Preamble
The General Conference of the International Labour Organisation,
Having been convened at Geneva by the Governing Body of the International Labour Office, and having met in its Thirty-fourth Session on 6 June 1951, and
Having decided upon the adoption of certain proposals with regard to voluntary conciliation and arbitration, which is included in the fifth item on the agenda of the session, and
Having determined that these proposals shall take the form of a Recommendation designed to be implemented by the parties concerned or by the public authorities as may be appropriate under national conditions,
adopts this twenty-ninth day of June of the year one thousand nine hundred and fifty-one, the following Recommendation, which may be cited as the Voluntary Conciliation and Arbitration Recommendation, 1951.
I. Voluntary Conciliation
- 1. Voluntary conciliation machinery, appropriate to national conditions, should be made available to assist in the prevention and settlement of industrial disputes between employers and workers.
- 2. Where voluntary conciliation machinery is constituted on a joint basis, it should include equal representation of employers and workers.
- 3.
- (1) The procedure should be free of charge and expeditious; such time limits for the proceedings as may be prescribed by national laws or regulations should be fixed in advance and kept to a minimum.
- (2) Provision should be made to enable the procedure to be set in motion, either on the initiative of any of the parties to the dispute or ex officio by the voluntary conciliation authority.
- 4. If a dispute has been submitted to conciliation procedure with the consent of all the parties concerned, the latter should be encouraged to abstain from strikes and lockouts while conciliation is in progress.
- 5. All agreements which the parties may reach during conciliation procedure or as a result thereof should be drawn up in writing and be regarded as equivalent to agreements concluded in the usual manner.
II. Voluntary Arbitration
- 6. If a dispute has been submitted to arbitration for final settlement with the consent of all parties concerned, the latter should be encouraged to abstain from strikes and lockouts while the arbitration is in progress and to accept the arbitration award.
III. General
- 7. No provision of this Recommendation may be interpreted as limiting, in any way whatsoever, the right to strike.
