Message to the Senate Transmitting the Convention on International Labor Standards
April 10, 1986
To the Senate of the United States:
With a view to receiving the advice and consent of the Senate to ratification, I transmit herewith a certified copy of the Convention (No. 144) Concerning Tripartite Consultations to Promote the Implementation of International Labor Standards, adopted by the International Labor Conference at Geneva on June 21, 1976. I transmit also for the Senate's information a certified copy of the recommendation (No. 152) on the same subject, adopted by the International Labor Conference on that same date, which amplifies some of the Convention's provisions. No action is called for on the recommendation.
The report of the Department of State, with a letter from the Secretary of Labor, concerning the Convention is enclosed.
I support fully the principle of tripartite consultations among government, employers, and workers on matters relating to the International Labor Organization. This principle is fundamental to the existing structure of both the ILO and of the consultative mechanisms that have been established within the United States with respect to ILO matters. Ratification of Convention No. 144 therefore would require no change in the way the United States has organized to deal with the ILO.
Because the United States is party to so few ILO conventions, we are vulnerable to criticism when we seek to take others to task for failing to adhere to instruments we ourselves have not ratified. Ratification of Convention No. 144 would reduce this vulnerability. I therefore recommend that the Senate give its advice and consent to the ratification of ILO Convention No. 144.
Ronald Reagan
The White House,
April 10, 1986.
Message to the Senate Transmitting the Convention on Minimum Standards in Merchant Ships
April 10, 1986
To the Senate of the United States:
With a view to receiving the advice and consent of the Senate to ratification of the Convention (No. 147) Concerning Minimum Standards in Merchant Ships, adopted by the 62nd session of the International Labor Conference, at Geneva, on October 13, 1976, I transmit herewith a certified copy of that Convention. I transmit also for the Senate's information a certified copy of the recommendation (No. 155) concerning the improvement of standards in merchant ships, adopted by the International Labor Conference at the same time as the Convention. No action is called for on the recommendation.
The report of the Department of State, with a letter from the Secretary of Labor, concerning the Convention is enclosed. The Department's report also contains the texts of five proposed understandings. It is proposed that these understandings be included in the United States instrument of ratification, should the Senate give its advice and consent.
Adoption of the Convention and the recommendation was the culmination of a long negotiating process in which the United States participated actively and vigorously supported the drafting of a comprehensive and effective instrument to achieve minimum standards in merchant ships. I believe that the United States ratification of this Convention is in the national interest and in the interest of the world community as a whole, and I, therefore, recommend that the Senate give its advice and consent to ratification, subject to the understandings mentioned above.
Ronald Reagan
The White House,
April 10, 1986.