27. Referring to the success achieved by the Americans in the Governing Body in their plans to modify Article 17 of the Conference Standing Orders, the Chairman said that success would be more difficult at the Conference because of the balance of voting and because of the absence of a procedure for a secret ballot. The outcome of the Americans' proposals was therefore uncertain. Nevertheless it seemed evident that the USSR wished the United States to remain an ILO member, not least because withdrawal would mean a massive contraction in IIO activities. The United States currently provided 25% of the ILO's regular budget. The Committee would note with satisfaction that on the key questions bearing on United States membership Mr Forward intended to maintain close liaison with the CBI and the TUC.
The British Aid Programme in the Labour/Employment Field
28. Mr Coates suggested that Paper OLCC (1977) 4 should be received without discussion because of shortage of time. Mr Jones agreed and suggested that the item might figure high on the agenda of the next meeting. The Chairman asked if contacts with the Ministry of Overseas Development were adequate so far as the TUC were concerned and Mr Hargreaves said that there were exchanges of views on some issues in the labour field and that he expected that contacts would be much closer as a result of the extended involvement of the TUC in providing training in the labour field for developing countries for which a grant of £75,000 a year over a period of three years was to be made available by the ODM. The Chairman suggested that the next meeting of the O1CC would provide an opportunity for reviewing the new arrangements for providing aid to trade union movements in developing countries.
Date of Next Meeting
29. The Chairman said that the items discussed at the present meeting were likely to be on the agenda for the next meeting. He suggested that the date of the next meeting should be fixed after consultation by the Overseas Labour Adviser with other members of the Committee.
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