Regulation to protect workers from biological hazards, the review of working conditions in the care sector and the role of fundamental principles and rights at work in a rapidly changing world of work: these were the main topics of the debates at this year's International Labour Conference (ILC) of the International Labour Organization (ILO).
An EZA delegation followed the discussions of around 4,900 delegates from 187 countries who gathered in Geneva for the 112th session of the ILC in June 2024.
The Standing Committee on the Application of Standards (Committee on the Application of Standards/CAS) investigated violations of ILO conventions in 24 individual countries. In this context, there was a special session on Belarus, where serious violations of the ILO conventions on freedom of association and the right to collective bargaining (Conventions 87 and 98) have occurred continuously in recent years.
Under the leadership of EZA Vice-President Bogdan Hossu, the EZA delegation held talks with high-ranking representatives of the ILO and alliance partners as part of the ILC. They met with Maria Helena André, Director of the Bureau for Workers Activities/ACTRAV, and Pierre-Martinot Lagarde, Special advisor for socio-religious affairs, to discuss further cooperation.
The traditional EZA networking meeting in the second week of the ILC was once again the central venue for meetings and exchanges between EZA members, ILO representatives and other partner organisations.