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.