Statement by India on Agenda item 6 - Social Dialogue and Tripartism during the 107th session of International Labour Conference 2018
(Geneva, Switzerland)
A recurrent discussion on the strategic objective of social dialogue and tripartism, under the follow-up to the ILO Declaration on Social Justice for a Fair Globalization, 2008
Thank you Chair.
At the outset we compliment the office for the agenda document. The Reports brings out a very comprehensive picture of present issues and challenges of tripartism. The discussion becomes topical more so in the changing context of the world of work. Social Dialogue and Tripartism are the fundamental principles behind working of ILO. With new developments like the technological revolution, emergence of new forms of employment, and increasing informalization, the contours of social dialogue and tripartism have to be enhanced to adapt to the resultant changes in the world of work.
We believe that strength of social dialogue lies in strong and focused tripartism. The basic character of ‘tripartism’ i.e. the three constituents- governments, employers and workers; should remain intact. India has made this point from various forum including the Governing Body. While we agree that other actors today make an important contribution to dialogue/discussions on important issues relating to labour and employment particularly for informal workers and the related fields of environment and social issues, we strongly feel that a tripartite plus set up would run the risk of losing the focus from core labour issues. Instead the workers’ and the employers’ unions should be encouraged to absorb the views of the civil society.
In many important issues relating to the productivity of the workers, like the wage setting, the role of bipartite social dialogue is very important. ILO’s efforts in this direction should focus on capacity building of the social partners and the governments for creating an appropriate ecosystem for that. To happen.
New technologies are having profound and transformative impact on the world of work. It is changing the way in which work is organized and undertaken. It is, therefore essential that the tripartite constituents adapt to these changes to enhance their presence and outreach. This would also facilitate better and efficient cross border tripartism.
We look forward to fruitful deliberations in this area.
Thank you.
28 May 2018
