of association and explains how ILO procedures and bodies can be best used to secure and promote freedom of association across the world.

October 2019

  1. Social Dialogue, Collective Bargaining and Responsible Business Conduct: Promoting the Strategic Use of the International Instruments for Trade Unions' Action

    05 October 2019

    The aim of this report is to map and analyse the various International Instruments to promote social dialogue, collective bargaining and responsible business conduct to address the main challenges raised by the ILO Resolution concerning Decent Work in Global Supply Chains (2016), including the Global Framework Agreement.

  2. Trade Unions in the Balance

    04 October 2019

    On the occasion of the ILO Centenary celebration, the Bureau for Workers’ Activities (ILO-ACTRAV) commissioned a research on the current state of the unions in the world. The research conducts by Professor Visser explores developments in union membership across the world in the past decades.

August 2019

  1. Workers’ Guide to Employment and Decent Work for Peace and Resilience Recommendation (No. 205)

    28 August 2019

    Through this Workers’ Guide, the ILO’s Bureau for Workers’ Activities (ACTRAV) provides information and guidance on how trade unions can ensure the implementation of this new global tool to their advantage. It is intended to serve as a valuable reference to workers’ organizations on the provisions of Recommendation No. 205.

  2. Workers' organizations engaging in skills development

    07 August 2019

June 2019

  1. Organizing Informal Workers into Trade Unions-A trade union guide

    19 June 2019

    The aim of this document is to offer practical guidance on how to address six institutional challenges in organizing the informal economy into trade unions. The guide relies on practical and important lessons on how to integrate the diverse group of informal economy workers and operators into the formal structures of the trade union movement. It also addresses the benefits and the challenges of organizing informal economy workers, and hereby enacts and supports the implementation of Recommendation No. 204.

  2. The Driving Force Birth and Evolution of Tripartism - The Role of the ILO Workers' Group

    18 June 2019

    Beyond stating that the International Labour Organization has, since 1919, had a unique tripartite structure, with the participation of governments and employers’ and workers’ organizations, not much has been written about how tripartism actually works. The book gives examples of the dynamics at work between the three groups of the ILO and explains how, over time, the force that has driven its agenda has been the Workers’Group.

April 2019

  1. Closing the Gender Pay Gap: What Role for Trade Unions?

    09 April 2019

    This policy brief focusses on four main trade union strategies that address overall gender discrimination, overall wage inequality, specific gender pay gaps and Women’s representation in decision-making.

  2. Closing the Gender Pay Gap: What Role for Trade Unions?

    09 April 2019

    The authors of the paper, Professor Jill Rubery and Mathew Johnson, examine the role trade unions can and are playing at different policy levels in respect of both overall wage and gender-specific wage inequality. Although the paper is developed primary for trade unionists engaged in wage setting and equal pay, it is also highly recommended for researchers, policy makers and other stakeholders, both in a developed and developing country context.

October 2018

  1. Just Transition Towards Environmentally Sustainable Economies and Societies for All

    22 October 2018

    The transition to a carbon-neutral economy will affect every aspect of how we produce goods, provide services, move around and consume. The Paris Agreement (UNFCCC 2015), was a historical milestone, where nations committed themselves to transforming their development trajectories in order to limit global warming by 2100 to 1.5 to 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels. This policy brief will address the main challenges in fulfilling these goals, how just transition can work in practice and what trade unions and workers’ organizations can do.