Chapter XXXVIII: Section XIII: International Labor Organization

Members of the League of Nations agree to establish a permanent organization to promote international adjustment of labor conditions to consist of an annual conference and a labor office, the former composed of four representatives of each state, two from the government and one each from employers and employed.

The international labor office will be established at Geneva as a part of the League. It is to collect and distribute information on labor throughout the world, publish a periodical, and prepare agenda for the conference. The first conference will take place in October, 1919, at Washington to discuss the eight-hour day, prevention of unemployment, child labor, and similar questions.

Nine principles of labor conditions are recognized in the treaty. They include the principle that labor should not be regarded as a mere commodity; the right of association of employers and employees; a wage adequate to maintain a reasonable standard of life; the eight-hour day, or forty-eight hour week; a weekly rest of twenty-four hours, including Sunday; abolition of child labor, education, and proper physical development of children, equal pay for equal work for men and women; equitable treatment of all workers lawfully resident therein, including foreigners; a system of inspection in which women shall take part.