8 - The Collective Voices of Women Workers and What C190 and R206 Represent

Summary

This chapter reflects on the global campaign, how it was brought into the negotiations for an ILO Convention in the Standard-Setting Committees in 2018 and 2019 and what was important from the perspective of workers involved in both the negotiations and the global campaign. It hears from some of the campaigners and participants in the negotiations about their role, defining moments and activities to be prioritized looking ahead.

Reflections on the standard-setting process

As the reporter from the Standard-Setting Committee said to the ILC, discussions were often difficult and tense, but he notes: “The Committee's outcome is evidence of the enduring value and strength of social dialogue” (ILO 2019e: 2). As one worker member of the committee, Martle Keyter of MISA and FEDUSA, noted when interviewed, 2018 had been difficult and often conflictual, but the 2019 negotiations, although hard, consolidated the need for a Convention:

In 2019, when it fell together, particularly we fought hard on domestic violence, and – wow! – how emotional we were … The negotiation process was long and hard, often with exchanges going back and forward, often into the night. But we got agreement in the end. The workers’ spokesperson was under enormous pressure, particularly when it became heated.

Credit was also given to the skilful role played by the chairperson of the committee, and to the courage needed to find solutions, sometimes through an “unorthodox approach to its proceedings in order to allow for the consideration of different, but related, parts of the text, thereby reaching better conclusions as to the overall impact of the proposed instruments” (ILO 2019e: 2). The Drafting Committee played an important role, often sitting well into the early hours of the morning. The representatives from governments, employers and workers in the Drafting Committee ensured the alignment of the two official final texts in French and English.

The workers’ spokesperson, Marie Clarke Walker, brought an energy and passion to the negotiations in 2018 and 2019. As a black woman, committed to ensuring “no one is left behind”, she skilfully crafted a feminist, inclusive and intersectional approach throughout the negotiations. Clarke Walker was a member of the ILO Governing Body and a senior trade union leader with the CLC in Canada.