Foundations for longevity: the ILO, New Zealand and the strategies of autonomy, relevance and presence

Abstract

In 2019, the International Labour Organisation (ILO) will celebrate its Centenary as one of the oldest international organisations. In this paper, we argue that important insights into this institutional resilience can be provided by an examination of the activities of the early ILO Directors and the establishment of three principal strategies – autonomy, presence and relevance. Through the case study of New Zealand, we demonstrate how these strategies provided the wherewithal for ILO survival during the inter-war years and the foundation for its longevity.

Notes

 1. Haggard and Simmons, “Theories of International Regimes,” 517.

 2. van der Vleuten, “Two Level Interaction as a Source of Influence,” 64.

 3. Hughes and Haworth, “The Role of the ILO.”

 4. Hughes and Haworth, “A Shift in the Centre of Gravity,” 300.

 5. Letter to the Secretary, International Labour Conference, 12 July 1919. ILO Archives ORG Series.

 6. Reply to Rowley. 15 September 1919. ILO archives, ORG Series.

 7. Prime Minister William Massey had not yet returned from the Paris Peace Conference.

 8. Letter dates 13 August 1919. New Zealand National Archive, Register EA (Department of External Affairs), Wellington.

 9. New Zealand National Archive, Register EA (Department of External Affairs), Wellington.

10. Peter Fraser was later to become the leader of the New Zealand Labour Party and Prime Minister of New Zealand.

11. Parliamentary Debates of the New Zealand House of Representatives, Volume 41.

12. Ibid.

13. Ibid.

14. Alcock, History of the International Labour Organisation, 37.

15. Roth, “The Historical Framework.”

16. Brooking, “Economic Transformation,” 231.

17. ‘Relations of the International Labour Office with New Zealand’. Internal ILO Report, 21 September 1922. ILO Archives, RL Series.

18. Endres and Jackson. “Policy Responses to the Crisis,” 148–149.

19. Ibid., 162.

20. His tutor, the economist J.B. Condliffe described Riches as ‘the outstanding economics student of his time’. J.B. Condliffe 30 November 1928. ILO archive, RL 43 Series. Riches' appointment at the ILO was won in a competitive examination set and marked in Geneva. Riches' performance was such that he attracted offers of positions at the League of Nations and the University of New Zealand. He declined both, preferring instead to develop a career at the ILO.

21. Chaudron, New Zealand and the League of Nations, 49.

22. For an extended discussion on the activities of the LNU in New Zealand, see Attwood, “Apostles of Peace.”

23. From its inception in 1916, the New Zealand Labour Party was fervently anti-League of Nations. Drawing on its support for Socialist Internationalism, it accused the League of militarism and imperialism and called for a league of peoples rather than a league of nations. Gradually this stance changed. During the 1920s and 1930s, as issues of international security grew in Europe and Asia, it increasingly looked to the League as an instrument for arbitration and collective security. However, the more inactive the League became in these matters, the more the labour party activists used the LNU to voice their criticism. See David McIntyre, “From Dual Dependency to Nuclear Free,” 522. Also, E.J. Riches, “Report on Mission to New Zealand,” 1933, p. 19. ILO archives, RL Series.

24. Riches made particular note of the favourable editorial in the ‘Dominion’ which was otherwise an avid supporter of the Reform Party and critic of the ILO. “Report on Mission to New Zealand, 1930,” p. 22. ILO Archives, RL Series.

25. Letter to Albert Thomas, 15 May 1930. ILO archive, CAT Series.

26. Ibid.

27. New Zealand Herald, 28 June 1930. ILO archive, XH Series, Correspondence of Harold Butler 1931–1932.

28. Letter to Albert Thomas, 15 May 1930. ILO archive, CAT Series.

29. Ibid.

30. New Zealand Herald, 6 March 1930. ILO archive, XH Series.

31. Letter to Albert Thomas, 15 May 1930, p. 3. ILO archive, CAT Series.

32. Letter to Harold Butler, 3 October 1930. ILO archive, XH Series.

33. Ibid.

34. Ibid.

35. “Labour Office. Geneva Conference. Fifty Nations Negotiate” (Christchurch Times, October 1930, p. 16). ILO archive, XH Series.

36. Ibid.

37. Ibid.

38. Garside, Capitalism in Crisis, 2.

39. “Labour Office” (Christchurch Times, October 1930, p. 16). ILO archive, XH Series.

40. Letter from Riches to Harold Butler, 30 October, p. 1. ILO archive, XH Series.

41. “Notes” (Economic Record, May 1931, pp. 102–107).

42. Report on the XIV Session of the International Labour Conference. Honourable T. Shailer-Weston, Employers Delegate and President of the New Zealand Employers Federation, 3 July 1930. ILO archive, XH Series.

43. For fuller accounts of policy and social responses to the depression in New Zealand, see Endres and Jackson, “Policy Responses to the Crisis;” Richardson, “Parties and Political Change” and Brooking, “Economic Transformation.”

44. Brown, The Rise of New Zealand Labour, 182.

45. Letter from Riches to Harold Butler, 9 December 1935. ILO archive, XH Series.

46. E.J. Riches, New Zealand's Relations with the ILO, 10 January 1936. ILO archive, RL Series.

47. See Economic Record, December 1935.

48. E.J. Riches 1936, New Zealand's Relations with the ILO, 3(a) pp. 3–4. ILO archive, RL Series. The same arguments were conveyed by Riches to the MP Robert McKeen when Keen offered to present the case for ratification to the New Zealand Parliament.

49. Letter from F.L.W. Wood to Riches, 15 February 1937. ILO archive, RL Series. Wood was Professor of History at Victoria University College and President of the Wellington Branch of the League of Nations Union.

50. Riches reply to Wood, 7 April 1937. ILO archive RL Series.

51. Speech to the XX Session of the International Labour Conference, 1937. Published in Conference Proceedings.

52. Letter to Wood, 4 July 1937. ILO archive, RL Series.