U.S. Favours Extended Influence For I.L.O.

Northern Advocate, 26 April 1944, Page 5

U.S. Favours Extended Influence For 1.L.0.

(8.0. W.) RUGBY. April 25. The United States Secretary for Labour (Miss Florence Perkins) told the 1.L.0. Conference at Philadelphia that the United States would ‘favour formal action by the United Nations to extend the influence of the convention and recommendations adopted at international Labour conferences. ’’ She added: "The present moment seems to us the proper one in which to implement Hie last 25 years of work by the 1.L.0. Standards must be built up gradually, hut l think we should ask ourselves whether the time has not come wlii'ii some of these standards could be. made more nearly universal.” Miss I’erkins said that every nation in the world today .accepted as automatic the idea that a man should be aide to live as a result of the work lie did, and the eontribution he made to society. It must be aeeepted as a fundamental labour standard that steady, regular jobs will be available for all who are able Ir* accept work and discipline, and achieve some minimum of skill and efficiency. War to Peace

in llte transition from war to peace, we would have to guard against the erection of barriers to employment. The needs of individuals who were seeking work had to lv> recognised. All nations should undertake (hat in plans for demobilisation of war industries special attention be given to the needs of women for re-employment. Failure to do so would result not only in exclusions from employment of women who needed jobs, but in a let-down of labour living standards. We should never again allow trained workers and developed facilities available for the production of needed goods and services to remain idle while the needs of large parts of the world's population remained unsatisfied. Food Shortage Prospect

The Acting Director for 1.L.0 (Mr. Edward Phelan) in a report to delegates, warned them that there is a real danger cf a world-wide food shortage in the years immediately ahead, because of agricultural production during the war. is handicapped by shortages of labour, machinery and fertilisers.

Mr. Phelan's report also asserts that Germany's drive for self-sufficiency has broken down, but the Japanese have been considerably more successful in their attempt to make each conquered territory independent of food imports during the next 10 years. They are decentralising light industry while retaining the position of chief supplier of heavy industry products. Further development along these lines would transform South-east Asia into a unit more or less independent of the rest of the worid.