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Frances PerkinsFrances Perkins
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employer and labor votes are entirely independent. So are the Government votes, except that by common consent, the Government before the delegates leave, in America, reviews the agenda and the resolutions and the committee reports that are then complete. It more or less instructs the delegates. That is, within broad limits it instructs the two Government delegates--within broad limits. “The Government doesn't favor this and doesn't favor that too much, but do as you please.” “This is not a political question, this is a purely economic question; vote as the debate and discussion seems to indicate to you.”

That's always the pattern. The same is true with regard to the labor and the employer delegates. They don't have fixed instructions. More times than not, they vote as they individually think best. Also, when they work on committees where the committee work has not previously been done, they are preparing a memorandum which will be a resolution for the next meeting--the next year's meeting of the I.L.O. In that preparation, they vote on every question raised exactly as they please, and you get a true labor point of view and a true employer point of view and a true Government point of view. Frequently, nearly always, you get a really useful product coming out of that tripartite arrangement.

Anyway, we talked about that and laughed about it.





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