The International Labour Organization (ILO) is a United Nations agency whose mandate is to advance social and economic justice by setting international labour standards. Founded in October 1919 under the League of Nations, it is the first and oldest specialised agency of the UN. The ILO has 187 member states: 186 out of 193 UN member states plus the Cook Islands. It is headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland, with around 40 field offices around the world, and employs some 3,381 staff across 107 nations, of whom 1,698 work in technical cooperation programmes and projects.
The World Confederation of Labour (WCL) was an international labour organization founded in 1920 and based in Europe. Totalitarian governments of the 1930s repressed the federation and imprisoned many of its leaders, limiting operations until the end of World War II. In 2006 it became part of the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC), ending its existence as an independent organization.
The Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC) of South Africa is Africa's largest dedicated social science and humanities research agency and policy think tank. It primarily conducts large-scale, policy-relevant, social-scientific projects for public-sector users, for non governmental organisations and international development agencies in support of development nationally, in the Southern African Development Community (SADC) and in Africa.
Social partners are groups that cooperate in working relationships to achieve a mutually agreed-upon goal, typically for the benefit of all involved groups. Examples of social partners include employers, employees, trade unions, and governments.
The Organisation of African Trade Union Unity (OATUU) is an independent regional union federation aimed at unifying trade union centres in Africa. This organisation was founded in April, 1973 as a successor to two previously competing labour union organisations in Africa: the All-African Trade Union Federation (AATUF) and the African Trade Union Confederation (ATUC). The process to unify a Pan-African labour union organisation also involved international labour organisations as decision-making stakeholders like the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU) and the World Federation of Trade Unions (WFTU). Finally, also with the help of the Organisation of African Unity (OAU), the AATUF and the ATUC merged to form the OATUU. The driving factors for this unification and the creation of the OATUU was to advance Pan-Africanism, economic justice, and social justice throughout African workplaces.
Marc Bélanger is a labour union educator specializing in information technology and distance education via computer communications. He worked for the Workers' Activities Programme of the training centre of the International Labour Organization (ILO) in Turin, Italy, from 2000-2008. He was head of the Programme from 2007-2008. The Programme operates the largest international union education school in the world. Its objective is to help build the capacities of unions in developing countries. The ILO is a specialized agency of the United Nations.
The Federation of South African Trade Unions (FOSATU) was a trade union federation in South Africa.
The Global Labour University (GLU) is an international network of universities, trade unions, NGOs and the International Labour Organisation. It was initiated in 2002 and offers master's programs, academic certificate programs and Massive Open Online Courses (MOOC) on sustainable development, social justice, international labour standards and trade/labour unions, economic policies and global institutions.
Ebrahim Patel is a South African cabinet minister, who holds the position of Minister of Trade, Industry and Competition. He previously served as Minister of Economic Development from 2009 to 2019.
Anthony Vincent Sheldon is an Australian politician and trade unionist. He is a member of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) and has served as a Senator for New South Wales since 2019. He was previously a senior figure in the Transport Workers Union (TWU), serving as state secretary (1999–2008) and national secretary (2006–2019).
Peter Kagwanja is a Kenyan intellectual, adviser, reform strategist and policy thinker on governance, security and African affairs. From the early 1990s, Kagwanja was associated with Kenya's pro-democracy movement through his research and writings in the media, and was one of the founders of the University Academic Staff Union (UASU). As an emigre in South Africa (2003-2008), he was in the team of experts that provided technical backing to the intense policy processes that led to the creation of the African Union (AU) and its peace and security architecture. When Kenya's opposition ascended to power, Kagwanja became part of the technical team that re-engineered and realigned the country's foreign policy and strategy to the challenges of the 21st century. He became government adviser on the post-2008 reform agenda and strategy; managed its successful campaign for the New Constitution of Kenya and provided strategic thinking towards the transition to the post-Kibaki order. Kagwanja is a public intellectual who has authored many articles and books, including Kenya's Uncertain Democracy: The Electoral Crisis of 2008London: Routledge (2010).
The Global Labour Institute in the UK, is part of an international network of not-for-profit organisations with the stated aim of promoting international solidarity among trade union organisations and affiliated groups in order to achieve a democratic and sustainable world society. The major activities of the GLI organisations are developing education, capacity-building and research on international labour movement development, gender policy and organising strategies. The Global Labour Institute works with global union federations, national trade unions, workers' associations, development agencies, research institutions, workers' education organisations and NGOs such as LabourStart, WIEGO and Oxfam, and it states an ideological commitment to democratic socialism.
Lucien van der Walt is a South African writer, professor of Sociology and labour educator. His research engages the anarchist/syndicalist tradition of Mikhail Bakunin and Peter Kropotkin; trade unionism and working class history, particularly in southern Africa; and neo-liberal state restructuring. He currently teaches and researches at Rhodes University in the Eastern Cape, South Africa, and previously worked at the University of the Witwatersrand. His 2007 PhD on anarchism and syndicalism in South Africa in the early 1900s won both the international prize for the best PhD dissertation from the Labor History journal, and the Council for the Development of Social Science Research in Africa prize for best African PhD thesis.
Community House situated in Salt River, Cape Town is a unique and historic site of living heritage. It has always been known as a site of activism from around the mid 1980s which has shaped and continues to shape the socio-political landscape of its extended communities. The building itself houses NGO’s and Trade Unions as well as a labour and community history museum centered on the Trade Union Library and its archive. It presently houses twenty-four organizations that focus on labour research, popular education, gender advocacy, HIV/AIDS education, environmental issues, youth development, media production and union organization.
Child labour laws are statutes placing restrictions and regulations on the work of minors.
Phillip David Dexter is a South African politician, activist, and entrepreneur. He has held many positions in various organisations. Dexter was a senior researcher in the Social Cohesion and Integration Research Programme of the Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC). Before joining the HSRC, he was an executive director of the National Economic Development and Labour Council (Nedlac). Dexter holds a Doctorate of Philosophy in Religious Studies, a BA in Philosophy and Politics, and a Master of Philosophy degree from the University of Cape Town. He entered politics as a student activist; after spending seven years in exile, he returned to South Africa in 1990. He served as general secretary of the National Education, Health and Allied Workers' Union (Nehawu) until elected to Parliament as an African National Congress (ANC) MP in 1994, where he served on the Labour, Public Service and Administration, and Finance Portfolio committees.
TVET refers to all forms and levels of education and training which provide knowledge and skills related to occupations in various sectors of economic and social life through formal, non-formal and informal learning methods in both school-based and work-based learning contexts. To achieve its aims and purposes, TVET focuses on the learning and mastery of specialized techniques and the scientific principles underlying those techniques, as well as general knowledge, skills and values.
Shirley Kaye Randell is an educator, advocate, mentor and leader. She is an Officer of the Order of Australia (AO), having received the award in 2010 for her services to international relations through education, public sector, institutional reform and economic empowerment of women in Australia, the Pacific, Asia and Africa.
The International Federation of Workers’ Education Associations(IFWEA) is an international organisation of associations, foundations, non-governmental organisations and trade unions involved in adult education for working people. It is based in Cape Town, South Africa, is an observer at the International Labour Organisation and UNESCO and is a member of SOLIDAR.
The Trade Union Council of South Africa (TUCSA) was a national trade union federation in South Africa.
