International Association for Statutory Worker Protection

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The International Association for Legal Protection of Workers (French: Association internationale pour la protection légale des travailleurs , English: Association for Labor Legislation , Italian: Associazione internazionale per la protezione dei lavoratori ) was an international association organized under private law that took part in the International Congress for worker protection from July 25 to 28, 1900 in Paris and existed until 1925. The international organization was a direct predecessor of the International Labor Organization (ILO, English abbreviation: ILO), which still exists today as a specialized agency of the United Nations . The International Association operated the International Labor Office in Basel, which had existed since 1901. The two founding dates are often confused.

tasks

The statutes stipulated that the international association should be a link between all those in industrialized countries who considered occupational health and safety legislation to be necessary. It was supposed to set up an international office, which had to issue a regular publication on the labor laws of all states, in French, German and English.

organization

At the Paris Conference, a provisional international committee was set up to lead the association, consisting of the Swiss Paul Scherrer , the German Hans Hermann von Berlepsch , the Austrian Eugen Philippovich von Philippsberg , the French Paul Cauwès, the Belgian Ernest Mahaim, who wrote the statutes had written, and the Italian Giuseppe Toniolo insisted.

Persons and associations could belong to the association. It was financed privately through contributions and government grants. In addition, national sections of the international association could be founded. The governments of the states were asked to send observers. Each participating nation should designate a member to serve on the governing committee.

Each nation had six votes at the headquarters in Basel. This number of votes could increase with a higher number of members, but not beyond ten votes. The voting members were nominated by the nations. Their term of office was not limited. New members were co-opted. The management remained in office for two years. It was first chaired by the Swiss Councilor Scherrer, then by his compatriot Lachenal. It was run exclusively by Swiss.

The Association's International Committee consisted of the national sections and met every two years. There were fifteen national sections: e.g. For example, the Society for Social Reform in Germany, the Austrian Society for Labor Protection, the Association francaise pour la protection légale des travailleurs and the British Association for Labor Legislation.

The international office provided for by the statutes was founded on May 1, 1901 in Basel as the International Labor Office (French Office international du travail) and published the Bulletin of the International Labor Office as a regular publication in French, German and English. It should publish all regulations and laws of all states that applied to labor protection, contain comparative studies, facilitate research on labor legislation, give members advice on implementation, enable the harmonization of labor legislation and provide impetus for international congresses on labor legislation.

The general secretary of the International Association, head of the International Labor Office and publisher of the bulletins became the economist Stefan Bauer (Ètienne Bauer in French publications), who carried out these tasks until 1925.

history

The history of occupational safety usually begins with the February decree of Kaiser Wilhelm II of 1890. From March 15 to 23, 1890, the first International Occupational Safety and Health Conference took place in Berlin. Here, however, only the impetus for further efforts was given, since no binding regulations came about. Those employed with labor or worker protection continued to depend on private organizations and initiatives. In the following years, in Switzerland in particular, private and state initiatives on international labor protection developed. Above all, the possible cooperation between the labor movement and the government in Switzerland made it possible to take the initiative for further international conferences. From August 23 to 28, 1897, an International Occupational Safety and Health Congress took place in Zurich. B. August Bebel 392 delegates and 180 guests from 30 countries took part, mainly workers' representatives with a social-democratic and Christian-social orientation. In the same year, from September 27th to 30th, a group of professors from Germany and Belgium (including Lujo Brentano , Hitz, Schmoller and Mahaim) met in Brussels to set up an organizational group based in Brussels to prepare another workers protection conference. This took place in Paris in 1900 at the same time as the World Exhibition and led to the establishment of the International Association for Statutory Workers Protection.

The International Association held general assemblies in 1904 in Basel, 1906 in Geneva, 1908 in Lucerne, 1910 in Lugano and 1912 in Zurich. In cooperation with the Swiss Federal Council, the International Association succeeded in enforcing the first binding international agreement on worker protection at an expert conference from May 8th to 17th, 1905 and a subsequent diplomatic conference in Bern from September 17th to 26th: the Bern Convention on Prohibition of women's night work and the ban on white phosphorus in matchmaking. Another initiative to limit working hours for women and young workers, which was again negotiated at a conference of experts in Bern from September 15 to 25, 1913, was no longer internationally recognized, but stopped when the First World War broke out.

