Secretary of Labor Hilda L. Solis chairs 1st meeting of Presidents Committee on the International Labor Organization in 10 years

WASHINGTON — Secretary of Labor Hilda L. Solis chaired the first meeting in 10 years of the President's Committee on the International Labor Organization, which is responsible for formulating and coordinating United States policy toward the ILO, on May 4. This meeting is the committee's first since May 2000.

The PC/ILO consists of the secretaries of labor, state and commerce; the assistant to the president for national security affairs; the assistant to the president for economic policy; the president of the AFL-CIO; and the president of the U.S. Council for International Business.

A key component of the committee's work is the review of ILO conventions for possible U.S. ratification. This function is performed by a subgroup called the Tripartite Advisory Panel on International Labor Standards.

"I am pleased to renew the work of this important group," said Secretary Solis. "Re-starting this committee shows the world that the United States takes the ILO and international labor standards seriously."

On the basis of its discussion, the committee agreed to:

• Call upon TAPILS to resume its work of reviewing the legal feasibility of ratification of selected ILO conventions.
• Work toward the successful completion of the ratification process for ILO Convention No. 111 on employment discrimination (one of the ILO's eight fundamental conventions), which was submitted to the Senate in 1998.
• Request that TAPILS submit to the committee a short list of other conventions that appear to be suitable for legal review and possible U.S. ratification in the near term.

At the conclusion of the meeting, Secretary Solis said, "I look forward to our working together and to furthering labor standards both domestically and internationally."