A man walks in front of the logo of the International Labour Organisation (ILO) before the ILO's annual International Labour Conference (ILC) in Geneva, Switzerland, June 10, 2019. The future of work is not predetermined and robots will not decide it, rather it can be decided in a multilateral manner through the tripartite system of the International Labour Organization (ILO), said the ILO Director-General Guy Ryder Monday. Ryder was delivering the opening address of the ILO's annual International Labour Conference (ILC) in Geneva that runs from June 10-21. This year marks the 100th anniversary of the organization, and the conference focus will be on the future of work. (Xinhua/Xu Jinquan)
GENEVA, June 10 (Xinhua) -- The future of work is not predetermined and robots will not decide it, rather it can be decided in a multilateral manner through the tripartite system of the International Labour Organization (ILO), said the ILO Director-General Guy Ryder Monday.
Ryder was delivering the opening address of the ILO's annual International Labour Conference (ILC) in Geneva that runs from June 10-21. This year marks the 100th anniversary of the organization, and the conference focus will be on the future of work.
"The declaration that together you are called upon to negotiate and to adopt, can be a crucial statement of intent, a strategic roadmap for the ILO, precisely because the future of work is the future of the ILO," said Ryder.
The representatives of government, workers, and employers, who make up the tripartite ILO, "can be a mobilizing call", and they can call for "a platform for greater cooperation with our sister organizations in the international system," said Ryder.
He said that "with the multinational system under pressure and responding through deep reform in the United Nations in which the ILO is so actively engaged, we must surely be able to demonstrate that we are ready to lead in promoting greater coherence, coordination and common purpose."
He said it was up to those who make an impact on the "world of work" and that they are called upon to fulfill their "common responsibilities to deliver the 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda."
Ryder said: "The ILO can be justifiably proud of the supervisory system it has built over the years into one of the most remarkable of the entire multilateral system."
The success of the ILO's endeavor was shown, he said, by more than 40 heads of state and government who were expected at the conference in the coming days "and the presence of governments, workers and employers here in this great world congress of labor."
The ILO head called for "all the international organizations involved in the field of work, finance and trade "complementary and interactive mandates" to work for "a future of work with justice for all."
"Setting the labor rules of the global economy is meaningful only if their application is effectively monitored," he said.