CROSS-BORDER SOCIAL DIALOGUE AND AGREEMENTS: An ...

The role of the ILO in promoting the development – Drouin
In this context, an avenue for alternative dispute settlement could
be for the ILO to provide mediation and/or arbitration services to IFA
parties. The ILO seems especially well placed to assume the task of neutral
conciliator considering the expertise of its personnel in relation to the
precise content, meaning and interpretation given to fundamental labour
rights and core labour Conventions. The mediator therefore could aid the
parties in gaining a better understanding of the implications of their commitment
to respect the rights enunciated in a number of ILO instruments
and give adequate guidance for the implementation of IFAs on the
ground.
In essence, the function of mediation does not entail the adjudication
of a dispute. Hence, another option for the ILO in assisting the
effective implementation of IFAs would be to provide arbitration services
to the parties. This could take the form of a dispute resolution procedure
akin to the one attached to the Tripartite Declaration of Principles concerning
Multinational Enterprises and Social Policy or inspired by the
work of the Committee on Freedom of Association. Here, the objective
of the intervention would be for the arbitration body to analyse the
claims of the parties involved and issue a report containing recommendations
for the adequate application of the labour rights included in a
framework agreement. The parties could voluntarily accept to abide by
these recommendations. As a general rule, the ILO should be able to
intervene, irrespective of the form of its involvement, at the request of
one of the parties concerned.
The inadequate application of an IFA can be explained by various
factors. One is the unwillingness of the parties to abide by their commitments.
Another is the lack of skills and resources to implement and
monitor the agreement satisfactorily. With regard to the latter, the ILO
is in a position to design capacity-building activities related to the implementation
of IFAs. Although technical cooperation is often overlooked
in the legal literature, it is a means of action employed by the ILO that
plays an important role in the promotion of fundamental labour rights
and social dialogue — the two strategic objectives of the Decent Work
Agenda that form an integral part of IFAs. 27 Technical cooperation relating
to tripartism and social dialogue usually takes the form of projects
aimed at institutional development and the improvement of constituents’
27
The obligation of the ILO to offer assistance to its member States in order to attain the objectives
of the 1998 Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work is explicitly mentioned in para. 3 of
this instrument.
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