§ Mr. Knoxasked the Secretary of State for Employment (1) how workers, who are organised in unions and professional bodies which are not affiliated to the Trades Union Congress are able to obtain representation to the International Labour Organisation;
(2) whether the Government require that any person, nominated by Her Majesty's Government to participate in the delegation of workers to the International Labour Organisation, should belong to a union affiliated to the Trades Union Congress.
§ Mr.GummerRepresentation by organisations of employers and workers at meetings of the International Labour Organisation is determined by article 3(5) of the ILO constitution which states that:
The members undertake to nominate non-Government delegates and advisers chosen in agreement with industrial organisations, if such organisations exist, which are most representative of employers or workpeople, as the case may be, in their respective countries.In accordance with this requirement the Government ask the Confederation of British Industry and the Trades Union Congress, as the most representative industrial organisations of employers and work people respectively in the United Kingdom, each to nominate a delegate and an appropriate number of advisers for appointment to the United Kingdom delegations to ILO meetings, and the nomination of employers' or workers' representatives belonging to organisations not affiliated to the CBI or TUC would require to be undertaken with the agreement of those bodies.