The First World War did not dissolve the International Association, it quickly came together again after the war. The peace treaties provided for the establishment of the International Labor Organization (ILO), to which the tasks and the library of the International Labor Office were transferred. General meetings continued, but these were increasingly overshadowed by national rivalries. The international association dealt with the topics of international labor organization, agricultural workers and works councils. From October 2 to 4, 1924, the International Association for the Protection of Statutory Workers, together with the International Association for Combating Unemployment, organized the International Congress of Social Policy in Prague, attended by 100 delegates.

On September 24, 1925, the International Association for Statutory Workers Protection, the International Association for Combating Unemployment and the International Committee for Social Insurance merged to form the International Association for Social Progress. With this the International Association for Statutory Workers Protection ceased to exist.

meaning

The International Association for Statutory Workers Protection stands as an organization between private and state action, between bourgeois and Christian social reformers and the labor movement, between conservatism, Catholic social teaching and socialism, between science and politics. It represents almost classically the different motives and origins of social policy. The study of its history provides information about the international networking between milieus, classes and governments in dealing with questions of occupational safety.

literature

  • Ètienne Bauer: L`Association internationale pour la protection Légale des travailleurs et L`Office internationale du travail, 1901-1910. Origins, organization, oeuvre réalisée, documents, rapport présenté au congrès mondial des Associations internationales (Bruxelles, May 1910). Brussels 1910.
  • Bulletin of the International Labor Office, Jena 1902–1919.
  • Judit Garamvölgvi: The international association for statutory worker protection. The example of a transnational association. In: Quirinius Reichen, Nicolai Bernard (Ed.): Society and Societies, commemorative publication for the 65th birthday of Prof. Dr. Ulrich in the courtyard. Bern 1982, pp. 624-646.
  • Rainer Gregarek: Le mirage de L'Europe social. Associations internationales de politique social au tournant de 20e siècle. In: Vingtième Siècle. Revue d`histoire, No. 48, octobre-decembre 1995, pp. 102-118.
  • Ludwig Heyde : International Association for Statutory Worker Protection. In: International Concise Dictionary of Trade Unions, 1931/1932, pp. 812–816.
  • André Lichtenberger : Congrès internationale pour la protection légale des travailleurs. Tenu à Paris au musèe social, No. 8, aout, 1900 , pp. 261–296 (with statutes of the International Association for Statutory Worker Protection).
  • Jean Luciani (Ed.): L´Histoire de L`Office du travail. Paris 1992.
  • Hans-Ernst Maute: The February decrees of Kaiser Wilhelm II and their legal implementation with special consideration of the Berlin International Occupational Safety and Health Conference of 1890. Diss. Bielefeld 1984.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ The ILO states 1901 as the founding date of the international association.
  2. ^ Lichtenberger, André, Congrès internationale pour la Protection légale des travailleurs, pp. 295f.
  3. ^ Lichtenberger, André, Congrès internationale pour la Protection légale des travailleurs, p. 292.
  4. ^ Ludwig Heyde: International Association for Statutory Worker Protection , p. 814.
  5. ↑ Bulletin of the International Labor Office, Jena 1902–1919.
  6. ↑ For the wording of the "February Decrees" and the history of their origins cf. Collection of sources on the history of German social policy from 1867 to 1914 . II. Department. From the Imperial Social Message to the February decrees of Wilhelm II (1881-1890) , Volume 1: Basic questions of social policy , edited by Wolfgang Ayaß , Florian Tennstedt and Heidi Winter, Darmstadt 2003, No. 102, 105-106, 109, 112 -115, 127-128, 130-134, 137-138. For the reception of the "February Decrees" cf. Collection of sources on the history of German social policy from 1867 to 1914, III. Department: Expansion and differentiation of social policy since the beginning of the New Course (1890-1904), Volume 1, Basic Questions of Social Policy , edited by Wolfgang Ayaß, Darmstadt 2016, No. 1–7, 11, 19, 22 and 41.
  7. ↑ See collection of sources on the history of German social policy 1867 to 1914 , III. Department: Development and differentiation of social policy since the beginning of the New Course (1890-1904) , Volume 3, Workers' Protection , edited by Wolfgang Ayaß, Darmstadt 2005, No. 126 and 128.
  8. ^ Ludwig Heyde: International Association for Statutory Worker Protection , p. 814.