Preview of the Centenary International Labour Conference

The 108th session of the International Labour Conference  (ILC) will take place at the UN’s Palais des Nations and the ILO headquarters in Geneva from 10-21 June, 2019. More than 5,700 worker, employer and government delegates from the ILO’s 187 member States will address a wide range of issues at the ILC, which is the ILO’s highest decision-making body. 

To mark the ILO’s Centenary year , the meeting’s Plenary will hold a number of high-level session throughout the conference, to accommodate the visits of a large number of heads of State and Government. Additional security measures will be in operation. Details of these can be found below. 

Below is a preview of the main events: 

Opening ceremony: June 10, 11:00

The Conference will elect its President and Vice-Presidents, to be followed by the opening address of ILO Director-General, Guy Ryder, the spokespersons of the Employers’ and Workers’ groups, and the Chairperson of the ILO Governing Body.

High level section opening: June 10, 15:15

The high level section of the Plenary will begin after the opening of the Conference and continue on Tuesday 11 and Wednesday 12 (AM). It will resume on Wednesday 19 June and continue all day on Thursday 20 June. More information can be found, as it becomes available, on the High-Level visits webpage . 

Discussion of the Report of the Global Commission on the Future of Work: 12 – 18 June

This year’s report of the Director-General, which will be discussed in the Plenary, will be the Report of the Global Commission on the Future of Work , Work for a brighter future  , which examines how to achieve a better future of work for all at a time of unprecedented change and exceptional challenges in the world of work. This will be discussed in plenary on Wednesday 12 June (PM), Thursday 13, Friday 14, Monday 17 and Tuesday 18. 

Conference committees: 10 – 20 June

Most conference committees will begin their work soon after the opening sitting and will continue until the middle of the second week. Committees are expected to finish their work by 13:00 on Thursday, 20 June and present the outcomes of their deliberations for debate and adoption by the Plenary on Friday 21 June. 

• Violence and harassment in the world of work (standard setting committee) will meet from 10 – 20 June in Room XVIII.

• A Committee of the Whole , open to all delegations, will meet with a view to agreeing an ILO Centenary Declaration.

• The Committee on the Application of Standards  will meet 10 – 20 June in the Governing Body room at the ILO.