6. The Structure Committee had a wide-ranging discussion on all the principal outstanding questions, including the composition of the ILO's Governing Body. Little progress was made though the Conference did adopt the Committee's recommendation that the Working Party on Structure should be reconvened to draw up a report on all outstanding questions (including Article 17) in time for the 1978 Conference.
7. The balance sheet of what was achieved during the two years of the American notice of withdrawal did present some positive features. There was a noticeable improvement in Western co-ordination; the Organisation completed a considerable amount of useful technical work, including the adoption of new ILO standards on nursing personnel and the working environment, and first discussions on two other items - labour administration and conditions of work in public services. Despite the equivocal outcome on the 1974 Israeli Resolution, the incidence of political resolutions fell and this year only one resolution (condemning the policy of the United States authorities in the Panama Canal Zone) was really objectionable. This was placed low on the agenda of the Resolutions Committee and in the event was not reached.
8. The British attitude to the ILO is that its tripartite structure, providing for representation by governments, trade unions and employers' organisations, is unique among UN agencies and adds a valuable dimension to its work. The British Government (and the TUC and CBI) value membership. Year by year the basic work of the ILO proceeds without great difficulty, politicisation being largely confined to the Plenary Session of the Annual Conference which lasts for about three weeks each year. Thus each year's work culminates in the adoption of new international instruments; the ILO's Technical Assistance programme, by its volume and content, makes a unique contribution to social and economic development in the Third World; the investigatory and supervisory processes by which the ILO is able to follow up and supervise the implementation of its own standards are unparalleled in any other UN agency. These are factors which enable the ILO to play a major and effective role in defining, defending and promoting Human Rights and Trade Union Freedoms through its key Conventions relating to freedom of association, elimination of discrimination and abolition of forced labour.
9. The Cabinet-level Committee established in Washington to advise the President on whether to stay or withdraw was divided in its recommendations. The trade unions, in the shape of the AFL-CIO, and employers in the US Chamber of Commerce, favoured withdrawal. The Administration was divided: with the Departments of Labor and Commerce wanting withdrawal and the State Department and Mr Brzezinski, Special Adviser on Security, supporting continued membership. In the event the President decided on withdrawal. A copy of his statement and one by Mr Marshall, Secretary of Labor, are. attached.
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