The International Labour Organization (ILO) Core Labour Standards dealing with 'minimum age of employment' and 'forced and compulsory labour'.

The first 200 words of this essay...

INTRODUCTION

This report looks into the International Labour Organization (ILO) Core Labour Standards dealing with 'minimum age of employment' and 'forced and compulsory labour'. The report examines the broader definition of the conventions and determines their applicability and effectiveness in a country such as Malaysia and compares/contrasts it with Indonesia. Finally it summarizes the key issues covered within this report.

INTERNATIONAL LABOUR ORGANIZATION (ILO)

Core Labour Standards

The ILO defines the core labor standards in conventions which are based on agreements reached between the governments, employers' and workers' organizations of the member states of the ILO (ILO 2004:16).

Mark Rix mentions that "International labor standards were originally intended to circumvent the danger that a country would attempt to suppress the wages and conditions of its national's low thus giving it a competitive edge in international trade" (2001:17). But also to address humanitarian issues as a result of the physical dangers of industrialization. With countries competing with each other to improve there economies and attract increased trade, they are likely to reduce wages and working conditions to extreme lows (Rix, 2001).

The ILO Convention 29 defines forced or compulsory labour as 'all work or